In 2019, a Pew Research Center survey found that “nearly seven in ten Catholics (69%) say they personally believe that during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine used in Holy 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.’” The United States Conference of American Bishops reacted quickly to clarify what is meant by the “Real Presence” of Christ at Mass. Corpus Christi Sunday is an opportunity to reflect on the presence of Christ in the Mass.
It must be said, however, that, the Pew survey was flawed, allowing only two possible answers, both poorly framed: “Regardless of the official teaching of the Catholic Church, what do you personally believe about the bread and wine used for Communion? During Catholic Mass, the bread and wine…[1] Actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ [2] Are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” The question over-simplifies “symbol,” misunderstands “transubstantiation” of the bread and wine, and omits the rich concept of the presence of Christ. Authentic Catholic teaching on the presence of Christ in the Eucharist insists on a fourfold presence of Christ – in the people, in the Word, in the priest-presider, and in the Eucharistic elements.
It is better to focus on the Eucharist (Greek “thanksgiving”) instead of Real Presence. The New Testament has four accounts of its institution (1 Cor 11:23-25; Matt 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:17-20; cf. John 6: 32-58). From earliest times, the Eucharist was a regular part of worship and Christians referred to the elements of bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Christ. Even when Christians spoke of the elements as “symbols” or “antitypes,” there was no intention of denying the Presence. As early as the fourth century, language about the transformation of the elements became customary. Even before this period, some theologians wrote as if they believed in the persistence of the bread and wine after the consecration, whereas others wrote as though they held them to be no longer there. That same division of opinion has persisted in Western Christendom and remains a live question for some Christians, especially for heirs of the sixteenth-century Reformation. The Catholic Church, however, has always insisted on the word transubstantiation, though in recent years it has allowed alternative expressions for the same reality.
Other important aspects of the Eucharist should not be neglected. One aspect is that is a covenant meal, recalling the Lord’s choice of Israel in Exodus. The Lord chose Israel as “my treasured possession among all peoples, though all the earth is mine. You will be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation,” to which the people responded positively (Exod 19:5-6) The covenant was adopted at a meal in which all the people were represented (Exodus 24). That extraordinary meal is celebrated today in the Eucharist, allowing Christians to be assured of the Lord’s election of them and of his presence among them especially in eucharistic assemblies.