The Advent season is a beautiful reminder to prepare our hearts as we prepare our homes — to celebrate the birth of our Savior and anticipation of the Lord's coming! At the start of this week, we light the first of the four candles in the Advent wreath: the candle of Hope.

We are looking for a compassionate and empathetic volunteer who is willing to serve as the St. Anne's English-speaking funeral coordinator. It is not often that there is a need for this service but, occasionally, the need may arise. The function of this role is to serve as the liaison between the grieving family and the parish team and volunteers.

This role significantly helps the bereaved family in planning the details of a funeral. While not a glamorous role, it is greatly appreciated by those in need. Please contact Fr. Paulus or Fr. David if interested or need more information. 

Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor (procurator) of Palestine, stands face-to-face with the Lord of the universe. Pilate is agitated by the circumstances, but thinking clearly because it's still early.

Jesus is exhausted from the first twelve hours of his passion, but his eyes glow with the love and determination that had led him to this hour. He came to earth in order to save Pilate's soul; Providence has finally brought them together.

Jesus is eager to draw this Roman patrician close to his heart. All the conditions are right for Pilate to detect in Jesus the God for whom his heart longs. Yet, he doesn't: he is in the same room with Jesus, speaking with him, but he remains unmoved.

Why? Jesus himself gives us the explanation when he tells Pilate, "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." With that sentence, Jesus teaches us all the secret to intimacy with God.

Whoever lets himself be led by what is true will be drawn into communion with Christ, will hear and heed God's ceaseless invitations to follow him more closely. But being led by truth requires humility.

It requires recognizing a higher authority than oneself: if I am obliged to discover, accept, and conform to what is objectively true (morally, physically, historically), then I am not autonomous, I am not the master of my universe, I am not God. Making that act of humility, which frees us from the enervating bonds of selfishness, is hard.

Our fallen human nature tends towards pride, towards self-sufficiency, control, and dominance. To resist that tendency, obey the truth, and expose oneself to the burning love of God takes courage.

Courageous, humble acceptance of God's truth, of the truth that God is love – that's the only way to follow our eternal King, and to experience the fulfillment that comes from being a faithful citizen of his everlasting Kingdom.

Three Steps to Accepting the Truth

The freedom of Christ's Kingdom is an interior freedom, a peace and strength of soul that only his grace can give us. If up to now we haven't experienced it as deeply as we would like, maybe that's because we haven't fully accepted this truth, that God is love.

Fully accepting that truth, which Pilate refused to do, involves at least three things.

First, it means accepting it freshly every single day. Each day we remain free to decide how we will live. And so, each day we have to reaffirm our citizenship in his Kingdom, or else we will slowly drift away from him.

Second, accepting the truth that God is love means admitting that we need God. If we try to achieve perfect happiness by our own efforts, we will shut ourselves off from God's love. The most direct way to admit that we need God, to allow his love to be a part of our lives, is to come regularly to the sacrament of reconciliation. There is simply no better way to acknowledge his Kingship over our lives, and to acknowledge that the law of his Kingdom is mercy.

Third, accepting the truth that God is love means striving in our daily lives to love as God loves. St Paul summarized all the laws of Christ's Kingdom in one: love your neighbor as yourself (Romans 13:9). When we refuse to forgive, to serve, to treat others as we would have them treat us, we distance ourselves from the God who is love, refusing to accept his friendship.

As we continue with today's solemn celebration of Christ's everlasting Kingship, let's thank him for bringing us the truth that will set us free, and let's ask humbly for the grace to accept that truth, that God is love, every single day of our lives. 

 15. Why do we call the presence of Christ in the Eucharist a "mystery"?

Some modern scholars and critics don't like Gospel passages like this one. Some even try to argue that passages like this were later additions to the Gospels, because Jesus was too gentle and forgiving to say such harsh things.

But in fact, Jesus did say these things, and he said them precisely because of his deep love for us. Christ knows that the battle between good and evil will continue throughout human history.

But he also knows that this ongoing battle will provide the opportunity for his grace to spread throughout the world. And once that expansion has reached its fulfilment, he will come again to establish the definitive and everlasting victory of his Kingdom.

These are facts, key elements of God's plan for our lives.

We profess our belief in these truths every Sunday, when we say, "he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his Kingdom will have no end."

Since this is the way things are, it would have been cruel and heartless for Jesus not to tell us about it. Telling us about it gives us a chance to organize our lives accordingly, to build our lives on the everlasting rock of Christ our Savior: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

Jesus doesn't speak about these events to scare us, but to motivate us. It is so easy to fall into a purely natural outlook on life, getting so wrapped up in our daily to-do lists that we forget the big picture, and we neglect our friendship with Christ. Jesus knows that nothing could be worse for our happiness, now and forever – and that is what interests him most.

Even his predictions of the end of the world, then, are a reminder of his endless love.

Spreading the Good News

On the surface, our Lord's predictions about the end of the world may seem harsh and frightening.

But he tells us these things because he loves us too much to leave us in the dark. And we are the fortunate ones. Since we know how things will end, we can arrange our lives wisely, giving our friendship with Christ and our obedience to his commands the priority they deserve.

But popular culture is not so wise. The advertisers and television producers don't try to make us think about the last end of the history; they want to tell us how to spend our last pay check.

Unfortunately, we all know people who obey the advertisers more carefully than the gospel. We all have friends, colleagues, teammates, even family members who will not be coming to Mass this morning, who will not be reminded of the eternal truths.

What does Jesus think of them? He hasn't given up on them; he is not indifferent to their eternal destiny; he knows their names and gave his life for them. How different their lives would be if they knew this! How much more hope they would have! How much more peace in their hearts! How much more direction in their daily living!

This week, we have a chance to tell them all about it. Just as Jesus showed his love for us by telling us the good news of the gospel, so, we have opportunities each day to show our love for him and for our neighbors by sharing that good news with others, through words, prayers, example, and actions.

There is absolutely nothing that we can do for others greater than helping them plug their lives into eternity. Today, let's ask God to give us the courage this week to do just that.

13. Is Christ present during the celebration of the Eucharist in other ways in addition to his Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament?

Yes. Christ is present during the Eucharist in various ways. He is present in the person of the priest who offers the sacrifice of the Mass. According to the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, Christ is present in his Word "since it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church." He is also present in the assembled people as they pray and sing, "for he has promised 'where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them' (Mt 18:20)" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 7). Furthermore, he is likewise present in other sacraments; for example, "when anybody baptizes it is really Christ himself who baptizes" (ibid.). We speak of the presence of Christ under the appearances of bread and wine as "real" in order to emphasize the special nature of that presence. What appears to be bread and wine is in its very substance the Body and Blood of Christ. The entire Christ is present, God and man, body and blood, soul and divinity. While the other ways in which Christ is present in the celebration of the Eucharist are certainly not unreal, this way surpasses the others. "This presence is called 'real' not to exclude the idea that the others are 'real' too, but rather to indicate presence par excellence, because it is substantial and through it Christ becomes present whole and entire, God and man" (Mysterium Fidei, no. 39).

14. Why do we speak of the "Body of Christ" in more than one sense?

First, the Body of Christ refers to the human body of Jesus Christ, who is the divine Word become man. During the Eucharist, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. As human, Jesus Christ has a human body, a resurrected and glorified body that in the Eucharist is offered to us in the form of bread and wine. Secondly, as St. Paul taught us in his letters, using the analogy of the human body, the Church is the Body of Christ, in which many members are united with Christ their head (1 Cor 10:16-17, 12:12-31; Rom 12:4- 8). This reality is frequently referred to as the Mystical Body of Christ. All those united to Christ, the living and the dead, are joined together as one Body in Christ. This union is not one that can be seen by human eyes, for it is a mystical union brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit.The Mystical Body of Christ and the eucharistic Body of Christ are inseparably linked. By Baptism we enter the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, and by receiving the eucharistic Body of Christ we are strengthened and built up into the Mystical Body of Christ. The central act of the Church is the celebration of the Eucharist; the individual believers are sustained as members of the Church, members of the Mystical Body of Christ, through their reception of the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. Playing on the two meanings of "Body of Christ," St. Augustine tells those who are to receive the Body of Christ in the Eucharist: "Be what you see, and receive what you are" (Sermon 272). In another sermon he says, "If you receive worthily, you are what you have received" (Sermon 227). The work of the Holy Spirit in the celebration of the Eucharist is twofold in a way that corresponds to the twofold meaning of "Body of Christ." On the one hand, it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that the risen Christ and his act of sacrifice become present. In the eucharistic prayer, the priest asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit down upon the gifts of bread and wine to transform them into the Body and Blood of Christ (a prayer known as the epiclesis or "invocation upon"). On the other hand, at the same time the priest also asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit down upon the whole assembly so that "those who take part in the Eucharist may be one body and one spirit" (Catechism, no. 1353). It is through the Holy Spirit that the gift of the eucharistic Body of Christ comes to us and through the Holy Spirit that we are joined to Christ and each other as the Mystical Body of Christ. By this we can see that the celebration of the Eucharist does not just unite us to God as individuals who are isolated from one another. Rather, we are united to Christ together with all the other members of the Mystical Body. The celebration of the Eucharist should thus increase our love for one another and remind us of our responsibilities toward one another. Furthermore, as members of the Mystical Body, we have a duty to represent Christ and to bring Christ to the world. We have a responsibility to share the Good News of Christ not only by our words but also by how we live our lives. We also have a responsibility to work against all the forces in our world that oppose the Gospel, including all forms of injustice.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us: "The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren" (no. 1397).

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.

• Youth Meeting will be held on Fri, 12 Nov from 8:00 - 9:00 PM, at the parish hall upstairs. All youth are welcome.
• The Adoration will be held on Sun, 7 Nov 2021 at 2:00 PM in the church. We welcome all brothers and sisters to participate.
• The Episcopal Ordination of Reverend STEPHEN CHOW Sau-Yan, SJ as Bishop of Hong Kong will be held on Sat, 4 December 2021 at 3:00 PM at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.All priests at St. Anne's Church will attend this ordination.For this reason, Confession (5:00 PM) and Anticipated Sunday Mass (6:00 PM) on Sat, 4 December 2021 will be cancelled. 

Having considered the requests from various Pastors of the Church in view of the continuing state of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Apostolic Penitentiary, through a Decree made public on 28 October this year, has extended for the entire month of November this year the special provisions announced in the Decree on 22 October last year in connection with the "Granting of Plenary Indulgences for the deceased faithful." 

Further information can be found on the St. Anne's website here

Jesus is not using parables today; he is speaking to us plainly and directly: "Beware of the scribes."

No figure earned Christ's disdain more than the proud, self- seeking religious leaders (like these scribes), because no other figure so distorts people's idea of God, thereby driving people away from him. Christ's entire life, and especially his death, was the proclamation of a different type of leadership, one involving sincere, sacrificial service.

Jesus is other-centered; the scribes are self-centered. They were extremely religious people – they knew their faith, studied it, and followed all the rules. But they had become so focused on external performance that they had forgotten what was more important: a humble, thankful heart, like the poor widows.

Yet, this still doesn't explain why Jesus warns us to beware of them. In this Gospel passage, Jesus is speaking to his followers, many of whom will become religious leaders; he doesn't want them to follow the scribes' example.

But in a larger sense, every Christian, by virtue of baptism, is called to be a leader of others, an evangelizer, a prophet of the gospel to the world in word, deed, and example. And so, every single one of us is exposed to the same temptations that led the scribes into self-righteousness.

How easy it is to consider oneself superior to others for all the wrong reasons!

Because we are faithful to the true teaching of the Church; because we follow liturgical norms with perfection; because we don't wear immodest clothes; because we don't engage in this or that type of behavior; because we say our prayers and go to Mass; because we're not as morally corrupt as other people we know…

"Beware of the scribes," because it is so very easy to become self- indulgently and self-congratulatingly religious, and that's the first step to idolatry.

The Daily Examination of Conscience

It's clear why we should "beware of the scribes": if we become self-righteous, as they did, God's grace will have no room to redeem and transform our hearts and minds.

But it's not so clear how we can avoid this pitfall. The scribes were the smartest and most respected class of people in ancient Israel: how can we succeed where they failed?

One effective spiritual weapon that God has given us is a tested devotion that spiritual writers call the daily examination of conscience. It consists of five or ten minutes of prayerful reflection at the end of the day, in quiet and silence.

During this brief time of prayer, we look back at the day that is past, and speak to our Lord about how we lived it.

We can go through the commandments and see if we were faithful to them. Then we can examine your key relationships and responsibilities and see if you lived them with maturity and true Christian purpose, or if we were overly self-centered.

We can also simply replay the major activities of the day in our mind's eye and see if our friendship with Christ was alive or dead during those activities.

Whichever method we choose, the Holy Spirit will help guide our thoughts and give us insights.

At the end of the examination of conscience, we can thank God for the day's blessings, ask pardon for our sins and failings, and make a personal resolution to live more Christ-centered and less self- centered (preferably in some specific way) the next day.

This kind of daily attention to our spiritual progress is something we can do to avoid the pitfall of self-deception and self-righteousness. And if we make an effort to do our part, we can be assured that God will have more room to do his part. 

9. What are appropriate signs of reverence with respect to the Body and Blood of Christ?

The Body and Blood of Christ present under the appearances of bread and wine are treated with the greatest reverence both during and after the celebration of the Eucharist (cf. Mysterium Fidei, nos. 56-61). For example, the tabernacle in which the consecrated bread is reserved is placed "in some part of the church or oratory which is distinguished, conspicuous, beautifully decorated, and suitable for prayer" (Code of Canon Law, Can. 938, §2). According to the tradition of the Latin Church, one should genuflect in the presence of the tabernacle containing the reserved sacrament. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, the traditional practice is to make the sign of the cross and to bow profoundly. The liturgical gestures from both traditions reflect reverence, respect, and adoration. It is appropriate for the members of the assembly to greet each other in the gathering space of the church (that is, the vestibule or narthex), but it is not appropriate to speak in loud or boisterous tones in the body of the church (that is, the nave) because of the presence of Christ in the tabernacle. Also, the Church requires everyone to fast before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ as a sign of reverence and recollection (unless illness prevents one from doing so). In the Latin Church, one must generally fast for at least one hour; members of Eastern Catholic Churches must follow the practice established by their own Church.

10. If someone without faith eats and drinks the consecrated bread and wine, does he or she still receive the Body and Blood of Christ?

If "to receive" means "to consume," the answer is yes, for what the person consumes is the Body and Blood of Christ. If "to receive" means "to accept the Body and Blood of Christ knowingly and willingly as what they are, so as to obtain the spiritual benefit," then the answer is no. A lack of faith on the part of the person eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ cannot change what these are, but it does prevent the person from obtaining the spiritual benefit, which is communion with Christ. Such reception of Christ's Body and Blood would be in vain and, if done knowingly, would be sacrilegious (1 Cor 11:29). Reception of the Blessed Sacrament is not an automatic remedy. If we do not desire communion with Christ, God does not force this upon us. Rather, we must by faith accept God's offer of communion in Christ and in the Holy Spirit, and cooperate with God's grace in order to have our hearts and minds transformed and our faith and love of God increased.

11. If a believer who is conscious of having committed a mortal sin eats and drinks the consecrated bread and wine, does he or she still receive the Body and Blood of Christ?

Yes. The attitude or disposition of the recipient cannot change what the consecrated bread and wine are. The question here is thus not primarily about the nature of the Real Presence, but about how sin affects the relationship between an individual and the Lord. Before one steps forward to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion, one needs to be in a right relationship with the Lord and his Mystical Body, the Church - that is, in a state of grace, free of all mortal sin. While sin damages, and can even destroy, that relationship, the sacrament of Penance can restore it. St. Paul tells us that "whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup" (1 Cor 11:27-28). Anyone who is conscious of having committed a mortal sin should be reconciled through the sacrament of Penance before receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, unless a grave reason exists for doing so and there is no opportunity for confession. In this case, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, that is, an act of sorrow for sins that "arises from a love by which God is loved above all else" (Catechism, no. 1452). The act of perfect contrition must be accompanied by the firm intention of making a sacramental confession as soon as possible.

12. Does one receive the whole Christ if one receives Holy Communion under a single form?

Yes. Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is wholly present under the appearance either of bread or of wine in the Eucharist. Furthermore, Christ is wholly present in any fragment of the consecrated Host or in any drop of the Precious Blood. Nevertheless, it is especially fitting to receive Christ in both forms during the celebration of the Eucharist. This allows the Eucharist to appear more perfectly as a banquet, a banquet that is a foretaste of the banquet that will be celebrated with Christ at the end of time when the Kingdom of God is established in its fullness (cf. Eucharisticum Mysterium, no. 32).

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm. 

Please remember in your prayers the repose of the soul of Rev. Elmer P. Wurth, M.M. who passed away on October 4, 2021, in Kalida, Ohio. 

Father Wurth was 92 years old and a Maryknoll priest for 65 years. 

Memorial Mass: Wednesday, November 3, 2021 at 11:00 A.M. (11:00PM Hong Kong Time), Queen of Apostles Chapel, Maryknoll, New York

Replay available through the YouTube link below.

• A second collection will be taken up during Mass. The total amount collected will be reserved for the Pontifical Work for the Propagation of the Faith and sent directly to the Holy See as a contribution of our Local Church to the missionary activities of the Universal Church
• Mass for the All Souls will be held on Tue, 2 Nov at 9:15 AM and at 7:00 PM (in English) and on Thu, 18 Nov at 8:00 PM (in Chinese).         
• Parish Council Election will be held on Tue, 2 Nov at 7:45 PM, during the parish council meeting.  All parishioners are invited to participate.
  
• Tagalog Mass will be held on 31 Oct (Sun) at 07:15 AM. At this mass, we will celebrate 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines.
  
• Youth Meeting will be held on 12 Nov (Fri) from 8:00 - 9:00 PM, at the parish hall upstairs. All youth are welcome.
  

Dear brothers and sisters, today Jesus makes a surprising link in the conversation in the Gospel Reading of 31^st Sunday of Ordinary Times.

He links forever the commandment to love God with the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself. When asked for the greatest single commandment, he answers by naming two commandments – loving God and loving neighbor; they necessarily, intrinsically go together.

In Jesus' time, this answer was surprising because it put love for neighbor on par with love for God. No one had ever done that before; everyone simply agreed that loving God came first.

Loving one's neighbor was good, they thought, but it was secondary – the primary thing was loving God. Jesus challenges those assumptions: true love for God, he teaches, cannot exist apart from true love for neighbor. If someone claims to love God, that invisible love can be verified in the visible way they treat their neighbor.

In our day, on the other hand, perhaps the more surprising aspect is the priority Jesus gives to loving God. Our post-modern world has, in many ways, given up on the idea of God.

The sheer quantity of religions and denominations and their inability to agree on doctrines has created a cynical indifference to God. Government and popular culture have almost succeeded in keeping God in the closet – at best.

What the seculars do agree about, however, is the importance of loving one's neighbor – toleration, diversity, random acts of kindness, paying it forward… These are things we can sink our teeth into, so they say.

And yet, is it possible to make the sustained effort necessary for truly Christian love of neighbor, without staying connected to the reason why our neighbor ought to be loved?

In other words, if I don't love the God in whose image my neighbor is created, how long and how deeply can I really, truly love my neighbor?

A Dependable Measuring Stick

How can we measure how much we love God? How can we know? We all love God to some extent - otherwise we wouldn't be here right now. But how much? How mature is our love for God?

St. Teresa of Avila, the amazing Doctor of the Church from sixteenth-century Spain, took her measuring stick from this Gospel passage about the greatest Commandment. She wrote: "We cannot know whether or not we love God, although there are strong indications for recognizing that we do love Him; but we can know whether we love our neighbor. And be certain that the more advanced you see you are in love for your neighbor, the more advanced you will be in the love of God; [and] to repay us for our love of neighbor, he will in a thousand ways increase the love we have for him."

St. Teresa of Calcutta shows the same kind of common sense: "We are commanded to love God and our neighbor equally, on the same level. There is no difference. Love for our neighbor must be equal to our love for God. We don't have to search for opportunities; we have them twenty-four hours a day with those around us. How is it that we do not see, and we miss these opportunities?"

When we obey God's command to love our neighbors, in little things or in big things, we increase the intensity of God's presence in the world - because we reveal his love to others.

Growing in Our Love for God by Growing in Our Knowledge of God

There is an old philosophical dictum that says you cannot love what you do not know. And that's true. To love something, we have to know it. And so, if we want to grow in our love for God, which is the surest way to grow in our love for neighbor, the best thing to do is to get to know God better. This week let's do that.

Here are three things we can do to know God better. First, spend fifteen minutes a day this week reading the Bible. The Bible is God's Word - he reveals himself there.

Second, come and do a holy hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. When we spend time with him, there near the Tabernacle, in silence, in prayerful reflection or even in prayerful reading, he speaks to our hearts. He reveals himself to us.

Third, go for a prayerful walk in a beautiful park. God created the world. The beauties of nature are his work of art. Just as any artist reveals himself in his works, so God does too.

We all want to obey the two great commandments - that's why we are here. God wants to help us. This week, let's let him - let's make a decision today, during this Mass, as we renew our faith, that we will do something, anything, to get to know God better this week, so that we can love him better.

6. Are the consecrated bread and wine "merely symbols"?

In everyday language, we call a "symbol" something that points beyond itself to something else, often to several other realities at once. The transformed bread and wine that are the Body and Blood of Christ are not merely symbols because they truly are the Body and Blood of Christ. As St. John Damascene wrote: "The bread and wine are not a foreshadowing of the body and blood of Christ —By no means! —but the actual deified body of the Lord, because the Lord Himself said: 'This is my body'; not 'a foreshadowing of my body' but 'my body,' and not 'a foreshadowing of my blood' but 'my blood'" (The Orthodox Faith, IV [PG 94, 1148-49]). At the same time, however, it is important to recognize that the Body and Blood of Christ come to us in the Eucharist in a sacramental form. In other words, Christ is present under the appearances of bread and wine, not in his own proper form. We cannot presume to know all the reasons behind God's actions. God uses, however, the symbolism inherent in the eating of bread and the drinking of wine at the natural level to illuminate the meaning of what is being accomplished in the Eucharist through Jesus Christ. There are various ways in which the symbolism of eating bread and drinking wine discloses the meaning of the Eucharist. For example, just as natural food gives nourishment to the body, so the eucharistic food gives spiritual nourishment. Furthermore, the sharing of an ordinary meal establishes a certain communion among the people who share it; in the Eucharist, the People of God share a meal that brings them into communion not only with each other but with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Similarly, as St. Paul tells us, the single loaf that is shared among many during the eucharistic meal is an indication of the unity of those who have been called together by the Holy Spirit as one body, the Body of Christ (1 Cor 10:17). To take another example, the individual grains of wheat and individual grapes have to be harvested and to undergo a process of grinding or crushing before they are unified as bread and as wine. Because of this, bread and wine point to both the union of the many that takes place in the Body of Christ and the suffering undergone by Christ, a suffering that must also be embraced by his disciples. Much more could be said about the many ways in which the eating of bread and drinking of wine symbolize what God does for us through Christ, since symbols carry multiple meanings and connotations.

7. Do the consecrated bread and wine cease to be the Body and Blood of Christ when the Mass is over?

No. During the celebration of the Eucharist, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, and this they remain. They cannot turn back into bread and wine, for they are no longer bread and wine at all. There is thus no reason for them to change back to their "normal" state after the special circumstances of the Mass are past. Once the substance has really changed, the presence of the Body and Blood of Christ "endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist" (Catechism, no. 1377). Against those who maintained that the bread that is consecrated during the Eucharist has no sanctifying power if it is left over until the next day, St. Cyril of Alexandria replied, "Christ is not altered, nor is his holy body changed, but the power of the consecration and his life-giving grace is perpetual in it" (Letter 83, to Calosyrius, Bishop of Arsinoe [ PG 76, 1076]). The Church teaches that Christ remains present under the appearances of bread and wine as long as the appearances of bread and wine remain (cf. Catechism, no. 1377).

8. Why are some of the consecrated hosts reserved after the Mass?

While it would be possible to eat all of the bread that is consecrated during the Mass, some is usually kept in the tabernacle. The Body of Christ under the appearance of bread that is kept or "reserved" after the Mass is commonly referred to as the "Blessed Sacrament." There are several pastoral reasons for reserving the Blessed Sacrament. First of all, it is used for distribution to the dying (Viaticum), the sick, and those who legitimately cannot be present for the celebration of the Eucharist. Secondly, the Body of Christ in the form of bread is to be adored when it is exposed, as in the Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction, when it is carried in eucharistic processions, or when it is simply placed in the tabernacle, before which people pray privately. These devotions are based on the fact that Christ himself is present under the appearance of bread. Many holy people well known to American Catholics, such as St. John Neumann, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Katharine Drexel, and Blessed Damien of Molokai, practiced great personal devotion to Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, devotion to the reserved Blessed Sacrament is practiced most directly at the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, offered on weekdays of Lent.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.

• Taizé prayer will be held on 29 Oct (Fri) at 8 PM at St. Anne's Church and will have synchronized playback on Facebook. We welcome all to participate. 
• Tagalog Mass will be held on 31 Oct (Sun) at 07:15 AM. At this mass we will celebrate 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines.
• Youth Meeting will be held on 12 Nov (Fri) from 8:00 - 9:00 PM, at the parish hall upstairs. All youth are welcome.             
  

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3. When the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, why do they still look and taste like bread and wine?

In the celebration of the Eucharist, the glorified Christ becomes present under the appearances of bread and wine in a way that is unique, a way that is uniquely suited to the Eucharist. In the Church's traditional theological language, in the act of consecration during the Eucharist the "substance" of the bread and wine is changed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the "substance" of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. At the same time, the "accidents" or appearances of bread and wine remain. "Substance" and "accident" are here used as philosophical terms that have been adapted by great medieval theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas in their efforts to understand and explain the faith. Such terms are used to convey the fact that what appears to be bread and wine in every way (at the level of "accidents" or physical attributes - that is, what can be seen, touched, tasted, or measured) in fact is now the Body and Blood of Christ (at the level of "substance" or deepest reality). This change at the level of substance from bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is called "transubstantiation." According to Catholic faith, we can speak of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist because this transubstantiation has occurred (cf. Catechism, no. 1376). This is a great mystery of our faith—we can only know it from Christ's teaching given us in the Scriptures and in the Tradition of the Church. Every other change that occurs in the world involves a change in accidents or characteristics. Sometimes the accidents change while the substance remains the same. For example, when a child reaches adulthood, the characteristics of the human person change in many ways, but the adult remains the same person—the same substance. At other times, the substance and the accidents both change. For example, when a person eats an apple, the apple is incorporated into the body of that person—is changed into the body of that person. When this change of substance occurs, however, the accidents or characteristics of the apple do not remain. As the apple is changed into the body of the person, it takes on the accidents or characteristics of the body of that person. Christ's presence in the Eucharist is unique in that, even though the consecrated bread and wine truly are in substance the Body and Blood of Christ, they have none of the accidents or characteristics of a human body, but only those of bread and wine.

4. Does the bread cease to be bread and the wine cease to be wine?

Yes. In order for the whole Christ to be present—body, blood, soul, and divinity—the bread and wine cannot remain, but must give way so that his glorified Body and Blood may be present. Thus, in the Eucharist the bread ceases to be bread in substance, and becomes the Body of Christ, while the wine ceases to be wine in substance, and becomes the Blood of Christ. As St. Thomas Aquinas observed, Christ is not quoted as saying, " This bread is my body," but " This is my body" (Summa Theologiae, III q. 78, a. 5).

5. Is it fitting that Christ's Body and Blood become present in the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine?

Yes, for this way of being present corresponds perfectly to the sacramental celebration of the Eucharist. Jesus Christ gives himself to us in a form that employs the symbolism inherent in eating bread and drinking wine. Furthermore, being present under the appearances of bread and wine, Christ gives himself to us in a form that is appropriate for human eating and drinking. Also, this kind of presence corresponds to the virtue of faith, for the presence of the Body and Blood of Christ cannot be detected or discerned by any way other than faith. That is why St. Bonaventure affirmed: "There is no difficulty over Christ's being present in the sacrament as in a sign; the great difficulty is in the fact that He is really in the sacrament, as He is in heaven. And so believing this is especially meritorious." (In IV Sent., dist. X, P. I, art. un., qu. I). On the authority of God who reveals himself to us, by faith we believe that which cannot be grasped by our human faculties (cf. Catechism, no. 1381).

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.