The church is God’s primary instrument of salvation

Father John A. Kiley
Posted

In the United States worshippers at Mass are encouraged to kneel after the “Holy, Holy, Holy” and rise again at the “Great Amen,” just before the “Our Father.” This rubric is not mandated in some other countries.

But the universal law of the church definitively directs that all worshippers should kneel from the moment the celebrant imposes his hands over the bread and wine until the words, “Do this in remembrance of Me,” at the conclusion of the consecration. In addition to church law, liturgical custom enhances the importance of these solemn moments by the ringing of bells at the imposition of hands and at the dual consecration. Many would understand these midpoint actions to be the core of the Mass.

Perhaps every Catholic realizes the importance of the double consecration: “This is my body…This is the chalice of my blood . …” But the imposition or placing of the celebrant’s hands over the bread and wine just before the consecration might raise a concern. This significant gesture is known by its Greek name, “Epiclesis,” which means the invocation or the calling down. The priest is calling down the activity of the Holy Spirit, praying that the divine person will transubstantiate the bread and wine before him into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. In fact, eucharistic prayers II, III, and IV explicitly name the Spirit as the agent of change: “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The task of the Spirit is to make real the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Author Jeffrey Pinyan, citing St. John Damascene, understands a similarity between the descent of the Holy Spirit during Mass and the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Virgin Mary at Nazareth. At Mass the Spirit makes real the presence of Christ through the sacred species of bread and wine. At Nazareth, the Holy Spirit made real the presence of Christ through Jesus’ flesh and blood incarnation in the womb of Mary. What the Holy Spirit began in the Incarnation – the substantial presence of the Word-made-flesh among us – is continued in the Eucharist.

On this Solemnity of the Pentecost commemorating the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the gathered disciples at Jerusalem, a similar dimension of the work of the Spirit should be considered. The Holy Spirit incarnated Jesus Christ in the womb of his mother Mary at Nazareth. Catholics profess this belief Sunday after Sunday during the creed. The Holy Spirit transubstantiates Christ’s body and blood under the appearance of bread and wine at every Mass. This real presence is perhaps the hallmark of traditional Roman Catholicism. So, when the Holy Spirit hovered over the apostles in that upper room at Jerusalem, the divine Spirit was once again making Jesus Christ real this time in his mystical body that we know as the church. Natural body, eucharistic Body, mystical body – all three presences make Jesus Christ real and all three presences are the work of the Spirit.

The authentic Catholic proudly professes faith in the Incarnation. The Word did indeed become flesh and did dwell among us. The faithful Catholic gratefully acknowledges the wonder of transubstantiation. His flesh is real food and his blood is real drink. The true Catholic will accordingly accept that the church is undeniably the mystical body of Christ, promoting his Gospel, continuing his work, achieving his purposes. The organized church, whose birthday many celebrate today, is not merely a human vehicle for the betterment of society. The church is God’s primary and ordinary instrument of salvation among mankind. Abuses and excesses notwithstanding, the role of the church in salvation history is an article of faith along with the Incarnation and the Eucharist. “I believe in one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic church. …” The real Catholic will place faith in the church, be guided by the church, support the church and, hopefully, die in the church. The church is still the work of the Spirit.