Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Christian

Life
Opening Prayer/Scripture Reading:
Luke 22: 14-20
Psalm 104: 13- 15
'Bread from the earth, and wine to gladden our hearts&...so that our faces gleam with oil, and bread fortifies our hearts,'
(Psalm 104: 15)

Catholic Update:
Eucharist-A Short History
Finding Jesus In The Eucharist-4 Ways He Is Present
Eucharist-Sign Of Christian Unity

Summary:
The sacrament of the Eucharist as the 'summary of our faith', completes sacramental initiation. We believe that the
Eucharist is the 'source and summit of the Christian life' in that the Eucharist is the culmination of God's saving actions in
Jesus Christ and of our worship and union with Him who leads us to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. All the
other sacraments are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it.

The word 'Eucharist' comes from the Greek word eucharistein meaning 'thanksgiving'. Jesus gave thanks at the Last
Supper, at which he instituted the Eucharist, and then offered his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving once for all on the
Cross. In the Eucharistic memorial of his sacrifice on the Cross He pours out graces of salvation on us who unite
ourselves to Him as sharers in his Body and Blood to form one single body.

At the Last Supper Jesus instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood that perpetuates and continues His
sacrifice on the Cross through the ages. He entrusts to the Church the memorial of his death and resurrection in this
sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist she commemorates
Christ's Passover, and it is made present: the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present.

At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that by the words of Christ and the invocation of the
Holy Spirit become Christ's Body and Blood. In the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body he gave up for us on the cross,
the blood he 'poured out for many for the forgiveness of our sins'.

a. The Eucharist completes sacramental initiation. As the 'repeatable sacrament of initiation' it is the 'source and
the summit of the Christian life'. All the other sacraments are oriented toward the Eucharist for it contains Christ
Himself whose presence heals, restores and forgives us. (CCC 1322-1327)

b. The word Eucharist means 'thanksgiving'. The Catechism lists several terms to describe the Eucharist: Lord's
Supper, Breaking of Bread, Eucharistic assembly, memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection, the Holy
Sacrifice, the Holy and Divine Liturgy, the Most Blessed Sacrament, Holy Communion, and Holy Mass. (CCC 1328-
1332)

c. Jesus instituted the Eucharist so that He might continue to abide with us and so that we might partake of the
saving mystery of his passion, death and resurrection. Jesus' command to 'do this in memory of me' is faithfully
carried out by the Church from the very beginning to the end of time. The Eucharist is the center of the Church's
life. (CCC 1337-1345)
 d. The memorial of the Eucharist is not merely a recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty
works wrought by God for us...when the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ's Passover
and it is made present (CCC 1362-1364)

e. The Eucharist is a sacrifice in that in it Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross. The
Eucharistic sacrifice represents the sacrifice of the cross...the sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist
are one single sacrifice (CCC 1365-1372)

f. The Eucharist is SACRIFICE, THANKSGIVING, MEMORIAL AND PRESENCE (CCC 1356-1372)

g. As the Paschal Banquet, the Eucharist unites us with Christ and with one another in the Body of Christ, the
Church. The Eucharist makes the Church (CCC 1382-1405)

h. We believe that in the Eucharist Christ is present 'body and blood, soul and divinity...truly, really and
substantially'. By the consecration of bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the
bread into the substance of Christ's body and of the substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This
change is called 'transubstantiation'. (CCC 1373-1376) At every Eucharist Christ offers himself for our
nourishment and strength to unite us with Him and lead us to God in the power of the Holy Spirit.

i. The Mass or the 'liturgy of the Eucharist' has two parts that together form 'one single act of worship': the Liturgy
of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist (CCC 1346-1355)

Discussion Questions:
1. What are the key events in the Passover meal of Jesus at his Last Supper? (Read Luke 22: 7-20; Matthew 26: 17-
29; Mark 14: 12-25)

a. 2 . What does it mean for you to 'fully, consciously and actively' participate in the Eucharist?

2. What is the connection between the Eucharist and our daily lives?

Scripture References/Quotations:
Luke 22: 7-20
Matthew 26: 17-29
Mark 14: 12-25
John 13: 1-17, 34-35
1 Corinthians 11: 23-26; Acts 2: 42-46; 20:7

'The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the Jesus' Passion
scandalized them...the Eucharist and the Cross are stumbling blocks...(Jesus) invites us to discover that only he has 'the
words of eternal life' and that to receive in faith the gift of the Eucharist is to receive the Lord Himself.' (CCC 1336)

'It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us,
Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my
body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.' (CCC 1375 from St. John Chrysostom)

'The Church and the world have great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not
refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the
serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.' Pope John Paul II, Dominicae cenae, 3
'I would like to rekindle this 'Eucharistic amazement'... to contemplate the face of Christ, and to contemplate it with
Mary, is the program which I have set before the Church at the dawn of the third millennium...To contemplate

Christ involves being able to recognize him wherever he manifests himself, in his many forms of presence, but above all
in the living sacrament of his body and his blood. The Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist; by him she is fed
and by him she is enlightened...Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the faithful can in some way relive the
experience of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: 'their eyes were opened and they recognized him' (Lk 24:31).
Pope John Paul II, On the Eucharist in its Relationship to the Church, 6.

Suggestions For Further Reading:

Universal Catechism, 'The Sacrament of the Eucharist', article nos. 1322-1418
Documents of the Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 1963
Pope John Paul II, The Eucharist in its Relationship to the Church, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 2003.

Closing Prayer
Luke 24: 13-35 (Emmaus)