Within 24
hours of the Challenger explosion, psychologist Ulric Neisser had 106 students
write down how they’d heard about the disaster, where they were, what they were
doing at the time, etc. Two and a half
years later he asked them the same questions. 25% gave strikingly different accounts, more
than half were significantly different, and only 10% had all the details
correct. Even after re-reading their
original accounts, most of them were certain that their false memories were
true. One student commented, “That’s my
handwriting, but that’s not what happened.”
Certainty makes
us feel good: it rewards learning, and it keeps us from wasting time thinking
too much; but it impairs flexibility and vision.[1]
In the
Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul, formerly known as Saul, is certain that the followers
of “The Way” were non-conformists and a threat to Jewish law and
tradition. It is in Saul’s certainty he is
determined to “bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.” In his certainty Saul
fails to see the presence of God in the people. Jesus resorts to extreme measures to take Saul
out of his certainty and points out that Saul is actually persecuting Jesus
himself when he persecutes Christians, for Jesus, God resides in them.
Do we ever
fall into this trap, failing to recognize the true presence of Christ here in
our midst? Christ is truly present on
the altar as well as in our neighbor. St.
John Chrysostom is often paraphrased, “If you fail to see Christ in the beggar at the door, you will fail
to see him in the chalice as well.”
One of the greatest treasures of our faith is the belief in the Real
Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Here
in this liturgy, as we gather in thanksgiving and the joy of the season, we are
given the gift of Christ’s very self. When
we eat this bread and drink this wine, we are really eating his Body and drinking
his Blood. For Jesus tells us, “Whoever eats my Flesh and
drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him.” We can be certain that not only are we receiving
the Body of Christ, but we become it ourselves, and thus are called, nay, we
are commanded to bring and be his Real Presence wherever we go, with whomever
we meet.
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