Denver Catholic

23 DENVER CATHOLIC | SEPTEMBER 14-27, 2019 T here are many people who have either left the Church or are currently considering leaving because of the scandals of recent decades. We have felt pain and righteous anger at our leaders and have su£ ered scandal from their betrayal. For some, the grand jury reports and lack of accountability for bishops have been the last straw. It's hard to blame people for feeling this way, but we have to ask with Peter, "to whom, Lord, shall we go?" (John 6:68). Signifi cantly, this question comes after many disciples walked out on Jesus for his teaching on the Eucharist, and it is the Eucharist that should be at the center of any response to the crisis. Peter answers his own question: "you have the words of everlasting life" (John 6:68). The Church is Jesus' own body in the world, and we are members of his mystical body, given eternal life by consuming his own fl esh at Mass. Without the Eucharist, Jesus' pres- ence in the fl esh, the very heart of the Church, where would we be? Bishop Robert Barron echoes Peter's question in a recent pam- phlet-style book, with over a million copies in print, Letter to a Su€ ering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis (Word on Fire, 2019). He turns to the Bible and Church history to look for perspective on the crisis. Because of the centrality of the Eucharist in the Church, the betrayal of some of our priests and bishops takes on greater signifi cance. They act in persona Christi at Mass, o£ ering the sacrifi ce of Christ on the Cross to the Father, and we depend on them for our sacramental life. Fortunately, the validity of the sacraments does not depend upon the sinlessness of priests, but rather the holiness of God. Barron points out, however, that priests will not get o£ easy, given the extremely harsh words that Jesus o£ ers to those who lead children astray: "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; ¬but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, ¬it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin!¬For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes!" (Mt 18:7-9). Barron also ref- erences the punishment of Eli, in 1 Samuel 2-4, who as priest and judge of Israel watched his own sons, who were also priests, abuse the people. Barron argues that this scene gives us the best example of God's retribution for allowing abuse to happen and not correcting it. Barron also looks at the tumultu- ous story of Church history for con- text on the current crisis. Although the Church is the mystical body of Christ, he references St. Paul asser- tion that we bear our treasure in earthen vessels, as evidenced by th e human weakness of Christians throughout history. In fact, this weakness manifests the Lord's grace guiding and preserving the Church in spite of us. Barron quotes Belloc that a proof of the Church's divine founda- tion "might be found in the fact that no merely human institution con- ducted with such knavish imbecility would have lasted a fortnight" (43). Heresies, sinful popes, and sexual perversity have not fundamentally destroyed the Lord's work, even if they have turned many people away. God has promised to remain with his Church and his providence will guide us especially through dark moments. The crisis challenges us and raises the question of why we are Catholic. Most of us have been born Catholic and may take our faith for granted as something we've inherited from our parents. We may view belonging to the Church like membership in a vol- untary organization. Rather, our life as members of Christ's Body is a gift from God that changes our identity and unites us to God and our fellow Christians. As we experience chal- lenges to faith, it is an opportunity to embrace this identity even more strongly — not as something that depends upon myself or anyone else in the Church, but on God. We go to Church to honor and thank him and to receive his grace, not to be a part of a human organization. The Church is a family, called together by God, but, like any family, we experience pain from our own and each other's sinfulness. As family, we can't give up on each other, but have to "stay and fi ght" as Barron exhorts us, helping each other to be faithful to the mission that Jesus gave us: to love one another as he has loved us and to share the Good News of his salvation. instituted. This was the understand- ing of the apostles who were present, and of those who learned directly from the apostles. The Church, from the very earliest times, understood and taught that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ. In various Eucharistic miracles over the centu- ries, consecrated hosts have bled or actually become fl esh. In at least one case (Lanciano — google it), scientifi c evaluation confi rmed that the sample consists of cardiac tissue, which con- tains no preservatives and yet has not decayed in over 800 years. When we approach the altar for communion, the priest holds up the Host and says, "The Body of Christ." And we respond "Amen," which is an a– rmation of truth, of our belief. This in turn means that a signifi cant percentage of Catholics on any given Sunday are essentially standing up there and saying they believe it when they don't. Which is unfortunate, to say the least. The Vatican II document Lumen Gentium called the Eucharist "The source and summit of Christian life." Through it, Christ truly becomes one with us. His Body is incorporated into our bodies. We become "one fl esh." He isn't just a spiritual presence in our lives. He actually lives in us in the most real, most tangible way possible. Through worthily receiving him, we are transformed. We put on Christ, we become "new creations." We are energized and empowered to bring him to the world. Even apart from receiving him, he changes us through this Blessed Sacrament. St. Teresa of Calcutta and her sisters spent an hour each day adoring Jesus in the Eucharist. She said that her sisters would not have been able to do the work they did for a single week without the graces they received from that time of adoration. She also said: Adoration of the Blessed Sacra- ment is the best time you will spend on earth. It will make your soul ever- lastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven. A Holy Hour of adoration helps bring everlasting peace to your soul and in your family. It brings us personal peace and strength. It brings us a greater love for Jesus, for each other, and for the poor. Every holy hour deepens our union with Him and bears much fruit. It saddens me that so many Catholics leave the Church, not understanding the great Eucharistic treasure they are renouncing. And it saddens me even more that so many who remain either don't understand or have lost their faith in this most precious gift. I want to encourage all of you to re-discover the Eucharist. You can't just passively settle for learning what- ever you hear in the Sunday homily. The saints have been writing about the glories of the Eucharist for as long as we have had saints. Google it. Read and meditate. Better yet, read and meditate in his very presence, in your local Eucharistic Adoration chapel. And then receive him often, and worthily. Don't be the disciple who walks away. Be the one who stays at the Master's feet. He has the words of eternal life. The Catholic Reader R. Jared Staudt, PhD, is a husband and father of six, the director of formation for the Archdiocese of Denver, a Benedictine oblate, prolifi c writer, and insatiable reader. DR. R. JARED STAUDT Why stay in the Church?

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