Dr. Tim Gray, the current president of the Augustine Institute, has said that “The Eucharist is the test of faith.” This insight is illustrated clearly and powerfully in the final verses of the 6th chapter of St. John’s Gospel, which we will hear at Mass this coming Sunday. Our Lord has just promised to give the world the most precious gift of all — the gift of himself — under the appearances of bread and wine. In response to his words, a significant number of the people in the assembled crowd experience anger — an anger that borders on apoplexy. Sadly, this includes some who had previously considered themselves to be disciples of Jesus. They say to one another, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”
Scripture tells us that at that point many of these disciples of our Lord “returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” In commenting on this tragic event, the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers this insight: “The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the Passion scandalized them: ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ The Eucharist and the Cross are stumbling blocks. It is the same mystery and it never ceases to be an occasion of division.” (CCC 1336)
It’s sadly ironic that the sacrament which fosters the greatest unity among believers sometimes leads to the deepest divisions. Perhaps one reason for this is that many people have difficulty understanding how the almighty, omniscient, eternal God can be present in such a small “package.” As Mother Teresa once put it: “How much smaller could he have made himself than a little piece of bread — the Bread of Life? How much more weak and helpless?”
The idea that God would give himself to human beings in this way can be difficult to grasp and understand. That’s why Tim Gray called the Eucharist “the” test of faith. But this has been the constant and consistent teaching of the Church from apostolic times, as John 6 makes clear. The skeptics and unbelievers, unfortunately, will always be present (as they were when Jesus gave the Bread of Life Discourse in John 6), but there are positive signs that their numbers, praise God, are decreasing. According to a relatively recent survey (in 2022) by Vinea Research, 69% of Catholics who attend Mass sometime during the year believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. That number increases to 81% when only those who go to Mass every week are considered, and it jumps to 92% when only considering the responses of those who go to Mass more than once a week.
Those figures are higher than they’ve been in many previous polls — which is very good news.
Of course, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we should not be satisfied until every Catholic — until every human person — says “Amen” to the truth about the Eucharist. Witnessing to that truth and helping others to embrace it was part of the mission that was given to the 60,000 participants in the National Eucharistic Congress in July. But that’s really the mission — the responsibility — of every Catholic. May the Lord Jesus, who comes to us in the Blessed Sacrament, help us to fulfill that mission well each and every day.
