Many believe faith in the Eucharist, or more specifically in the real presence, has waned in recent decades due to Communion in the hand and the Novus ordo. I tend to think a greater factor has been the desecration of marriage.

The sacraments of Marriage and the Eucharist are inextricably linked as the sacraments of intimacy, the living renewal of the two permanent sacred covenants we make in life – one to God and the other to spouse.

When Christ introduced both of these sacraments to His disciples, many saw their sacrifice of total self-gift to another as untenable (Mt 19:10, Jn 6:66). Yet, He never reversed or watered down His words. So too, in the past half century, faith in marriage as the one unique and permanent relationship for which sex and children are reserved had waned due to the sexual revolution. Unsurprisingly, declining faith in the unique intimacy of Eucharistic Communion between Christ and His bride the Church was to follow.

Ironically, these two areas – sexual morality and Eucharistic communion – are the most common reasons so many converts are now coming into the Catholic faith.