To Whom Shall We Go?
by Leon J. Suprenant, Jr.

My seven-year-old daughter Virginia made her First Holy Communion this past April. A couple weeks before this happy occasion, I took her to lunch and talked with her about the Eucharist. To test her, I said, "Now Virginia, the Eucharist symbolizes Christ, right?" Virginia looked at me partly in horror and partly in surprise at my apparent ignorance. "Oh no, Daddy," she said. "The Eucharist really is the body and blood of Jesus."

I affirmed her response and told her that sometimes I go out to speak to groups of people about the Eucharist. So I asked for her "advice" as to what I should tell people. Reveling in her new role as theological consultant, Virginia replied, "Daddy, I would start by telling them about Jesus. Jesus is God. He can do anything. Of course He can make Himself present under the appearance of bread and wine."

Don't Walk Away

I am so grateful to God for Virginia's child-like faith and pray that she continues to deepen her relationship with Our Eucharistic Lord as she matures into adulthood. Sadly, many adults don't have Virginia's faith. It is said that there are lies, damn lies, and statistics, so I have a healthy distrust of polls that attempt to quantify Eucharistic belief. Even so, despite the welcome resurgence of Eucharistic adoration and devotions and other positive signs of life in the Church, far too many Catholics have an inadequate understanding of the Eucharist.

When we consider the current scandals in the Church, we most typically point to secondary, external causes and effects. The Holy Father has pointed out that underlying the external problems is the perennial mystery of evil and sin. So why does sin seem to be having a field day right now? I think the heart of the matter is a crisis of faith. And while faith in Christ identifies us as Christians, our belief in Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist and the apostolic authority entrusted to the Pope and bishops is what most clearly identifies us as Catholics.

When Our Lord gave His great Eucharistic discourse in John 6, many of those who were already numbered among His disciples could not accept this teaching and returned to their former, pre-Christian lives (cf. Jn. 6:60, 66). No other recorded teaching of Christ had such an effect.

There are many today who do not believe in God, let alone His Incarnate Son. Then there are Christians whose rejection of the Eucharist sadly perpetuates divisions dating back to the 16th century. And there are those who consider themselves Catholic but who hold out for a different Christ and a different Church.

After many disciples left because of Jesus' teaching on the Eucharist, Jesus asked Peter, "Do you also want to leave?" (Jn. 6:67). And Peter's response, the response of the Church, was, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe . . ." (Jn 6:68).

Our Lord's question—which goes out to each of us—demands an act of faith, an adherence to revealed truth. Indifference about the Eucharist, ambivalence about the Church, is clearly not an acceptable response. Yet the actions of many baptized Catholics manifest such indifference and ambivalence. That's why today—and always—the Church needs heroic witnesses, indeed martyrs, to the truth about Jesus Christ, to the truth about the Church, to the truth about the Eucharist.

Pilate Light

In St. John's account of the Passion, proclaimed every Good Friday, we hear the dramatic exchange between Our Lord and Pontius Pilate in which Jesus makes this remarkable statement: "For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth" (Jn. 18:37). Just one day—or four chapters—earlier, Jesus identified Himself as "the way, the truth, and the life" (Jn. 14:6). Perhaps with Pilate we might ask, "What is truth?" (Jn. 18:38), or at least, "Lord, what do you mean?"

All the books in the world can't contain the full answer (cf. Jn. 21:25), but we can say that Christ came to show Himself as the Son of God, who came that we may partake of His divinity as adopted sons and daughters of God (cf. Rom. 8:29; Gal. 4:4-7). He is the King of the New Israel, the Church, which in His name and through the power of His Spirit is called to renew the face of the earth. This kingdom is fully in this world, but ultimately does not belong here (cf. Jn. 18:36), pointing instead to a new heaven and a new earth (cf. Rev. 21:1-4). And Jesus is the eternal High Priest, whose once-for-all sacrifice, made present to us through the ministry of the apostles and their successors—bishops and priests—is the one source of salvation for the whole world (cf. Heb. 9:12).

This truth about Christ reveals to us the truth about ourselves. Human sinfulness and folly are part of the story, but not the whole truth. Rather, Christ shows us the liberating truth of our vocation as children of God and heirs of heaven, and even more, gives us the grace to live this truth.

That's why the Eucharist is so important. As the "Sacrifice Sacrament," it re-presents and makes effective in our lives Christ's priestly sacrifice on Calvary. As "Communion Sacrament," it establishes us not only as subjects of Christ's kingdom on earth, but strengthens the familial bonds of charity and solidarity we experience in the "communion" of saints and impels us to bring others into that communion through evangelization. And as "Presence Sacrament," the Eucharist is a tangible reminder that Christ has not rescued us from sin only to abandon us in the desert of our own devices. He is always Emmanuel, God with His beloved children.

Handling the Truth

Throughout the current scandals in the Church, I have continually returned to the Holy Father's exhortation to the laity, which has found its way into the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church's history" (no. 828). Many of these saints were martyrs whose very blood has been the seed of renewal in the Church.

This call to sainthood, to holiness of life, goes out to the entire Church. Perhaps few of us will be called to martyrdom in the strict sense of bearing witness to the truth of our Catholic faith even to death. But as our Holy Father teaches (see pp. 54-55 of this issue), our fidelity to the truth in the ordinary circumstances of our lives calls us, with God's grace, to a courageous, even heroic, commitment. This faith in action impels us to uncompromising lives of charity, which includes adherence to God's holy law in the moral sphere. Blameless conduct not only avoids scandal, but even more, reflects a life of integrity given over to God and His saving truth. And should we nonetheless sin—and who among us doesn't—we have a compassionate High Priest ready to shower His mercy and healing upon us when we repent of our sin and turn to Him through sacramental Confession (cf. Heb. 4:15-16).

Still the One

Throughout the media's "feeding frenzy" that has characterized the recent scandals, there have been different strains of criticism and calls for reform from within and from outside the Church. In justice and charity, Catholics should contribute to "the formation and diffusion of sound public opinion" (Catechism, no. 2495), so CUF has issued a position paper patiently addressing the range of issues presented by this controversy (call 1-800-MY-FAITH or click here).

As important as it is to respond faithfully to specific charges of varying merit leveled against the Church, even more we must proclaim in season and out of season the truth about Jesus Christ, about His Church, and about the Eucharist. The Church, despite the sins and failings of her members and even her shepherds, is the herald of Christ's words of eternal life and is the universal means of salvation for all mankind. Rejecting or even cursing the Church makes as much sense as a branch disavowing its need for the vine (cf. Jn. 15:5-6).

We must take courage that Our Lord is with us and that His grace far exceeds human weakness and sin. As Our Holy Father beautifully summarizes: "God alone is the source of holiness, and it is to Him above all that we must turn for forgiveness, for healing, and for the grace to meet [today's] challenge with uncompromising courage and harmony of purpose."

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