Many Catholics struggle with the question, “How do you know the Communion host and the chalice of wine turn into the true body and blood of Jesus when the Mass celebrant raises the host and chalice and pronounces the words of institution: “This is my body, this is the chalice of my blood …? ”
Studying eucharistic miracles and reading about scientific research providing such evidence offers “pointers” and helps satisfy the need for proof. But focusing only on physical proof can prevent one from seeing the bigger miracle, that when we receive Communion we become the body and blood of Christ to others, according to Father Tat Hoang CSsR, pastor of St. Gerard Majella Church in Baton Rouge.
Father Hoang has given presentations on the Eucharist in churches in the diocese of Baton Rouge as part of a national three-year eucharistic revival.
Celebrating Mass gives Father Hoang joy but he sees where people may need a deeper understanding of Mass. After receiving Communion, people would seem even sadder or no energy afterwards.
He said “by providence” he was approached by Catholic Life Television a few years ago to do a video series about living the Mass daily. This has led him to doing presentations on the Eucharist at church parishes in the diocese.
One of the eucharistic miracles is the physical changes that occur when the Communion host actually becomes the flesh of Christ, Father Hoang noted. But to prove that there must be a church investigation.
There’s also a purpose behind the miracle as well as a big responsibility for the person or people witnessing the miracle.
Father Hoang noted people tend to be afraid to attend Mass at St. Gerard, located in North Baton Rouge, because it is located in an area facing challenges of high poverty and crime.
“If you can make one miracle like that happen here once a year, you would see this church filled with people,” Father Hoang mused. “You can attract a lot of people but what does God want us to do? God wants us to have faith. What is faith? Believing in something you can’t see.
“Jesus said, ‘Blessed are you who cannot see, but believe.’ ”
Another part of the miracle is when people attend Mass they not only celebrate the present moment but the past through the proclamation of the word from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
“We remember that Jesus Christ died with blood shed on Calvary, the Passion of Christ. A lot of people don’t get that,” said Father Hoang.
And from there we celebrate the present moment, in which Jesus is present in the Eucharist and the community.”
Father Hoang pointed to Venerable Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan as a great modern witness to the Eucharist. Pope Francis declared Cardinal Van Thuan venerable in 2017.
In the midst of the Vietnam War, in April 1975, Venerable Cardinal Van Thuan was appointed coadjutor bishop of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. When Saigon fell to the communists, they saw the Vatican’s appointment of a popular bishop as resisting the communist takeover and arrested Venerable Cardinal Van Thuan. He spent nine of his 13 years of imprisonment in solitary confinement.
While in prison, Venerable Cardinal Thuan served people and celebrated Mass at night when the lights were out. He made a cross from wood and wire secretly given to him from some guards and used his hands as the altar. He recited the missal from memory and consecrated smuggled Communion hosts sent by his family in a flashlight as well small amounts of wine in containers labeled “medicine for stomachaches.”
The prison ministry of Venerable Cardinal Van Thuan, author of the book “Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison,” evangelized others. He converted not only prisoners but guards, who had to be replaced regularly.
Father Hoang pointed out that Venerable Cardinal Thuan, who said “the Eucharist shapes Christians,” made comments that testify to his devotion to the Eucharist. These include: “If you have lost everything but still have the Blessed Sacrament, you actually still have everything, because you have the Lord of heaven present here on earth.”
St. Teresa of Calcutta was also devoted to the Eucharist, Father Hoang said. When bishops asked what she needed, she would tell them, “I don’t need anything but the Mass.”
Renowned for her mission among the poor and founding the Missionaries of Charity, the Eucharist also shaped St. Teresa’s ministry.
“Mother Teresa said, ‘If you see Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, you must see Jesus in the poor,’ ” said Father Hoang.
And the most sacred response to receiving the Eucharist is from the Blessed Mother, Father Hoang emphasized. When the archangel Gabriel announced God’s plan that she would bear the savior of the world in her womb, she replied, “Behold I am a handmaid of the Lord.”
In the same way, people receive Jesus in their bodies at Communion.
“So when we receive Jesus at Communion, hopefully we are able to say ‘Behold, I am a servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.’ You surrender yourself,” Father Hoang said.
He challenged people, “Allow God to work through you, to transform you, to make you a new person, that Jesus Christ that you just received, throughout the day, throughout the week.”