THE EXPANDING EUCHARIST

 

St. Pius X

August 21 is the memorial of Saint Pius X. His pontificate (1903-1914) was marked by lots of important diplomacy and other significant achievements. He tried desperately to keep Europe from descending into war, but his efforts failed. Within a few months after the outbreak of World War I he died of a broken heart. But he is perhaps best remembered for encouraging the frequent reception of holy communion. At the time of his papacy people would attend mass but would seldom receive the Eucharist. His efforts helped to change that custom, and prepared the way for other reforms that made the Blessed Sacrament more and more accessible to the faithful.

Chardin

Coincidentally, I've been slowly reading my way through "Teilhard de Chardin on the Eucharist: Envisioning the Body of Christ," by Louis Savary. Through reading this book, my understanding of and my attitude toward the Eucharist have been tremendously deepened and expanded. If you know a little about Chardin then you won't be surprised that when he was celebrating mass, he would elevate the consecrated host or the cup and see the power radiating from them not just to the faithful attending that mass but to every human being, all members of Christ, and then further into every living thing, and then to the atoms and molecules that compose every speck of matter in the farthest reaches of the universe

Chardin thinks of Christ under three aspects. The past Christ, who was born in Bethlehem, lived for about 30 years, died and rose again  Then there is the Present Christ, the head of the Mystical Body, who lives in our hearts and is present everywhere. The third aspect of Christ is one that we seldom if ever think of: the Future Christ, the Universal Christ whose power and presence extend to the farthest reaches of the universe, who holds everything in being and who will one day bring all of creation into one single point of Divine Love.

When Chardin as a priest gazed on the consecrated host and the cup, he experienced the presence of all three Christs. But I was especially captivated by his image of the bread and wine being transformed into the presence of the universal Christ. This sent me a couple of times to YouTube to type in "Hubble," the telescope that has extended our view of the universe beyond our imagining. (You should try looking at a couple of these videos yourself.)

The second part of Savary's book about Chardin is composed of suggested meditations based on Chardin's view of the Eucharist. Of course most of us encounter the Eucharist only at mass, but I'm privileged to spend 50 minutes each morning in front of the Eucharist displayed in the monstrance on the altar in the abbey church. The meditations are turning out to be very powerful. For example, gazing at the host and imagining a certain person contained inside it (as we're all members of Christ, this isn't heretical). It may be someone who is sick or in some distress. Then praying for that person and ask the Lord to watch over that person or heal them or give them whatever gift it is that they most need right now. Another meditation involves visualizing the power radiating from the host outward to fill all of creation. 

These meditations are certainly inviting me to expand my idea of the Eucharist far beyond a private, personal welcoming of Jesus into my heart to enjoy His presence. Thanks to Chardin's way of seeing the world and the Universal Christ, my sense of the meaning of the Eucharist is deepening every day. 

Saint Pius X must be gratified to see people sharing in Chardin's deep vision of the power of the Sacrament. 

An enhanced image from NASA of galaxy clusters