Father Randy Stice encourages devotion to the Eucharist, ‘the wonder of the Mass,’ in his latest book
By Gabrielle Nolan
Initially drawn to the Catholic Church in the 1990s because of the Church’s teachings on the Holy Eucharist, Father Randy Stice decades later has written a book on cultivating a deeper relationship with the Eucharist.
Father Stice, a priest of the Diocese of Knoxville who serves as the director of worship and liturgy, released Eucharistic Amazement: Experience the Wonder of the Mass in January. The book is published by Pauline Books & Media, which is the publishing house of the Daughters of St. Paul.
Fr. Randy Stice
The priest’s previous three books on the sacraments were made with an academic lens, being used in some seminaries for formation. However, that was not the audience for his recent release.
“Eucharistic amazement is not just head knowledge. It’s also experiential,” Father Stice said. “And the saints talk about experiences of Christ in the Eucharist, not just academic knowledge… They not only understood the Eucharist, they had good theology of the Eucharist, but they also had a personal experience of encountering Christ in the Eucharist. We have to have a good understanding and think with the Church on our belief in the Eucharist, but it’s intended to be a personal encounter.”
The book-writing process took about two and a half years, resulting in nine chapters. The book also includes reflection questions for each chapter and suggested further reading material.
“I wasn’t trying to come up with an idea for a book to write. I was actually just preparing a weekday homily,” Father Stice explained. “There was a phrase in one of the prayers—it was St. John Neumann—for the Mass that talked about the power of this sacrament. And for some reason that phrase really struck me, and it brought together a lot of different elements that are now chapters of the book. So, in some ways the book is very personal.”
Eucharistic Amazement contains chapters featuring Sts. Teresa of Avila, Faustina Kowalska, and John Chrysostom, all of whom Father Stice has studied and has devotions to. Father Stice, who has a licentiate in sacred theology, completed his thesis on St. Teresa of Avila.
Although the topics of the book were very familiar to Father Stice, some of his research did lead to a deepening of his devotion.
“In chapter four, where I talk about the Mass as the renewal of the covenant, the research for that chapter really deepened my understanding of the Mass as the renewal of the covenant. Jesus says, ‘This is the chalice of my blood of the new and eternal covenant,’ how the whole Mass itself is a renewal of the covenant. And then I think in chapter five, I talk about the unique graces of each Mass.”
As a priest, Father Stice said the experience of reciting the prayers of consecration and giving the faithful the Eucharist is “very profound.”
“It’d be hard to put into words,” he said. “I like John Paul II’s explanation of what happens when the priest says the words of consecration, because at that point Jesus is basically speaking through the mouth of the priest. So, basically there are three different ways in which the priest prays during Mass. There are the prayers that he proclaims on behalf of the whole assembly; and then there are several points during the Mass where the priest says prayers—the rubric says he says them softly, quietly, so the idea is that they’re his personal prayers for holiness, so the idea is that the people should see that he is saying something but not necessarily hear what he’s saying; and then the words of consecration are the third way, the third kind of prayer, and that is completely different from the other two in that Christ Himself is speaking through the mouth of the priest.”
Father Stice believes there is always a need for ongoing catechesis for Catholics.
“I’ve never met a Catholic who didn’t want to learn more about the Mass because if there’s anything a Catholic’s going to do—they may not go to faith formation and special events—if there’s one thing a Catholic will do, they will go to Mass,” he shared. “I think a lot of Catholics know that after the consecration the bread and the wine become the body and the blood of Christ, but I don’t know that they always understand and believe that it’s a personal presence, that it’s the person Himself. There may be holy, divine things, but the fact that it’s a personal encounter, I think that could be better understood and experienced.”
Within the culture, there are obstacles to cultivating eucharistic amazement.
“Our culture today really has lost its sense that God acts in the world today,” Father Stice remarked. “We believe that God exists, but He’s like in this far beyond, He doesn’t really touch our lives. And if we have that general view of God and how He is in the world, we’re going to bring that view to the Mass, and so we may come with low expectations of what God wants to do.”
He mentioned that often in the Gospels Jesus touches others, and those who experience miracles are persistent with great faith.
“The woman who pushes through the crowd to touch the hem of His garment, or the paralytic man and his four friends move the roof and lower him down through the roof. Jesus looked and saw their faith. So, I think faith in Jesus’ presence and power are very important, and Pope Francis has said that that’s not really what the culture believes, and we can be affected by that,” Father Stice continued.
Eucharistic Amazement may be a good resource for those who struggle to believe in the Real Presence of the Eucharist.
“We have four accounts of the Last Supper where [Jesus] instituted the Eucharist,” Father Stice explained. “He doesn’t say, and He could have, this is to remind you of my body, or this is to remind you of me. But He doesn’t; He says this is my body, this is my blood. And when that was questioned in the early Church, the Church Fathers said if that’s not what He meant, He could have said what He meant. He could have said, this is just a sign, this is just something to remind you. But it’s not what He said. And we have multiple accounts of it.”
“[Jesus] also says He’s the truth,” Father Stice continued. “And so for us truth is not just a set of propositions. For us truth is in a person. We believe in the person, and because we believe in the person, we believe in what He teaches.”
To purchase a copy of the book, visit paulinestore.com.
