The Eucharist, is a real, not a symbolic presence. During our Lord’s ministry at Galilee a woman with a chronic hemorrhage came from behind him stealthily and timidly, but with a great faith, to touch his cloak. She wanted to avoid embarrassing notice, for her sickness implied a legal impurity. She just touched the fringe of Jesus’ outer garment and was immediately cured. Jesus turned around and looking at her said, “Courage, my daughter, your faith has saved you” (cf. Mt 9:20-22). Jesus granted the miracle not only because of the mere physical contact, but in answer to her faith of which she had given such striking proof. The presence of the Lord and the faith of the woman performed the miracle.
“Do you see now how our faith must be? It must be humble. Who are you, and who am I, to deserve to be called in this way by Christ? Who are we, to be so close to him? As with that poor woman in the crowd, Christ has given us an opportunity. And not just to touch his garment a little, to feel for a moment the fringe, the hem of his cloak. We actually have Christ himself. He gives himself to us totally, with his body, his blood, his soul and his divinity. We eat him each day. We speak to him intimately as one does to a father, as one speaks to Love itself. And all this is true. It is no fantasy."
Our Lord’s presence in the sacrament is called “real” not to exclude the idea that the others are “real,” too, but rather to indicate presence par excellence, because this presence is substantial, and through it, Christ becomes present whole and entire, God and man. Thus, this presence is not merely intentional (i.e., in the mind only) or virtual (i.e., by power). And so, it would be wrong for anyone to limit it to symbolism, as if this most sacred sacrament were to consist in nothing more than an efficacious sign “of the spiritual presence of Christ and of his intimate union with the faithful, the members of his Mystical Body.”
Therefore, it is wrong:
• To concentrate on the notion of the sacramental sign as if the symbolism which no one will deny is certainly present in the most blessed Eucharist fully expressed and exhausted the manner of Christ’s presence in this sacrament.
• To discuss the mystery of transubstantiation without mentioning the marvelous conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body and the whole substance of the wine into the blood of Christ, as if they involve nothing more than “transignification” or “transfinalization,” as some call it.
• To propose and act upon the opinion that Christ our Lord is no longer present in the consecrated hosts that remain once the celebration of the sacrifice of the Mass has been completed.
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