The children’s expression “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”, is not true. Words have the power to build up or tear down if you let them. In this episode of By Your Life, we talk about the transformational power of words.
Mass Readings Audio
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/2020/20_06_14.mp3
Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ – June 14, 2020
Welcome to the one hundred and sixteenth episode of By Your Life. I’m Lisa Huetteman and I know that you have a hundred different things you could be doing right now, so I thank you for choosing By Your Life.
My goal is to inspire, empower, support, challenge, and encourage you to connect Sunday, with Monday-Friday, in a secular business world. It’s my desire to help you live our Catholic faith in the marketplace. I hope to offer you practical ways to go forth and glorify the Lord by your life.
In this edition, we’ll reflect on the readings for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. Several years ago shortly after the birth of his first son, Matthew Kelly wrote a book called The One Thing: Passing Faith Onto Children. In it writes about how Catholicism has affected his life and makes him a better-version-of-himself, but ponders if he could teach his son one thing about Catholicism, what would it be? That one thing, of course, is the one thing that distinguishes Catholicism from all other forms of Christianity: the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and this is what we celebrated in the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.
A Big Problem
Transubstantiation – the belief that during Mass, the bread and wine used for Communion become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ – is central to the Catholic faith. The Eucharist is the “source and summit of Christian life. (CCC 1324) Yet, a Pew Research Center survey conducted in February of 2019 and released last summer found “that most self-described Catholics don’t believe this core teaching. In fact, nearly seven-in-ten Catholics (69%) say they personally believe that during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine used in Communion ‘are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.’ Just one-third of U.S. Catholics (31%) say they believe that ‘during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus.’” That’s a problem, a big problem.
Bishop Robert Barron talked about this crisis when speaking at the 2020 Religious Education Congress in February of this year. He said, “The 70% exists because we’ve not been very effective at laying out this teaching.” He then lays out this teaching, beginning with Scripture, followed by Church teaching and practices throughout the centuries, summing up with St. Pope Paul VI’s 1965 encyclical on the Eucharist, Mysterium Fidei. .” (I encourage you to listen to his speech in its entirety.)
A Crisis of Faith
Bishop Barron is right that the Church hasn’t effectively communicated this mystery of our faith because 50% of Catholics either incorrectly think the Church teaches that bread and wine are only symbols or don’t know what the Church teaches. But there is another problem. 22% of the people surveyed understand the Church’s teaching on transubstantiation, but don’t believe it. What we have is a crisis of faith. As Monsignor Ronald Knox the Catholic priest and author said, “The great argument used now against any theological proposition is not, that it is untrue, or unthinkable, or unedifying, or unscriptural, or unorthodox, but simply, that the modern mind cannot accept it.”
This problem of not believing is not new. It goes back to the time of Christ when “many of his disciples who were listening said, ‘This saying is hard; who can accept it?’” (Jn 6:60) We are fighting a logical argument that what we see is not what is. “That in this sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood is something that cannot be apprehended by the senses, … but only by faith, which relies on divine authority.’ For this reason, St. Cyril says: “Do not doubt whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since he is truth, he cannot lie.’” (CCC 1381)
A Sad State
Our workplaces are also filled with a lack of belief. A few weeks ago, in Episode 112 of By Your Life, I mentioned an article in the Gallup Workplace blog that said “only 41% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they know what their company stands for, and only 27% strongly agree that they believe in their organization’s values.” If only 41% of U.S. employees know what their company stands for, then 59% don’t. We are failing on all counts as leaders and as Catholics to inspire a common belief in truths that guide our lives. We are indeed in a sad state where over 5 in 10 people work for and/or worship with organizations without even knowing what they believe.
Sharing Core Values
In business, great leaders know that communicating shared core values is their number one priority. Glenn Henderson, CEO of AFC Worldwide Express said, “The message of core values should be the drumbeat by which all leaders manage.” In fact, this is the third of five keys to values-centered leadership that I wrote about in my book, The Value of Core Values. Without consistent communication, core values, like vegetables in a garden that’s inconsistently watered, will die on the vine.
The message of core values should be the drumbeat by which all leaders manage. ~ Glenn HendersonFor a garden to grow, it must be regularly pruned, watered, weeded, and fertilized. You can’t do these things just once and expect the plants to thrive. Likewise, core values must be continuously and consistently promoted using multiple channels and techniques. Any good marketing executive knows that repetition increases impact. The same is true when communicating your company’s most important message: your core values. A half-hearted attempt to promote core values is not just ineffective; it’s detrimental. When you have identified and defined your company’s core values and don’t share them, the message comes through loud and clear that they’re unimportant and irrelevant.
Transformative Power of Words
But, when your core values are more than just words, they truly have the ability to transform your company’s culture and the bottom line. In one Gallup case study, a financial institution underwent a culture transformation process that started with clarifying its core values. Gallup’s client transformed its organizational culture by defining a set of core values. The client then used those values to guide all organizational efforts moving forward, from its talent management strategy to its employee recognition practices and customer experience programs. As a result, they increased their net profit by 85% in a five-year period.
Although the Church is concerned about eternal rewards, not profits, she knows the transformative power of words. “At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ’s Body and Blood.” (CCC 1333) The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares: “It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God’s. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.” (CCC 1375) And St. Ambrose said, “Could not Christ’s word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature.” (CCC 1375)
The Real Crisis
With the real presence, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in the Eucharistic celebration, why aren’t our churches filled to overflowing capacity every Sunday? Okay, these days we can blame the coronavirus pandemic and CDC social distancing guidelines, but what about before? The same Pew Research study revealed that of those Catholics who believe that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, only 63% attend Mass weekly or more frequently. 25% of those who believe this Church teaching only attend Mass monthly or yearly and 13% seldom or never go to Mass. I find it unbelievable that almost 4 in 10 people who believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, don’t bother to show up once a week to meet him there. This is the real crisis.
We see the fruit of the abandonment of the Eucharist spilling out into our streets. People are protesting for change, but how can we bring about change without a change in hearts. Only God can change hearts. If we want real change, we need to return to God and the Eucharist.
In our Gospel, Jesus told those present that “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (Jn 6:56) “The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus.” (CCC 1391) With Christ in us, we cannot hate. With Christ in us, we cannot harbor bitterness, jealousy, or resentment. This world will challenge us, but “as bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity.” (CCC 1394)
Imagine how different our world would be if those who respond to injustice with violence were to respond with charity instead. Imagine how different our world would be if we were all united with Christ. There would be no injustice to protest.
Be the Change
Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” If we want to see a change in the world, we must begin with a change in ourselves, a change that comes from uniting ourselves with Christ in the Eucharist. Since at the moment, we cannot sacramentally receive him, let’s pray for spiritual unity.
Be the change you wish to see in the world. ~ Mahatma Gandhi“My Jesus, I believe that you are really present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love you above all things, and I desire to possess you within my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as being already there and unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you.”
May God bless you abundantly and may you glorify the Lord by your life.
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