The Last Supper, Wafers, and Eucharistic Congress

The Last Supper

The last supper is a vital story in Catholicism. The first mention of it in the New Testament is 1 Corinthians 11:23-34 which states, in part:

There are a number of interesting things about the last supper story that are worth a brief mention:

1. Paul, not a gospel writer, is the first to record the words of Jesus (often called the words of institution). Paul writes 1 Corintians in the early 50s while the first gospel (according to Mark) would not be written for another 20 years.

2. The last gospel, according to John, has a last supper discourse which is vastly different than Paul, Mark, Matthew, and Luke. The writer of the Gospel of John is doing his own thing.

3. The Gospel according to Mark has the disciples drinking the cup and Jesus says after: "This is my blood of the covenant." First they drink, then he lays on the bombshell that it is his blood. I can't help but think that one or two of them spit out the wine saying, "Dude, really? Could you let us know what we are drinking before we drink it?" The gospel writers of Matthew and Luke cleaned up the order.

The meal is frequently described as a Passover meal or Seder supper (for example, Bishop Robert Barron's tweet or Jimmy Akin's post on Catholic Answers). However, many scholars dispute this assertion. That means, among other things, that the bread Jesus identifies with his body might have been leavened instead of unleavened bread. Nonetheless, the contempary Catholic church uses unleaven bread to make the communion wafers (for example, see this recipe sanctioned by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Virgina).

The Wafer

The primary purpose of the modern communion wafer is preservation. That's not the official Catholic Church position, of course. The eucharist is preserved for two purposes: delivery to those unable to attend the liturgy (e.g. homebound, sick, etc.) and veneration. Preservation, then, makes the wafer more practical than theological. Real bread molds but the wafer can last for weeks. Unfortunately, there is a disconnect between "on the night he was betrayed, he took a loaf of bread...". Nobody is going to confuse a communion wafer with a loaf of bread or even a piece of bread. One of my theology professors was fond of saying, "It takes a greater act of faith to belief that the wafer is bread than to believe it is the body of Christ."

Over time the wafer became objectified; the presence of Jesus in the wafer (because it is a consecrated host) needed to be seen and housed with high dignity. Thus, was invented the monsterance and the tabernacle. A monsterance is a portable vessel that can be placed upon the altar as well as held high in a processession (i.e. a Eucharistic parade in the streets). They appear in the 13th century. Roughly 200 years later ornamental, safe-like boxes called tabernacles appear on the altar¹.

There must have been an imbalance on the importance of the stored wafer since the bishops of Vatican II wrote that Christ is always present in his Church in seven distinct ways:

1. In liturgical celebrations

2. In the mass (which is a liturgical celebration)

3. In the priest who presides at the mass

4. In the Eucharist itself

5. In the sacraments

6. In the scripture

7. In the gathered community

(Sacrosanctum Concilium 1.7)

Eucharistic Congress

A major Catholic event in Indianapolis recently concluded. It was a Eucharistic Congress. This was only the 2nd Eucharistic Congress in the United States after Vatican II. The first was in 1895 and they occurred roughly every 3-4 years until 1941. The exception was the 15 year break between number 5 in Cincinnati and number 6 in Chicago. 35 years would pass until the first post-Vatican II Echaristic Congress in Philadelphia in 1976 and another 48 years untl the 10th Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.

Although the Second Vatican Council was a major update to the Catholic Church, the coucil fathers were not of one mind. A significant minority preferred the church to remain as it was. There was nothing to update. How could there be? Christ is with the church and Christ is without error.² The council debates were lively (for the debate on the liturgy, see Vatican Council II by Xavier Rynne, ©2003 Orbis Books p. 56-76) and the final documents can be considered a compromise between factions.

The silent minority, however, did not stay silent long. They became a vocal minority though still considered fringe. Social media changed that. And if they are still the minority in the United States Catholic Church, they are a minority with power and momentum. The opening procession of the recent Eucharistic Congress was nothing short of impressive. Cassocks, surplices, and habits galore. Approximately 60,000 people attended in person or online. And the ultra conservatives could go to a nearby park for the Latin Mass.

All this because most American Catholics do not believe in transubstantiation. Without transubstantiation, the role of the clergy may be diminished. So the Eucharist is once again objectified and the hierarch of cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons, seminarians, religious brothers, religious sisters, and the laity is displayed in a Eucharistic procession. Little by little, the decrees and proclamations of the Second Vatican Council are redefined into the church of the 1950s. If you haven't yet felt this in your parish, wait. The movement has momentum.

1. Altar here refers to the pre-Vatican II altar, sometimes refered to as a "High Altar." Many Catholic church renovations retained the high altar and added a stand alone altar also in the sanctuary. If your Catholic church was built after 1970, it likely does not have a high altar.

2. This is my logic based on research. I don't know of any bishop or cardinal who said this.