Eucharistic Miracles -- What Are They?
First, what does “Eucharist” mean?
“Jesus
took bread, and BLESSED, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said,
‘Take, eat; this is My Body.’ And He took a chalice and when He had given
THANKS he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it all of you, for this is My
Blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of
sins.” (Matthew 26:26-29.)
The
Greek work for “thanks” or “thanksgiving,” which is also implied in saying a
blessing, is “eucharist.” Because Jesus’ prayer over the bread and wine
includes thanksgiving, the word “Eucharist” is commonly used to refer to the
consecrated elements, now transformed from mere bread and wine into Jesus’ Body
and Blood, His human soul and His Divinity.
Do
we have to take this on faith? Yes, of course. All the mysteries of Christ are
appropriated by faith. Is there anything else? Yes, Holy Scripture. Jesus’
institution of the Eucharist is found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 1 Corinthians
11, and Jesus taught on the reality and meaning of the Eucharist in John Ch. 6
– which, incidentally, scandalized many, but Jesus didn’t backtrack no matter
who left Him because of His words.
Ok,
so is there anything else to support this assertion of the transformation of
bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ? Yes, hundreds of Eucharistic
miracles ever since Christ walked this earth with His human feet. And we want
to look at these because they are amazing!
Now,
in reality, every Eucharist prayer at Mass, in which the Holy Spirit transforms
the elements of bread and wine into the real Body and Blood of the Lord is a
miracle, the transformation is outside normal physical laws of this earth. But
the common experience, in God’s mercy for our human sensibilities in receiving
Holy Communion, is that the appearance of bread and wine remain while the
substance is transformed (technically, “transubstantiation”).
So
when we speak of “Eucharistic miracles” we usually are referring to the
extraordinary event of the consecrated elements (after the Eucharistic prayer
and action of the Holy Spirit) of bread and wine physically not only changing
into, but also appearing to human eyes and scientific examination to be truly
human flesh and human blood.
Never
heard of that? It’s true! Does it really happen? Yes! Hundreds of times in the
last 2000 years. And they still happen today! God gives us faith – but He also
gives us helps to faith.
Many
of these Eucharistic Miracles have been subject to scientific scrutiny. In
fact, for the last 20-25 years the Church has required such analysis before
accepting and proclaiming a specific Eucharist miracle to be of supernatural origin.
If
we were to see a Eucharistic Host (the Lord’s Body) which has red liquid
extruding from It, does knowing that the red blood cells of that liquid have
been counted, and serum protein electrophoresis testing has been done finding
this red liquid is normal blood – does that matter? Well, not to the reality;
but for the boost to our faith, yes, indeed! Does examination of the Body seen
there, showing the substance to actually be heart muscle tissue (not skin,
pancreatic, or other tissue) make a difference? Yes, to our faith, of course!
Eucharistic miracles are important for all the Church, and they sustain
faltering faith, and sometimes bring God’s gift of faith.
Do you think God wants to tell us something? Something about His Body? His Blood? His Heart? Well, let’s get the details in next week’s article.
Dibby Allan Green