The On-going Presence of Christ

Someone recently told me a remarkable story.  It seems that when the Pope went to New York, he was scheduled to say Mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Before anyone was admitted to the Cathedral that morning, the bomb squad brought in their dogs to sniff out any danger that might be present in the church.  As soon as the dogs entered the Cathedral, they began to alert for the presence of a person, and continued to do so, despite the fact that no one could be found in the church.  Finally, the squad had to conclude that the dogs were mistaken -- but those who believed in the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus on the altar reached a different conclusion:  The dogs were reacting to Jesus, truly present with us, just as He promised:  I am with you, even to the consummation of the world.

This story has resonated with me.  Although I always believed in the Eucharistic Presence, now somehow, it seems different to me -- not just a "psychic" presence, as for example, when I feel the presence of a friend or relative who died some years ago -- but rather, a "real" Presence, just as we were always taught.  The grace of this realization actually changed Pope Pius X (1835-1914) in his ministry many years ago.

When he was elected to the papal office, he saw that the way he imagined and wanted and honored a pope was a far cry from what he himself could present.  He saw himself divided, full of shortcomings.  Although he was very committed to the well-being of the Church, he was permeated by weaknesses -- his prayer life was sometimes very tepid, for example.  He was deeply horrified by the election; he could not believe they were serious.  He figured there must have been some mistake.  He worried that he had presented a false image of himself, and that his words made him sound more significant than he truly was.  But then he thought this might be the opportunity to turn his life around.  He thought at first that by daily effort, he could change who he was, and he committed himself to this work, at first in the sense of what people called "a creditable performance."

But then it dawned on him:  The Presence of Christ can achieve anything.  Yesterday, I wrote that the Apostles knew that they were unlettered and ungifted in speech and personal charism -- but they also knew the Power of Jesus Christ present in them and working through them, beyond their personal gifts.  In the same way, Pius X realized that despite his personal weaknesses, a living, paternal Presence extended over the whole church, not as something earned or worked at by him, but in the sense of the Lord's Presence renewed and full of life.  Pius was but the instrument through whom Jesus governed his church. 

And now, the Eucharist appeared to him as the assurance of Christ's Presence to the church.  From that moment on, his prayer centered not on self-improvement, but on communion, centered around the power of this Presence.  Pius' effort was only to remain in the Presence of Christ; he tested everything through the reality of communion with Jesus.  This reality became so actual, so active, so deeply immersed in his mission that he became the "apostle of the Eucharist."  He saw the Power and the Love of Christ as descending from above in a living stream in which he was permitted to share.   Everything that he previously thought and reflected upon became unimportant to him, because nothing to him was more important than the real Presence of Christ with His church.  Instead of a program of self-improvement, he entered into the place of John, the Beloved Disciple who was a close friend of Jesus.  He began to experience in a living way the love of Jesus for the church, for His friends.

I remember as a child being told that before Pius X, people had to wait until their Confirmation to receive the Eucharist for the first time (around 12-13 years of age).  But Pius X was the one who lowered the age of reception to 7 years old, when a child could understand Who is this Jesus that he received in the host.  And I remember even as a young child being grateful to him for allowing me to receive communion in the first grade.

I have a friend whose father was an Episcopal priest.  One day, she was riding her bike past the Catholic church and decided to enter, to see what the church looked like on the inside.  That one visit so moved her that she decided to become a Catholic -- much like the experience of Thomas Merton many years before.  I have to wonder how many people have had that same experience.  When we Catholics grow up hearing about the "Real Presence" of Christ on the altar, it becomes all too familiar for us to believe it in a dynamic way.  Sometimes it takes a dog to teach us the truth!

Body, Soul, Spirit

Most people think of human beings as comprised of body and soul.  I have even heard confusion of some who are convinced that animals have "souls," so to them, man is but a higher animal.  Anyone who has even owned a dog or cat, anyone who has ever communed with nature in any of its manifold expressions will know that there is some kind of "soul" in all living things.  At times, all of creation seems to sing with joy, with an energy beyond what seems to be purely physical.  And, of course, we all know that some animals seem to have some kind of psychic communion with mankind.

According to the traditional concept of man as being body and soul, the soul is the inner spiritual part, while the body is the visible outer corporal part.  According to Watchman Nee's book, The Spiritual Man, "such an opinion comes from fallen man, not from God....and apart from God's revelation, no concept is dependable." 

The Bible never confuses spirit and soul as though they are the same; their very natures are different from one another.  In fact, the "soul" of man, comprising both intellect and emotion, or mind and feeling, is the link between the spirit and the body -- but the mind and emotions are still considered the "flesh," or the "sinful nature" in Paul's terminology in Galatians 5:

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.....Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us be directed by the Spirit.

 

Notice that in this list, there are sins of the body, the mind, and the emotions.  All of these "parts" of man must be taken over by the Spirit of God, which communes with the spirit of man.  The spirit and the flesh are at war with one another, according to Galatians 5, and what one desires, the other resists.

 

The Word of God treats man not as a duality, but as tripartite:  "May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thess. 5:23).  We are sanctified by having our spirit and soul and body "kept" by Christ Jesus.  I recently met someone who does not believe in the resurrection of the body.  Of course, that is her prerogative, but since she is a devout Catholic, I have to wonder why she thinks Jesus rose bodily from the dead, and why the Church teaches that Mary was assumed bodily into heaven.  I believe that the Word of God must become incarnate in our very flesh, our bodies as well as our minds and hearts -- and that all will be made whole at the coming of Jesus Christ the second time. 

 

To recognize the difference between soul and spirit is critical and an issue of supreme importance for the spiritual life of a believer.  Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is living and active,...sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even to dividing soul and spirit....   If there is no distinction between soul and spirit, why would the Word divide the two?

 

Without this understanding, we cannot grow spiritually. To fail to distinguish between spirit and soul is fatal to spiritual maturity, according to Watchman Nee.  It is possible all of our lives to remain in a soulish state and to believe we are spiritual beings.  If we are not willing to accept the teaching of the Holy Spirit, we can conjure for ourselves quite lofty and beautiful, inspirational thoughts -- and believe that we are therefore spiritual.  However, Is. reminds us that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and that our thoughts are not His.  The mind of man, no matter how deep and philosophical, no matter how broad and insightful, can never reveal the things of God.

 

In fact, I Cor. 2:14 is quite plain in this area:

 

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.....The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

 

It is a matter of pride to think that we can reason to the things of God:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God."  To be poor in spirit means that we know we can "have" only what God gives to us -- bodily, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.  We do not think great thoughts; we receive what the Spirit wants to give us.  In Eusebius' History of the Church, he relates that the apostles were not eloquent or well-educated, but they were persuasive, knowing that they were aided always by the Spirit of God: 

 

...neither the conspiracy of Simon nor that of any of the others who arose at that period could accomplish anything in those apostolic times.  For everything was conquered and subdued by the splendors of the truth and by the divine word itself which had but lately begun to shine from heaven upon men, and which was then flourishing upon earth, and dwelling in the apostles themselves.

 

This is the difference between soul and spirit:  The Spirit of God fills the human spirit with light and with truth, enlightening the mind and understanding of man, and causing him to love God and his fellow man.  Augustine, the great mind and philosopher of reason, saw at one moment a glimpse of that light which is beyond human reason, and he yearned desperately for that light which he could not reach with his mind.  By grace, Ambrose was able to explain to Augustine that which he sought with his whole mind and his whole strength.  With his baptism came understanding, enlightenment, and wisdom -- all gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

 

Human wisdom cannot touch or apprehend the TRUTH that is given to us in Christ Jesus.  Only in Him is the Wisdom of God given to man.  And we know Him not with our minds or our understanding or our emotions, but only by the Gift of the Holy Spirit:  unless you are born again of water and the Spirit, you cannot see the kingdom of God.

 

My heart aches for those who are still trying to apprehend the Spirit by knowledge, or by being good, or by "spiritual" thoughts.  "If you knew the Gift of God, and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would ask Him, and He would give you living water springing up to eternal life" (Jn. 4:10).