Faith Enkindled through Actions
Last week, I wrote an article on how, through small actions, we can cultivate a deeper devotion to the Holy Eucharist. Little ways in which our hearts respond to the fundamental gift that we have in the Catholic Church, namely, Jesus Christ truly and substantially present in the Eucharist. I would like to continue with this theme and turn your attention to how similar acts emphasize to others the reality of what we believe.
Lex orandi, lex credendi is a theological term that is usually applied to liturgical theology. It literally translates to the law of prayer [is] the law of belief. Basically, how we pray is directly related to what we believe. When non-Catholics and fallen away Catholics enter our parishes in the United States, what do they see? Do they experience the joy of Christ in the members present? Are they in awe of the silence within the sanctuary and the reverent celebration of Holy Mass? Are the People of God demonstrating to others, by their actions, the reality of Christ’s presence? How we show reverence will exhibit to the world, and Catholics who do not believe, that there is something different here. God is present.
As Catholics, how we act in our sacred spaces matters. From the moment we enter the Church, bless ourselves, and genuflect to our Lord, we are being observed. The observers are our neighbors, family members, visitors, stubborn teenagers who don’t want to be there, and non-Catholics. Why does it matter to be aware of this? It’s because almost 70% of Catholics who go to Mass regularly don’t believe in the Real Presence. Most children, after a certain age, lose their faith and stop attending Mass entirely. At the 2019 USCCB’s assembly, Bishop Robert Barron, “presented some sobering statistics: for every one person joining the Church today, 6.45 are leaving. Almost eight in ten leave by the age of 23, and the median age for leaving the Church is just 13 years old.”[1]
We hear time and time again, that there is a crisis in the Church, but what can we do? As the laity, we can start acting out what we say we believe. If we say that Jesus is present in the tabernacle, we genuflect. Bowing is appropriate if one cannot genuflect, but the norm is to genuflect before Jesus. We should also leave our socializing for the social hall, where we can fill our bellies with coffee and donuts and catch up with our neighbors. Maintaining a pious silence in the Church reminds everyone around us that God is physically present, and we need to talk to Him. Every little act tells our observers that this place is sacred because Jesus is dwells in our midst.
Another small act we can do to move hearts to grow in faith is to consider the manner we receive our Lord in Holy Communion. In the Roman Rite, the faithful receive Our Lord, for the most part, in two ways: in the hand or on the tongue. Both methods are completely acceptable and are permitted by the Church.
“Although each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at his choice, if any communicant should wish to receive the Sacrament in the hand, in areas where the Bishops’ Conference with the recognitio of the Apostolic See has given permission, the sacred host is to be administered to him or her.” (Redemptionis Sacramentum, 92)
However, I sincerely believe that more frequent use of reception on the tongue would reinforce to our observers the reality of the Real Presence. Receiving on the tongue communicates that the Eucharist is not like any other piece of food.
“For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.” (First Apology of Justin Martyr, Chapter 66)
As the world becomes darker and darker, I pray that through these small acts, we can keep the flame of faith alive both in the world and in the Church. That we can set the world on fire with not only what we say but what we do. For “Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which He looks Compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes. You are His body.” (St. Teresa of Avila)
[1] Hadro, Matt. “What’s Going to Bring the ‘nones’ Back to the Church?” Catholic News Agency, June 13, 2019. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/41555/whats-going-to-bring-the-nones-back-to-the-church.