Eucharist - Jesuit Retreat House

Text Box: Holy EucharistIt is best to go slowly through this material—even prayerfully with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Symbols of the Holy Eucharist

When He was at supper He took, blessed it, broke it and gave it to His disciples saying:

“Take this all of you and eat it for this is my body.”

He took the cup filled with wine, blessed it and gave it to His disciples saying:

“Take this all of you and drink from this for this is my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.”

Which image of the Eucharist do you find the most meaningful? Why? Which image/symbol would you use to help explain the Holy Eucharist to a child preparing for First Communion? Would you think of creating a different image to capture this important spiritual truth?

Some comments from the Catechism of the Catholic Church

v The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian Life.” “It is the culmination both of God’s action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship believers offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit.”

v This Sacrament is called: The Eucharist, The Lord’s Supper, The Breaking of Bread, The Holy Sacrifice, The Mass, The Most Blessed Sacrament.

v “The Lord, having loved those who were his own, loved them to the end. Knowing that the hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father, in the course of a meal he washed their feet and gave the commandment of love. In order to leave them a pledge of this love, in order never to depart from his own and to make them sharers in his Passover, he instituted the Eucharist as the memorial of his Death and Resurrection, and commanded the apostles to celebrate it until his return.”

v The celebration of the Mass contains two great parts: a) the Liturgy of the Word, with readings, homily and general intercessions and b) the Liturgy of the Eucharist, with the presentations of the bread and wine, the consecration, the prayer of thanksgiving and communion.

v “We must consider the Eucharist as: 1) thanksgiving and praise to the Father, 2) the sacrificial memorial of Christ and His Body, 3) the presence of Christ by the power of his word and of his Spirit.”

v “In the liturgy we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord.”

v “The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church’s life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; and by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the Church.”

v “The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the consecration of bread and wine; and participation in the liturgical banquet by receiving the Lord’s body and blood. These elements constitute one single act of worship.”

v ”The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action.”

v ”It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant, who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.”

v The Eucharist is a) a Sacrifice, commemorating the death and resurrection of the Lord and

b) a Sacrament, receiving the body and blood of the Lord as food for the soul and one’s spiritual life.

v “Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of his glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along the pilgrimage of this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us even now to the Church in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints.”

Quotations taken from Catechism of the Catholic Church, pp 335, 337, 340, 342, 347, 355-56

Why not get in the boat (in the scene below) and ask the Lord to come with you?

You want to talk over this matter on the Eucharist. You begin by asking Him why He instituted the Eucharist. You ask Him how you can get a better insight into this very important Sacrament of your Catholic faith. You thank Him for this Sacrament of Life and Love. You hear Him thanking you for believing in Him and receiving Him in the Eucharist.

I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in me will not perish but will have eternal life. I am the bread of life. Come to me all who are hungry, thirsty, lonely and hurting.