.jpg)
The Rhode Island Catholic continues its series on the Eucharist for the second phase of the National Eucharistic Revival, speaking with Father Joseph Upton, pastor of St. Mary of the Bay Church and St. Alexander Church in Warren.
What are your first memories of the Eucharist?
My first memories of the Eucharist came well before my first Holy Communion. I remember going to Mass as a child and having a sense that what the priest was doing at the altar was not just symbolic. It wasn’t just gesturing. Of course I didn’t use that language at the time, but there was this sense that something radical was happening. The priest was bringing Jesus to us in a real way; that much I knew.
How did your devotion to the Eucharist develop?
Earlier in life, my experience of the Eucharist was marked by a personal intimacy with Christ. In receiving the Eucharist I had the feeling that Jesus was giving Himself to me personally. In receiving Communion there was this real sense of being one with Christ — me receiving Christ and Christ receiving me as well. As my Eucharistic faith matured, I came to appreciate the Eucharist as the sacrament of unity, uniting me not only with Christ but with his whole Body, the Church. I came to appreciate more and more the communal dimensions of our Eucharistic faith as my vocation matured.
How do you see the Revival happening in your parish?
I have thought a lot about the Revival and how we can better pass on the richness of the Church’s teaching on the Real Presence. For me, I’ve been using the phrase “integral Eucharistic theology,” and what I mean is a theology of the Eucharist that is not just devotional or catechetical — important as those dimensions are. I want to be clear that I am not downplaying them. But I think it is important that we do not simply, for example, emphasize devotion to the reserved Blessed Sacrament, or just reiterate catechetical formulations, as necessary as they are. Those are, no doubt, essential. But up and down the centuries the Church has maintained that our reverence and reception of the Eucharist should challenge us, to use Augustine’s phrase, “to become what we receive.” So there is clearly a communal or horizontal dimension to the Eucharist in that we receive Him, but then are called to go and serve Him in the least of our brothers and sisters.
Can you tell us more about this idea of “Eucharistic charity?”
The Eucharist is called the Sacrament of Charity for a reason. In Communion, we receive the One who poured Himself out in sacrificial love for each one of us. We who receive Him sacramentally are called to do the same: pour ourselves out in loving service to others. This is done, of course, through the power of His grace. We cannot rely on our own effort or virtue alone. But we imitate Christ’s self-emptying love by serving others. There is a clear connection then between receiving Christ in the Eucharist and giving of ourselves.
How might a person foster a Eucharistic faith at home?
The Church teaches that parents have the privileged and primary role of educating their children in the faith. It is important that parents heed this call and responsibility, especially today in a largely disenchanted, secular age. I’m not a parent, and I know how demanding family life can be just from talking with parishioners and friends who have families. But I know that those parents who try and teach their children the faith and about the Eucharist nearly always pass it on because of their own enthusiasm.
I think it is important that parents foster in their children a hunger for the Eucharist. All of us had to be taught what was good to desire as children. Think of the parent trying to get their child to eat something that is healthy. The child might not have a desire for healthy food initially; it must be taught and learned. The parent has to create a desire for something that the child may not necessarily perceive to be good.
Practically speaking, I know some of our parish families with young children use faith-based books and activities at home and they tell me the kids really enjoy them. I think that is a wonderful way to foster Eucharistic devotion in children. And parents have an opportunity to grow in their own knowledge of our Eucharistic faith by teaching their children. You never know something as well as when you have to teach it to someone else.
What are you doing at St. Mary of the Bay and St. Alexander’s to foster faith and Eucharistic devotion this year?
We do a number of things. To begin, we just began offering a 24-hour period of Eucharistic Adoration once a month at St. Alexander Church. Jennifer Smith, one of our parishioners, organized this and it has been a massive success in that we have had far more people sign up than we anticipated. Along with that, we have a robust social ministry that includes a food pantry, migrant and refugee ministry, pregnancy ministry, a charitable closet, our “Little Bookworms” and “Mountain Movers,” Masses for those in Recovery, Hope and Cope (addiction ministry), and spiritual direction. We’re an active parish, to say the least. We believe that the more we come to reverence the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the more we are able to perceive his presence in the least among us.
