Mysterium Fidei
Cobh
11 August 2024
My friends,
Immediately after the consecration I and every celebrant make the simple but profound declaration ‘The Mystery of Faith’ to which we respond as an act of faith and devotion “My Lord and my God”. We mark this sacred moment with silence or a bell to alert us to its profound meaning. This has been the case across the centuries in the sacramental life of the Church. Nevertheless, the meaning of the presence of Christ as Mass, at the Eucharist has not been without controversy and disagreement.
In the tradition of the Catholic Church the Council of Trent’s definition of the Eucharistic presence of Christ to us at Mass is a Real Presence. The word ‘transubstantiation’ came to express our understanding of the meaning of the action of consecration, effecting the Real Presence of Christ.
For people who do not share that faith this declaration of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist defies reason and makes no sense.
This is the case for many in the Protestant traditions for whom Christs Presence is usually characterised as ‘symbolic’. And while much progress has been made in ecumenical dialogue between the Churches differences of understanding remain which mean that tensions still prevail over the question of inter-communion.
My friends, these weeks we are reading segments of the 6th chapter of St. John’s Gospel, from what is often referred to as the ‘Bread of Life’ discourse. St. John’s Gospel, we know was written quite a while after the other gospels and so we know it reflects the experience the celebration of Mass/Eucharist in the life of the early Church. The language is precise, direct, yet poetic almost, in its wrestling with putting words on the nature of Christs presence to us when we gather in his name for Mass.
Over the centuries saints, theologians and musical composers have wrestled with the challenge to give adequate human expression to The Mystery of Faith/Mysterium Fidei.
‘Panis Angelicus’, the Bread of Angels which when well sung sends a chill through the spine of people of deep faith and indeed none.
Because that Mystery of Faith is so central to the life of the Church – several practical expressions of that faith form part and parcel of our devotion.
Before the Blessed Sacrament we genuflect or bow in an act of reverence.
We keep a Sanctuary Lamp burning as a sign of the perpetual presence of Christ among us.
We set time aside for prayer before the Monstrance that holds the Blessed Sacrament.
At extended intervals a Eucharistic Congress is convened to continue reflection on its meaning and to re-animate our appreciation of its blessing in life.
We live in an age that is indifferent to the sacred – that which we hold dear and revere as special, important and essential to our humanity namely to acknowledge that which is beyond our sight even our understanding - the Transcendent. Our world is poorer in the absence of that faith.
Rather than being aghast and offended by indifference – it is best that we humbly remain faithful to the Eucharistic reality we experience each time we gather for Mass.
