As we have seen in the previous issue of this series, the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament is a long-standing tradition in the Catholic Church. It is a tradition which enriches the life of the Church in many ways. It now remains for us to consider the relationship of the reserved Eucharist to our lives as a community and to our lives as individual members within the community.

Viaticum. In our first brochure we noted that the primary and original reason for reserving the Eucharist outside. Mass is for the giving of "viaticum". Meaning "provision for the journey," this term refers to communion received by a dying person. In fact, viaticum is the "sacrament of the dying."

Christ told us that "he who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:54). For this reason the Church insists that the dying receive the Eucharist as a preparation for the journey from this life to join Christ in heaven. Furthermore, the Eucharist is the promise of our resurrection on the last day.

Although it is recommended that viaticum be received during Mass, the condition of the dying person as well as other circumstances often make this impossible. It is for this reason that the community reserves the Eucharist in the tabernacle from which it is taken by a priest, deacon, or special minister to serve as the spiritual food for the Christian who goes forward to join the risen Lord.

Communion to the Sick. Ile Christian community has always shown the greatest concern for its sick members. By so doing it follows the example of Christ whose healing ministry touched so many sick people of his time. Ile Church is also aware that when one member of the Body of Christ suffers, then all the members suffer with the sick person. Christ also exhorted us to visit the sick. In obedience to this command the Church from its earliest days made provision that the sick, unable to participate in the celebration of Mass, be afforded an opportunity to share in the bread of life.

In many communities special ministers of communion bring the eucharistic bread to the sick immediately after the Sunday Mass. By sharing in the bread consecrated at that Mass the sick are afforded a strong link with the whole assembly. They too, in spite of their physical absence, share in this sacrament of unity. They remain members of the assembly which has mentioned their needs in the general intercessions and has asked God in the eucharistic prayer to remember all people.

Circumstances (e.g. emergency situations, schedule conflicts, etc.) often require that the Eucharist be taken from the tabernacle to the sick. Thus reservation of the Blessed Sacrament is an ongoing sign of our loving ministry to those afflicted by illness.

Public Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The Church strongly urges that "all the faithful show this holy sacrament the veneration and adoration that is due to God himself" (Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist outside Mass, no. 3). In fact the Church urges that the members of the community publicly respond to Christ's abiding presence among us in the Blessed Sacrament. For this purpose the liturgical books give directives for exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Parishes are encouraged to set aside some time once a year for an extended solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament (formerly known as Forty Hours).

The main purpose of such practices, however, is not merely to respond to the devout aspirations of a few, but rather to draw the whole community with renewed faith and love back to the meaning of the whole eucharistic liturgy celebrated at Mass. We are offered an opportunity to reflect more deeply on what we are about when we celebrate the Eucharist together.

We are given occasion to recall what we encounter in the Eucharist is not only the continuing presence of the Lord but also that Christ is sacramentally present among us so that his eucharistic body and

blood be shared in communion by the people.

Distribution of the Reserved Eucharist at Mass? The flow of the eucharistic liturgy is one of the people presenting gifts of bread and wine, the priest in the name of all proclaiming a consecratory prayer over these gifts, and the people then receiving back the transformed gifts as the eucharistic body and blood of the Lord. Respecting this dynamic of the Eucharist is of concern to the Church today. For example, in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal we read. "It is most desirable that the faithful should receive the body and blood of the Lord in hosts consecrated at the same Mass..." (no. 56). The unity of the eucharistic celebration is preserved when this tradition is followed.

Thus as a norm, the Eucharist is not distributed from the tabernacle at Mass. On exceptional occasions when, in spite of the best of planning, insufficient hosts were consecrated during the liturgy or when too much bread was consecrated, special ministers of the Eucharist can bring from the tabernacle any needed hosts or return to it any undistributed eucharistic bread.

Visits to the Blessed Sacrament have long been encouraged by the Church. Private prayer is essential for our lives as Christians. All of us need to make a place for it in our lives. We need to set aside times when this can happen. And prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament is a privileged time of prayer. It is a time when we, at our own pace and in our own way, can speak to the eucharistic Lord and respond to his promptings within our hearts. Ile value of such visits was emphasized by Pope Paul VI who called them "a proof of gratitude, a pledge of love, a service of adoration owed to Lord present there" Mysterium Fidei, no. 66).

Whatever be the specific nature of our prayer before the tabernacle, it should always lead us back to the Lord present in his people and present in the celebration of the Eucharist. The presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament presupposes his presence in the assembly gathered for common prayer, his presence in the word, his presence in the person of the ordained minister, his presence in the sharing of the eucharistic bread and cup.

Although our private and intimate concerns will always find a place in our prayer when we visit the Blessed Sacrament our devotion and adoration should ever lead us on to a fuller appreciation of the meaning of our common liturgical action. Such prayer would rightly include the ways we can manifest that unity of which the Eucharist is a sign, the ways in which we can respond to the various hungers of the world.

By such prayer we not only profess belief in the abiding presence and power of Christ among us, but we also "foster those right dispositions that enable (us) with due devotion to celebrate the memorial of the Lord and receive frequently the bread given us

by the Father" (Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass, no 80).

Drawing together the major themes of this series, we see that the Eucharist has two dimensions:

• primarily, the celebration of a sacred meal with bread and cup in which the assembly is involved with full participation;
• and, secondarily, the reservation of the fruit of that meal both for giving communion apart from the celebration and for purposes of prayer and devotion.

For both these dimensions there is to be a particular place:

• the area of the assembly gathered around the table of the Lord.
• the space in which the tabernacle is placed to foster devotion and adoration.

By respecting the nature of these two aspects and the place for each, we show our understanding and respect for the fullness of the eucharistic mystery in the Church. The eucharistic action of the assembly leads from praise and thanksgiving to the sharing of the eucharistic bread and wine by members of the assembly.

The reserved Eucharist is for the nourishment of those members of the community who are sick or dying and thus unable to be present for the eucharistic celebration by the community. It is also a means whereby we, through prayer and adoration, can return to the eucharistic celebration with renewed faith, love, and unity.