Blessed Sacrament desecrated in Memphis
The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that the Catholic center in Memphis was broken into over the weekend. The robbers took some computers, cameras and cash. But worst of all, they desecrated the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the chapel on site.
In addition, the intruders desecrated the Blessed Sacrament, which Catholics believe is the body and blood of Jesus. It is kept locked in a small chapel at the center and once profaned, according to church law, the chapel must be reconsecrated before being used again.
As the paper says, we believe that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church put it beautifully int he following from paragraph 1375:
It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares:
It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God’s. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.
And St. Ambrose says about this conversion:
Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated. The power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed. . . . Could not Christ’s word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature.
I would ask everyone to pray for the perpetrators, that they have a conversion of heart and genuinely repent their actions.
