Reflective Essay On The Holy Eucharist

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Recommended: Importance of ritual and sacred objects

In February, I attended an Ash Wednesday service at St. Francis Catholic Church here in Abilene. My friends and I arrived a few minutes before the service was set to start and we were greeted by some older gentlemen who offered us a paperback book of relative size. It wasn’t a Bible, but rather a collection full of different prayers, passages and songs relevant to various occasions. We were guided inside and the sanctuary was nearly full to overflowing. One of the first things I noticed was how quiet it was. It wasn’t a comfortable silence. As my friends and I were led down the aisle to a pew near the front, it felt as if all eyes were on us. From my quick glance around, I noticed I was probably one, if not the only African American there. I couldn’t help but keep my my gaze fixated on the ground. If it did …show more content…

For the sacrament, the wine in the priest’s chalice is a natural wine mixed with very little water and the bread he breaks is white or whole wheat, round and soft. The bread’s softness and appearance, the wine’s aroma and color — all the qualities and attributes that can be perceived by the senses are what philosophers call accidents. What is not an accident is a thing’s substance. When the priest consecrates the bread and wine of the sacrament, through a process called transubstantiation, their substance is changed and they become Christ 's body and blood. The accidents remain, though not of Christ’s body. “The accidents once held in existence by the substance of bread, and those others once held in existence by the substance of wine, are now held in existence solely by God 's will to maintain them.” (Sheed) The appearances of the bread and wine are the same, but their substance is

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