Bishop Serratelli teaches about the Real Presence in ‘Pocket Catechism on the Eucharist’

TOTOWA  Most Catholics lack even a basic understanding of the Eucharist, a recent poll revealed. With that in mind, Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli gives a teaching on the Eucharist in his latest book that uses an older approach inspired by the Baltimore Cate­chism: presenting a series of questions — along with the answers — about the “source and summit of our faith.”

Published last month by Catholic Book Publishing Corp here, Bishop Serratelli’s latest book, “Pocket Catechism on the Eucharist with Prayers,” is meant for a wide range of people — from candidates for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and non-practicing Catholics to daily communicants. Every­one will learn something about the Eucharist by reading “the brief but orthodox” responses to the 21 most-asked questions about the Eucharist. This 48-page soft cover pocket book contains a variety of prayers on the Eucharist that can help readers “foster greater reverence and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament,” according to the publisher.

“I wrote this book because a poll came out that found that only 30 percent of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. That’s frightening,” Bishop Serratelli said about “Pocket Catechism on the Eucha­rist with Prayers,” his seventh book for Catho­lic Book Publishing. “I wanted to present a teaching on the Eucharist, the central part of our faith,” the Bishop told The Beacon.

Using simple, easy-to-understand language, Bishop Serratelli teaches readers of all ages about the Eucharist by presenting his own insights and quotes from Scripture, Church documents, popes, and Catholic theologians. “Pocket Catechism on the Eucharist with Prayers” arrives, during the celebration of the Year of the Eucharist in the Diocese in 2022, as declared by Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, to deepen Catholics’ understanding of and devotion to the Eucharist. Late last year, Catholic Book Publishing issued another book about the Eucharist by Bishop Serratelli, “Eucharistic Adora­tion: Scriptural Reflections and Prayers.”

In the introduction of his latest book, Bishop Serratelli writes that Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper on the night before he died while celebrating Passover with his disciples. He writes about Christ’s death on the Cross as a sacrifice and that he gave this disciples his body to eat and his blood to drink — an act that made present the “reality of his sacrifice of the Cross.” By commanding his disciples to do as he had just done “in memory of me,” “he gifted the Church with the priesthood, so that his sacrifice could be made present in the Church until the end of time (Mt 26: 27–28),” according to the Bishop.

“With the Eucharist, Jesus has left the Church the gift of himself in his dying and rising from the dead,” writes Bishop Serratelli. The Eucharist “is the gift of Him­self, of his person in his sacred humanity, as well as the gift of his saving work. Nor does it remain confined to the past since all that Christ is — all that he did and suffered for all — participates in the divine eternity and so transcends all times (Pope St. John Paul II: Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 11),” the Bishop writes.

Also in the introduction, Bishop Serratelli calls the Church’s use of catechism throughout time “a most useful resource in the faithful transmission of the Catholic faith.” Up until the second half of the 20th century, millions of Catholics learned the faith with the Baltimore Catechism, which contained 421 questions and answers and “presented a unified and clear teaching of the faith. Children mem­orized the Catechism and had, at a minimum, the basic language of our faith,” the Bishop writes.

“Hopefully, this sort of catechism on the Eucharist will provide a basic understanding of the great gift of the Eucharist and foster a greater reverence and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament,” Bishop Serratelli writes in the book’s introduction.

In the chapter with the questions and answers, Bishop Serratelli answers: “What does the Eucharist mean?”; “How is the Eucharist a sacrifice?”; “Why is the liturgy of the Eucha­rist called the Mass?”; “How do ordinary bread and wine be to be the very Body and Blood of Jesus?”; “What is meant by the Real Presence?”; and “What is the proper disposition necessary for the worthy reception of Holy Communion?”

Bishop Serratelli answers the question, “What effect does the Eucharist have on us?” first by writing, “On the Cross, Jesus made the supreme act of love, offering himself totally to the Father for us, even to the point of shedding his blood and dying for our salvation.

“In celebrating the Eucharist and in receiving Holy Communion, we are drawn up into this act of love and are transformed. Our venial sins are forgiven. We are strengthened to resist temptation. We grow in our union with God. And our unity with the entire Church, both on earth and in heaven, is deepened … [also] ‘we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving [Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, 13],’ ” Bishop Serratelli writes.

In the chapters that follow, Bishop Serratelli writes a “Heart-Talk on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass” addressed to Jesus, “Prayers for the Worthy Reception of Holy Com­munion,” “Prayers before the Blessed Sacrament,” “Novena in Honor of the Holy Eucharist,” and “Novena Prayers.” He ends the “Heart-Talk” chapter with “In His Heart’s Dearest Gift,” writing, “God of the Eucharist, how generous you are!

“Little do I realize what Holy Mass really means for me. Would that I had millions of hearts to offer to you in gratitude for this treasure of infinite worth! You have given me all in your Sacrifice. Behold, I want to give you all. I offer myself to you entirely, all that I am and have, that I may become one with you on the altar as co-victim — one sacrifice to God with you — at Mass,” he writes.

“Pocket Catechism on the Eucharist with Prayers” is $3.95 per copy. To order, visit catholicbookpublishing.com