Real flesh, real blood

Today, Holy Thursday, the mood in the Catholic world shifts slightly towards subdued joy as it recalls the founding of the Holy Eucharist. It was at the Last Supper in the presence of all his disciples when the Lord did it. Here's the account of Luke on this:

“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said a blessing and broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying, Take and eat: this is my body. The he took a cup and gave thanks, and passed it to them saying, “Drink this, all of you for this is my blood, the blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins…”

The Last Supper was actually the Lord's farewell feast before he underwent his passion and death. It was a sorrowful occasion and the disciples knew it. For have not their Master told him on two or three occasions about his rendezvous with the Cross? One can imagine that all of them, except Judas Escariot, had a heavy heart as they partook their meals. They must have felt too the ill winds of fear, since they were also vulnerable to persecution by the authorities.

As the minutes ticked by in that sublime gathering, was there joy in each one of them? It's difficult to believe there was. In fact, even the Lord himself, as he prayed in the garden sometime later was filled with “anguish and distress”. And while the Lord prayed, the disciples fell asleep, except the traitor who was busy negotiating with the enemy. But who could blame them? Even until that fateful night those simple, humble believers could not understand what was happening. Their master was God himself they knew, but how could God suffer and die?

The happiness arising from the Last Supper was therefore intended for later Christians like us to feel and glory at. In the Holy Eucharist is the presence of Jesus, as real as any human being. He is there to be with us as we struggle to survive physically and spiritually in this world. It is not an easy strife because the enemy is ever around and active. We need therefore the Lord's guiding hand all the time in order not to fall.

To be sure, many people find it hard to accept the presence of Jesus in the bread and wine. Even Catholics, the lukewarm ones especially, suffer from some kind of crisis of faith and because of this the reality of the Divine Being in the tabernacle eludes them. If they only knew that what they are “eating” is the Divine Essence itself they would be overwhelmed by the gravity of this happening. God in front of you and God becoming a part of you - who can endure it all?

Those who doubt this truth should be reminded of the Eucharistic miracle that happened in Lanciano, Italy, in the 8th century A.D. One day about 1, 200 years ago a Basilian monk was celebrating the Holy Mass in Latin with a host of unleavened bread. As he was doing the Consecration he started doubting the real and substantial presence of the Flesh and Blood of our Lord Jesus in the Holy Species. After having pronounced the words of the Consecration the monk saw the host change into a living piece of Flesh and the wine into real blood.

Over the past twelve centuries several bishops of the diocese of Lanciano made authentications of the Host-Flesh and Blood and all concluded that the facts were miraculous and true. In the twentieth century, in 1970-71 to be specific, a scientific investigation was conducted by three scientists who concluded that: the Flesh is real flesh; the Blood is real blood and that both belong to the human species.

More miraculous is the fact that the Flesh and the Blood, which were left in their natural state for 12 centuries and exposed to the action of the atmosphere and biological agents, have remained preserved to this day.