Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-26
FOURTH IN SERIES
OF LENTEN SERMONS
BISHOP CoNATY breaches ON
"REAL PRESENCE"
"ApostIes Believed Christ's Word at
the Last Supper Just as They Had
Believed All That He Had Said of
Himself"

Bishop Conaty delivered the fourth
of a series of Lenten sermons yesterday
morning at the Cathedral of st. Vibiana.
The large structure was crowded with
worshipers to hear the bishops sermon.
The bishop preached on the Real
Presence" He said:
THE doctrine of the real presence
means the true, real and substantial
presence of Jesus Christ in the holy
sacrament of the Eucharist, under the
appearance of the bread and wine.
1.-THE change by which this is effected
is expressed by the word 'transubstan-
tiation,' which means that the sub
stance of the bread and the substance
of the wine are changed into the sub
stance of the body and blood Of Jesus
Christ. This change was first effected
by Christ himself at the last supper
and is effected daily in the holy sacri-
flee of the mass by the words of Christ
spoken by the priest"
Taking the sixth chapter of st. Johns
gospel, the bishop showed that in it
Christ makes promise of new gift
which he designates bread from
heaven" He continued:
This cannot be faith which is as old
as mankind. nor can 1t be faith in
Christ which had already been de-
manded of them, nor could it be food
as a figure of Christ, for this was
already in the mama and the paschal
lamb.
Christ Sought to Win Jews
"Christ calls it his flesh for the life
of the world To understand the mean
ing of a word or phrase one should
strive to place himself at the time and
circumstances in which it is uttered or
written to see how those who heard 1t
understood it.
Christ sought to win the Jews to
his doctrine. He would naturally avoid
anything that would disgust them. To
drink blood or eat flesh was against
tive meaning by which it expressed
calumny. That they did not under
stand it as figurative is seen by their
murmurings, and that Christ did not
explain their understanding as mis-
take is seen from the fact that he re-
peated the obligation of eating his flesh
and drinking his blood.
Christ always took pains to correct
the Jews of misunderstanding of his
doctrine and where it affected their re-
ligious prejudices and violated their
religious laws, one would have expected
correction; not only that. but the
consequences of their believing what
he said to be literally and not figura-
lively true was to affect the belief of
all the generations that followed.
Christ repeated his promise to give
them his flesh to eat. Many of his
disciples went back and walked no
more with him. Christ does not recall
them nor offer any explanation of
possible misunderstanding.
Apostles Believed Christ
"The apostles believed Christ's word
at the last supper just as they had
believed him in all that he had said of
himself. They had seen his divine
power in many miracles and there
was no reason to doubt the same power
in this new manifestation of his love.
"St. Paul in his first epistle to the
Corinthians leaves no doubt as to his
belief in the same divine presence of
Christ in the holy sacrifice of the
altar. The teachings of the early
church. the eminent doctors of the
church, the councils, all testify to the
same belief.
1.-THE question of one substance yield
ing to another under the almighty
power of God is seen in our daily life,
in the food we eat becoming our flesh
and blood. In the real presence sub
stances change. but the Appearances re-
main the same. Belief in the real
presence is the central mystery of
Catholic doctrine and Catholic public
worship.
1.-The word of Christ is deemed suf-
ficient to cause us to adore him and to
receive him in holy communion in the
way in which he saw fit to give him
self to his apostles at the last supper.
His presence in the eucharist is the
reason for our affairs, our priesthood
and our churches. We love to believe
that in his eucharistic presence he lives
upon our affairs, a martyr to the love
by which he longs to dwell with the
children of men. He is the paschal
lamb, he is the good shepherd, he
feeds his sheep with his own flesh and
blood and places this banquet food
under the appearance of that which is
most nlea sing to man as nourishment."