Lesson 14
The Holy Eucharist – Matter, Form, and Minister
In baptism the matter is the water, the form are the words, and the usual minister is the priest. With the Holy Eucharist the matter is unleavened bread made out of wheat; wine made from grapes; and the minister is the Priest or the Bishop. Deacons and lay people do not have the Sacred power to change the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and that proved to be quite a trial for hundreds of years in Japan when they had no priests. But the laypeople kept the faith alive by baptizing the children and teaching them their faith.
Why is the matter “unleavened bread” and “wine made from grapes”? Simple. Because that’s what Jesus used. However, since the Middle Ages the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches are allowed to use leavened bread.
The Latin Rite Catholics – and that’s most of us – use unleavened bread made from wheat because that’s what Jesus did. And then he said, “Do this in memory of me.” Anything else is illicit, and if the bread is not wheat and the wine is not grape, it is also invalid.
The Holy Eucharist is “confected” by the priest or the Bishop at Mass and only at Mass, following the prayers in the Roman Missal, in Latin or the vernacular. Outside of Mass, in case of necessity, the Baptized Faithful can receive Holy Communion if they are sick and or shut in, as well as when death approaches, and that moment of Holy Communion is called “Viaticum”, which is Latin for “going with you on your way.”
While only the Bishop and the Priest can “confect” the Holy Eucharist, others can help distribute Holy Communion at Mass. Deacons can do that ordinarily, and sometimes laypeople who have been properly trained can do that too, and they are called “Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.” In many places it is quite ordinary to have “extraordinary ministers” so it makes you wonder why they are called “extraordinary” if it is so ordinary.
Finally, what is the “form” of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist? Those are the words the priest pronounces during the Eucharistic Prayer, from the third edition of the Roman Missal:
“Take this, all of you, and eat of it: for this is my body which will be given up for you.”
And then:
“Take this, all of you, and drink from it: for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant which will be poured out for you and for Many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.”
Once the priest pronounces those words, the great miracle of Transubstantiation takes place. It is no longer bread. It is no longer wine. It is now the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, really, truly and substantially present.
So tune in every day of Lent to learn more about your Catholic faith, because if you Learn it, then you can Live it; and if you Live it, you will Love it; and if you Love it, you will never Leave it!
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