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Vatican II and the Eucharist Never had time to read all of the actual documents of Vatican II? You’re in luck. Pope John Paul II has distilled the central point of the Ecumenical Council down to one brilliant sentence: “The encouragement and the deepening of Eucharistic worship are proofs of that authentic renewal which the council set itself as an aim and of which they are the central point.” There they are – the clear and profound words of the Vicar of Christ from On the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist. The main point of Vatican II, then, is simply this: that the faithful would love and adore Jesus more and more in the Blessed Sacrament. As the Pope goes on to explain, “The church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease." What does it mean, then, to be a true “post-Vatican II Catholic?” It means to be madly in love with our Eucharist Lord, a love that spills over into frequent and fervent worship. In reality, many of the new practices that most Catholics think of as being “post-Vatican II changes” are nowhere to be found in the actual documents of the Council. The truth is, the official documents of Vatican II never recommended “renewing” the Church by means of some of these changes now associated with the post-Vatican II era. For instance, no document of the council asked nuns to do away with their religious habits. None of the official documents ever asked parishes to eliminate the Latin language altogether from Catholic worship. Not one of the documents encouraged altar girls or the reception of Holy Communion in the hand (although these practices are now allowed, they have never been officially encouraged or promoted by the Church). And certainly no document of the Second Vatican Council ever suggested dropping the practices of frequent Confession and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Pope John Paul II, therefore, gives us the authentic vision of the post-Vatican II Church as one in which every Catholic would radically center his life on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The Holy Father makes it clear that true renewal will take place only when Catholics begin to spend significant time before the Eucharist, in the physical presence of God the Son, adoring the One through Whom all things were made. We humans still dream of flying to Mars, a cold distant rock, while we can so easily fly to the Son, waiting for us in the nearest tabernacle, whose burning fires of charity will transform our hearts more surely than flame melts iron. It is interesting that, when he was a seminarian, the “father of Vatican II” (Blessed John XXIII) prayed for one thing in particular: “May I have the grace to do two things well: the visit [to the Blessed Sacrament] and the rosary. All the rest will follow.” Let’s you and i be real “Vatican II Catholics” this week and pay Our Lord an extra visit in the Blessed Sacrament. |