| Dear Rev. Know-It-All,
For Easter Sunday I went to my cousins'
church, St. Modernas in Wilderness Grove, a suburb not too far from here
and it was really groovy.
Instead of the boring old communion wafers
that we have at my regular parish, they served these little square things
that were kind of sweet and crunchy. They were really good.
I wanted to go up for seconds. I asked about them and somebody explained
that they were made from a special recipe that had honey and some other
flavorings. Do you know that recipe?
Yours truly,
Trent D.
Dear Trent,
I feel so sorry for you. You didn't
receive Holy Communion on Easter.
Bread made of wheat and water is the only
valid matter for the consecration.
In other words, if other than wheat and
water are used for the sacrament, Jesus is not present in a real and substantial
way. We Catholics really believe that, at Mass, the Son of God becomes
present body, blood, soul and divinity in the form of bread and wine.
It is God’s most precious gift to us. Christ died on the cross
to give us His real Flesh and Blood.
It isn't just a symbol, It isn't just an
experience. It is real, but it is only real, we believe if the proper
elements of simple wheat bread and simple grape wine are used. In
the Byzantine and Orthodox Churches the bread is leavened in the Latin
or Roman Rite, it is not.
It breaks my heart to think that so many
people thought they had gone to Mass and received communion on Easter at
St. Moderna's but they just heard some songs and a sermon and ate some
bread. They didn't go to Easter Mass.
Communion. What a sweet word!
To be one with the Lord and one with a billion fellow believers throughout
the world.
We get the idea that we have to be special.
We look for novelty and we miss true communion. I feel sorry for
the thousands who didn't go to Mass at St. Moderna's this Easter, even
though they thought they did. But I feel so much sorrier for their
pastor who will have to stand before God one day and explain why he didn't
let his parishioners receive the Bread of Life instead of the bread of
novelty.
Sadly yours,
Rev. Know-It-All
The
Question Was
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- -
Why do we always
have the same old boring communion wafers? |
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