The sacrament of the Church’s unity

Posted: 10.23.09

In a newly published work of reflections by priests on the Eucharist and priestly spirituality, “Born of the Eucharist,” edited by S. Rossetti, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York recounts a moving experience of the unifying power of the Eucharist in his own life. The archbishop describes his arrival in Milwaukee as its new archbishop in June 2002. He admits to being “a nervous wreck” in the face of taking up a huge pastoral responsibility following the prominent and long-serving Archbishop Rembert Weakland, who had just resigned after acknowledging and apologizing for past sins. Archbishop Dolan also knew that he and Archbishop Weakland were far apart in their theological outlook and was anxious as to how he was to face the daunting challenges before him.

He writes, “I couldn’t sleep, and I was anticipating controversial questions at the press conference. Plus, I was still unsure about how my predecessor and I would get along. By 4:00 a.m. I gave up on sleep. I got out of bed, showered, dressed, grabbed my breviary, then made my way, at about 4:45 in the morning, to the little chapel downstairs … and there sat Rembert Weakland, with his breviary, before the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle. My fears evaporated. Between the two of us was a difference in age of 25 years, in weight of about 60 pounds, a variation of theological outlook probably. But it was suddenly and dramatically evident to me that we were one in our faith, our priestly vocation, our apostolic bond, our prayer, and our trust in Jesus, really and truly present in the most Blessed Sacrament.” The Archbishop refers to this incident as a miracle before the Eucharist and it truly reflects the unifying power of this great sacrament in the life of the Church.

The Lord himself emphasizes that one of the primary graces of the Eucharist is that it brings about unity through union with him. In his discourse on the Eucharist in the Gospel of St. John, Christ tells us, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (Jn 6:56). Moreover, Jesus teaches that communion with him in the Eucharist also places us in unity with his Father as he continues, “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (Jn 6:57).

This life is, of course, the life of the Holy Spirit. The Eucharist also places us in union with the Holy Spirit as is well expressed in the words of the second eucharistic prayer of the Mass after the consecration: “May all of us who share in the body and blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.”

In the earliest witness to the Eucharist as found in the writings of St. Paul, the unifying nature of this sacrament is emphasized. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul tells us: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because a loaf of bread is one, and we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf” (1 Cor 10:16-17).

St. Paul’s teaching on the Eucharist emphasizes that the sacrament brings about unity in the life of the Church as the body of Christ because it brings about unity with Christ himself. There were many divisions that existed within the Corinthian community to which St. Paul wrote. However, in addressing these divisions, Paul emphasizes that the Eucharist is the only source of unity for the Church, and Christ intended this effect of the sacrament when he instituted it at the Last Supper (cf., 1 Cor 11:17-26).

Another one of the earliest, but nonscriptural, references to the unifying power of the Eucharist is found in the writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch, one of the Apostolic Fathers, who lived during the first century. Ignatius writes, in a similar vein to St. Paul, that the Eucharist is intended to strengthen the Church in unity and to overcome divisiveness. Ignatius emphasizes that the Eucharist not only symbolizes, but also brings about the unity which is a mark of the Church as the body of Christ. In the fourth chapter of his Letter to the Philadelphians he writes: “Make certain, therefore, that you all observe one common Eucharist; for there is one body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and but one cup of union with his blood, and one single altar of sacrifice – even as also there is but one bishop, with his clergy and my own fellow-servitors the deacons. This will ensure that all your doings are in full accord with the will of God.” Ignatius makes clear that union with the body and blood of the Lord also means union from the body and blood of the Lord.

The great Doctor of the Church, St. Augustine, also writes of the unifying power of the Eucharist. St. Augustine was fascinated with the dual meaning of the body of Christ in the writings of St. Paul to refer both to the Eucharist and to the Church. In emphasizing how the sacrament symbolizes and brings about unity in the Church, Augustine expressed to the newly baptized, “The mystery that you are lies on the table; it is your own mystery that you receive” (Sermon 272). These are beautiful words that describe the very life of the Church rooted in the Eucharist.

St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, writes beautifully and mystically on the unifying nature of the Eucharist. In his famous work, the “Summa Theologica,” Thomas makes clear that the Eucharist is “the sacrament of the Church’s unity” (3a. 73.2). In this work he also makes clear that the Eucharist represents “the unity of the Church into which people are drawn together through this sacrament” (3a. 73.4).

The finest expressions of the Eucharist as the sacrament of unity are found in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. One of these is poetically expressed in his “Lauda Sion,” the sequence of the Mass for the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ: “Thousands are, as one, receives; One, as thousands of believers, eats of him whom cannot waste.”

We have come to the conclusion of our 25th anniversary as a diocese. Our celebrations during this year have concentrated on the Eucharist as the center of our life as a particular Church in southern Florida. It is the Eucharist which unites us as a diocese because we become one with the life of God himself through the person of Jesus Christ. While times and circumstances have changed during the history of the Church, many of the challenges that faced the early Church continued to face the Church during its life and are present with us today. These challenges always affect the unity of the Church. It is the Eucharist and our participation in it that bring about the unity that Christ intended us to have and make us his body today. We are the particular Church of the Diocese of Palm Beach and without the gift of the Eucharist, the sacrament of sacraments, we cannot exist. As we move toward our next 25 years in building this City of God, may the Eucharist continue to unify us as one people, to heal the divisions that may exist among us and to remind us, in the words of St. Augustine, that the mystery that lies on the table of the Lord is our own mystery that we receive!

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