BY SUZANNE HAUGH

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Even at the time of Christ’s institution of the Eucharist, his disciples debated its meaning and significance. Informal discussions and formal ecumenical dialogues continue today while the faithful still heed Christ’s command at the Last Supper: “Do this in memory of me.”

In his 1995 encyclical entitled “Ut Unum Sint” (That All May Be One), Pope John Paul II places a high priority on efforts toward obtaining Christian unity, efforts, he hopes, that one day lead to a common eucharistic table for all Christians.

To arrive at this moment, the pope urges further study of, among other areas, “the Eucharist, as the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, an offering of praise to the Father, the sacrificial memorial and real presence of Christ and the sanctifying outpouring of the Holy Spirit.” (Ut Unum Sint, 79)

Trying to sift through the differences in belief and practice concerning the Eucharist among Christian denominations can be “like putting your hand in sand,” according to Father Richard Lopez, religion teacher at St. Pius X High School, Atlanta. Still, taking a moment to look at neighboring denominations can increase understanding and mutual respect, while offering helpful insights into one’s own faith tradition.

CATHOLIC

The Eucharist is “the source and summit” of the Catholic faith since it is the Eucharist that forms and sustains the church. (Lumen Gentium, Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on the Church)

“...the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is placed on the altar before us. Not just a sign, not just indication or illustration, but the very Body and Blood,” Archbishop John F. Donoghue wrote in a pastoral letter on the Eucharist in 1993.

Father Lopez has the challenge of teaching high school students about Christ’s presence in the Eucharist.

“What happens in history is made present in mystery,” he tells his students.

He introduces them to the Eucharist as Christ’s real presence among us and uses the analogy of an iceberg.

“What you don’t see is so awesome ... If you see with the eyes of faith, heaven and earth are united ... He’s there; our job is to present ourselves to receive him.”

Using eyes of faith, one must see and accept without skepticism the eucharistic mystery Catholics celebrate. Archbishop Donoghue writes:

“Christ’s words were these: ‘This is my body...This is my blood’ Why should we doubt this, or try to explain it? ... Do we question the miracle by which life is created, or suppose that life is less miraculous because science has the expertise to describe it? Do we question the feelings that well up inside us when we see a mother nursing her baby, or a father placing his life on the line for the sake of his child? It is the same kind of profound reaction with which we must greet the miraculous words of our Savior, those words which daily bring to life a sacrifice and a triumph enacted in the past but ‘re-presented’ daily in the Holy Mass.”

The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 adopted the term transubstantiation to describe the eucharistic mystery. According to Kevin Orland Johnson, Ph.D., author of the book “What Catholics Believe,” transubstantiation is the opposite of transformation in which the substance of something stays the same but its appearance changes.

“Transubstantiation means that the appearance of the bread and wine stays the same, but their substance is changed, as Christ said at the Last Supper, the last Passover meal that he celebrated with the Apostles.”

Only validly ordained priests can repeat the words of consecration over the bread and wine. Through this prayer, outside and beyond the imperfections of the priest, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, “Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1413)

Because the Catholic Church holds this belief to be true, and in order that all who receive Christ’s body and blood can be united in his Mystical Body on earth through a unified faith, only Catholics can receive Communion in the Catholic Church. Baptized Catholics first receive Communion between the ages of seven or eight when they reach the age of discretion and can be taught about the Eucharist.

“For Protestants, the Eucharist is a means to unity. For Catholics, it’s a sign of unity,” Father Lopez said.

Since separated Eastern churches, such as the Orthodox Church, have apostolic succession (the relation of validly ordained bishops to the Apostles) and have validly ordained ministers and common beliefs concerning the Eucharist, a Catholic may receive Communion in one of these churches and vice versa if one is in spiritual need and does not have access to a Catholic priest.

However, Catholics are not permitted to receive Communion in other denominational liturgies because to do so would be to overlook the lack of unity concerning beliefs and, in some cases, the lack of apostolic succession and of a validly ordained minister.

Catholics are obligated to receive Communion at least once a year, particularly at Easter, but are encouraged to receive the Eucharist frequently, even daily.

To prepare to receive Communion, Catholics should fast an hour prior to Mass and must first receive the sacrament of penance/reconciliation if they have committed a mortal sin. A mortal sin is “sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.” (Catechism, 1857) A “grave matter” corresponds to any of the Ten Commandments.

Educating oneself and meditating on the depth of the Eucharist helps one stay focused and appreciate the Eucharist, said Father Larry Niese, parochial vicar at the Church of the Holy Cross, Atlanta, who serves on the Eucharistic Renewal Committee for the archdiocese.

“A conversion of heart and mind is an ongoing process,” he said. “Kids from the best families need adult conversions ... Faith without knowledge will die.”

Father Niese recommended exploring how Christ’s Last Supper is the fulfillment of the Jewish Passover.

“We miss so much richness if we don’t understand the Passover. (The Israelites) were eating because they were on a journey. We, too, are on a journey, hopefully to heaven. The Eucharist is real food and drink to help us.”

ORTHODOX

The “Sacrament of sacraments,” the Eucharist, is commonly called the Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Church.

“The Orthodox faith participates in that sacrament more than any other,” said Father Jim A. Karagas of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Augusta. “It’s not symbolic, but truly is the Body and Blood of Christ given to us for the spiritual nourishment we need.”

Father Karagas emphasized that the Eucharist must be celebrated often.

“If we go back to our Greek ... Christ used the vocative case, meaning a continual command (when he instituted the Eucharist) ... There’s no mistake what he implied. ‘Take and eat my body broken (for you).’ It just wasn’t that one time; it’s continual.”

Practicing members of the Orthodox Church are encouraged to receive the sacrament of reconciliation, attend Vespers services, read Communion prayers prior to the Mass and fast on Wednesdays and Fridays in preparation for receiving Holy Communion, also called the Holy Gifts.

Those of the Orthodox faith abstain from certain foods on Wednesday, in remembrance of Judas’ betrayal of Christ, and on Friday, in remembrance of Christ’s crucifixion on the cross. There is a complete fast from Saturday evening until receiving Communion at the Sunday liturgy.

“Preparing for the Eucharist is not limited to fasting,” Father Karagas said. “Not only must we control what goes in our mouths but also what goes out. We must present Christian morals and values, and be philanthropic and prayerful ... You don’t decide to help an old lady cross the street on Wednesday and Friday and then rob a bank on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday.”

Only those who feel themselves properly prepared to receive Communion approach the altar. The Orthodox Church encourages parishioners to come prepared, if not every Sunday, at least once a month.

“The faithful should receive (the Eucharist) as frequently as they can,” Father Karagas said. “We should be in constant vigil ... It’s an error to think that I can pick and choose when to receive. To follow Christ as an Orthodox, I must accept everything.”

After the Breaking of the Lamb, the priest consumes each consecrated element separately but then combines the Holy Body and Precious Blood of Christ in a chalice. Parishioners then receive both elements combined using a common spoon. This practice goes back to the early church. In its beginning, members received the elements separately.

“But some people were erring. They did not consume all of the Body at one time. They would take it home, possibly drop it along the way, lose it or forget about it,” Father Karagas said. “The church in its wisdom said that we need to combine the (elements) and give it to them all at once.”

Since receiving the Holy Gifts is a sign of the Orthodox faith, only those who are baptized, chrismated (confirmed), and practicing members of the Orthodox Church should participate in Communion. With the only difference among all Orthodox Christians, Greek and Russian for instance, being their language, each can receive Communion in any Orthodox Church. One can become a full member of the Orthodox Church as early as infancy.

Once the Eucharist concludes, the congregation receives a portion of the liturgical bread, called antithoron, meaning “instead of the Gift.” This bread has been blessed but not consecrated. The purpose of receiving the blessed bread is twofold, Father Karagas said. First, chewing the antithoron cleanses one’s mouth so that Christ’s body and blood are fully consumed.

“(And) those individuals who possibly did not receive the Body and Blood of Christ are receiving a blessing.”

Father Karagas agreed that the Eucharist for the Orthodox believer was food for the journey, “it being a lifelong journey to having communion with God.”

EPISCOPAL

For Episcopalians, the Eucharist is “the principal act of Christian worship,” according to the “Book of Common Prayer.”

Bishop Frank Allan of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta said that there has been “substantial agreement” between the Episcopal Church and the Catholic Church on the practice and nature of the Eucharist. The most significant similarities, he said, include “the basic shape of the Eucharist--the offering, blessing/thanksgiving, breaking, sharing--(and) a deeper understanding of the meaning of ‘Eucharistic presence.’”

For Episcopalians, the Eucharist is more than just a remembrance of Jesus’ Last Supper, Bishop Allan said.

“We talk of the Real Presence,” he said. “ ... The presence of Christ takes place in the assembly as we bless, break and share (Communion) … It’s in the whole action of the community.”

The Dublin Report contains an official statement of the Anglican Communion on the Eucharist:

“The mystery of Christ’s presence is given unique expression, to be discerned by faith, in the whole sacramental action when the bread and wine are taken, ‘eucharistized,’ distributed, and consumed, in remembrance of him. This remembrance or anamnesis is no mere mental recollection, but effects a real encounter with the Lord in his saving acts, especially his atoning death and victorious resurrection. In appointing bread and wine as the visible and tangible means of the presence of his body and blood, the Lord affirms that participating in the sacrament allows the faithful communicant to truly feed upon his sacrificial life.”

The Episcopal Church allows all baptized Christians to receive Communion, if their own church allows them to do so. It is the belief of the Episcopal Church that “baptism is the sacrament of initiation that brings Christians together,” Bishop Allan said, and that the Eucharist is a “means to unity” of all Christians.

“Individual worshippers bring various meanings and perspectives with them when they participate in the Eucharist,” he said. “ … (Christians) come together in love and charity with their neighbor.”

While some Protestant denominations limit their commemoration of the Last Supper to monthly services, Bishop Allan said that celebrating it weekly, as the Episcopal Church does, “forms a habit of the heart.”

Some Protestants believe that celebrating the Eucharist too often reduces its impact, but Bishop Allan said, “It’s like saying I’m only going to see my wife once a month … If you don’t (celebrate the Eucharist), you don’t come to love it.”

There is no formal preparation for first Communion in the Episcopal Church. Since baptism is full initiation into the community of Christ, even infants may receive the sacrament. Parents decide when their children are ready to receive Communion on a regular basis.

Like the Catholic Church, Sunday liturgies in the Episcopal Church follow a set structure and are spoken in the language of those gathered.

The Episcopal Church has felt the effects of “a liturgical renewal” among many Protestant denominations now re-emphasizing the Eucharist. Bishop Allan said that while the shape and skeleton of the current eucharistic prayer would remain the same, “the Episcopal Church is becoming less dependent on one prayer book. In the future it will be one among many resources.”

The Episcopal Church also sees that those who are bedridden or hospitalized receive Communion much like eucharistic ministers to the sick in the Catholic Church.

Beyond a means of unifying Christians in Christ’s presence, the Eucharist in the Episcopal Church is a “sacrament of memory, of hope, of what Christ has done, how he died and has risen,” Bishop Allan said. It also offers “a foretaste of what is to come at the heavenly banquet.”

Upon the dismissal from the liturgy, the congregation is called to “take the Eucharist into the world to feed those who are empty,” Bishop Allan said.

LUTHERAN

A common misperception of Lutherans’ doctrine on the Eucharist is that they believe in consubstantiation, according to the Rev. Harold Skillrud, bishop emeritus of the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Consubstantiation is the belief that the body and blood of Christ coexist with the bread and wine of Holy Communion. He said that the Lutheran Church is often misquoted on this point in dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Retired Bishop Skillrud has played a major role in discussions between the Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches, serving as co-chair of the USA Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue from 1990-97.

“(Martin) Luther did not stray far (from the Catholic Church),” Bishop Skillrud said. “... Our favorite phrase (when talking about the Eucharist) would be that we believe in the Real Presence without defining how the Real Presence is in, with and under the bread and wine.”

“It’s indefinable as to how Christ is present, but Christ promised that we receive him personally,” he said, “This is not because of the person who is officiating, although the consecration of the elements is limited to clergy, but because it’s the promise of God.”

Lutherans commonly refer to the Eucharist as Holy Communion or Lord’s Supper and use the “Lutheran Book of Worship” for their liturgies.

While there is a real trend toward recognizing the importance of the Eucharist within the Lutheran tradition, and the liturgical renewal places Holy Communion at the center of the church’s liturgical life, Bishop Skillrud said, not all congregations celebrate the Eucharist weekly.

One reason for this dates back to the early history of the Lutheran Church in the United States.

“A change in practice took place when people settled in the West with a limited number of pastors,” Bishop Skillrud said. “It did not lend itself to retaining the traditions they knew in Europe. The influence of other Protestant denominations also contributed to this. But now (congregations) are coming back to celebrating (the Eucharist) more frequently.”

Today each congregation decides how often it celebrates Holy Communion, but the church-wide organization strongly supports weekly Communion, which is what Luther instructed.

“In recent years there has been an effort to return to the original practices of the Reformers … Luther was an extremely conservative Reformer who only wanted to purify elements he thought inappropriate.”

The age at which Lutherans receive Holy Communion varies. Bishop Skillrud said children usually receive their first Communion around the fifth grade after their parents and the pastor agree the child is ready and has completed preparatory classes.

“There is a movement within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to make it earlier, possibly in infancy,” he said.

There are two large branches of the Lutheran Church in the United States: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. The ELCA does state that any baptized Christian who shares a common faith that Jesus Christ is truly present in the sacrament, and comes in repentance and faith, may be admitted to the Lord’s table.

“An announcement is made at every service about what we believe Communion to be; that in, with and under the bread and wine, we receive the true Body and Blood of Christ. All Christians who share in this faith and who are baptized Christians are welcome to commune … There’s a clear distinction that you must be a baptized Christian and share in our belief.”

While there is no difference in understanding what Holy Communion is for the two branches of the Lutheran Church, reception in the Missouri Synod would often be “limited” to parishioners or members of the other Missouri Synod congregations only.

Holy Communion is presented under both species. Methods of distributing the consecrated wine include having communicants drink directly from a chalice or dispensing it to the congregation from a pouring chalice into small cups.

For Lutherans, Holy Communion is a sacrament of joy and thanksgiving and “a gift from God that assures us of Christ’s forgiveness and presence with us,” Bishop Skillrud said.

Editor’s Note: Gayle Coloquitt White, religion writer for The Atlanta Journal & Constitution, offers a brief overview of various beliefs of world religions in her book entitled “Believers and Beliefs.”