Real Presence

God is present always and everywhere. That is what we try to teach in our Catholic Catechism: "Where is God? - God is everywhere." But why then the Catholic insistence on the Real Presence of Jesus in the bread and the wine in the Eucharist (or the Communion)? If God is truly and truly present in history, in the universe, in all people--whether good or bad, in His Church, in all the cultures and religions, in all groups and in all actions, why should we speak of Real Presence?

Real Presence is not the magical appearance of Jesus into the elemental species of bread and wine. But it is the celebration of the mystery of his presence; it is about the sacramental and concrete involvement of our Lord. He is actively, deeply and totally involved in our lives here and now. That is the meaning of a sacrament. The basic "sacramental principle" is this: we can know spiritual things through the physical world and bodily actions. The finite manifests the infinite, and the physical is the doorway to the the spiritual. In other words, all you need is right here and right now--in this world. This is the way to that! Heaven includes earth.

Real Presence is not merely about Jesus' sacramental presence: mere belief in this doctrine may not change my life, may not influence my own life or others' lives. But Real Presence is also about my presence to God, my availability to God, my free response to Him; and also eventually my presence to others all around me. This could change my life, and even change others' lives.

Worshipping the Real Presence--that easy! But being present to the One who is always and everywhere present--that's not easy! Such an effort can make my life meaningful and purposeful. In fact, we can say that unless we are present before the Presence, there is no Real Presence for us. God is objectively in communion with us, but do we subjectively realize it? If yes, the whole cosmos turns into a Sacrament--full of His Real Presence. Not magic, but mystery. Not magic, but real.

To be really present to someone, I can't do it with my mind alone... My body, my mind and my heart: all have to come together. Today, at least for a few moments, can I give my full attention to someone, to something (a flower or an animal), to my breath, or to some pain that I carry now?