Our own Fr. Tat Hoang addresses the question of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist in “Most Blessed Sacrament” by Debbie Shelley in the November 4 issue of The Catholic Commentator.

Focusing only on physical proof can prevent one from seeing the bigger miracle: that we become the body and blood of Christ to others when we receive Communion, Fr. Tat explained. He has given presentations on the Eucharist in the Diocese of Baton Rouge as part of a national three-year Eucharistic revival. Celebrating Mass gives him joy, but he believes people may need a deeper understanding of Mass.

He was approached by Catholic Life Television a few years ago to do a video series about living the Mass daily, which led to his presentations on the Eucharist. One of the Eucharistic miracles is the physical changes that occur when the host actually becomes the flesh of Christ, he noted, but to prove that there must be a church investigation. There’s also a purpose behind the miracle, as well as a big responsibility for the person or people witnessing the miracle.



Fr. Tat noted that people tend to be afraid to attend Mass at St. Gerard because it is in an impoverished neighborhood in North Baton Rouge challenged by crime. “If you can make one miracle like that happen here once a year, you would see this church filled with people,” Fr. Tat mused. “You can attract a lot of people, but what does God want us to do? God wants us to have faith. What is faith? Believing in something you can’t see.”

Another part of the miracle is that we remember that Jesus Christ died on Calvary, and we celebrate the present moment, in which Jesus is present in the Eucharist and the community.

Fr. Tat mentioned three different witnesses to the Eucharist: Venerable Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, who was declared a venerable in 2017, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and the Blessed Mother.

During the Vietnam War, in April 1975, Venerable Cardinal Van Thuan was appointed coadjutor bishop of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. When Saigon fell to the Communists, the Vatican’s appointment of a popular bishop was seen as resistance and Venerable Cardinal Van Thuan was arrested. He spent nine of his 13 years of imprisonment in solitary confinement, but he ministered to prisoners and celebrated Mass secretly at night.

He recited the missal from memory and consecrated smuggled Communion hosts sent by his family in a flashlight, as well small amounts of wine in containers labeled “medicine for stomachaches.”

He evangelized many prisoners and guards, who had to be replaced regularly. He believed that the Eucharist shapes Christians, and said, “If you have lost everything but still have the Blessed Sacrament, you actually still have everything, because you have the Lord of heaven present here on earth.”

St. Teresa of Calcutta was also devoted to the Eucharist. When bishops asked what she needed, she told them, “I don’t need anything but the Mass.” Renowned for her mission among the poor and founding the Missionaries of Charity, the Eucharist also shaped her ministry. She said, ‘If you see Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, you must see Jesus in the poor.”

Fr. Tat emphasized that the Blessed Mother had the most sacred response to the Eucharist, for when the Archangel Gabriel announced that she would bear the savior of the world she replied, “Behold I am a handmaid of the Lord.” “When we receive Jesus at Communion, hopefully we are able to say ‘Behold, I am a servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.’ You surrender yourself,” Fr. Tat said. He challenged people to allow God to work through them, to transform them.

(Please contact Cindy Thibodeaux at [email protected] for a copy of the entire article.)