Holy Eucharist - The Source and Summit

Holy Eucharist – the Source and Summit of our Life.

Beyond all that we hunger for, are the hunger and thirst for spiritual nourishment. Sometimes people are not even aware that this spiritual hunger and thirst exist. But Jesus realized this hunger and instituted the Holy Eucharist to feed our starving souls. The Eucharist, the most profound, most astounding, most life giving act that was ever performed by Jesus, that anyone has ever seen on earth, and it is there every day. At the Second Vatican Council, the Fathers of the Council authored a document entitled The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, or Lumen Gentium. It gives the most wonderful definition of the Eucharist. “The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of the Christian life.” Holy Eucharist is the unique Characteristics of our Catholic faith. For us, the consecrated bread and wine are not merely bread and wine. They are the real Body and Blood of Christ. That makes us different from other Christian denominations. The gift ofthe Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary are the two unique gifts of the Catholic Church.

JESUS IS TRULY PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST

From the earliest of times, it has been the faith of the Church that Jesus is present in the Eucharist. The earliest New Testament witness to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist comes to us from Paul writing to the community of the Corinthians. 1Cor. 11:23. “I have passed on to you what I myself received.” Paul goes on to recount the words of the Last Supper: “This is My Body...this is the Blood of the new covenant.” Since Paul was in Corinth around the year 51 AD, we can assume that the tradition that Paul received, which he passed on to the church, dates to the very earliest days of the Church. The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke were written later than Paul’s letters, and they also affirm the tradition of the words that Jesus spoke at the Last supper: “This is my Body, this is my Blood.” The final scriptural witness to the Real Presence comes from the sixth chapter of John’s gospel in what is called “The Bread of Life discourse.” The sixth chapter of John begins with the miracle of the multiplication of the bread and feeding the five thousand. Here, Jesus clearly identifies the “bread come down from heaven” as His very own flesh. 6:27 Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. 6:35 I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven, whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. 6:53 Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 6:54 whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. 6:55 For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. 6:60 “this saying is hard; who can accept it?”6:66 As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. 6:67 Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 6:69 We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

THE EUCHARIST AND THE LAST SUPPER

The Last Supper, the event during which Jesus instituted the Eucharist, is a Passover meal, rich in its symbolism that helps us to appreciate the Eucharist in an even more profound way. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that Calvary was an act of love, for in this act of free surrender to the Father, He would teach us how to achieve perfect freedom in this world. Taking bread, Jesus says, “This is My Body given for you.” As the bread would be broken, so His body would be broken the next day. “This is the cup of My Blood, of the new covenant.” As His blood would be shed the next day, it would establish, on behalf of all humanity, a new relationship of faithfulness to God. As you sit before the Blessed Sacrament, reflect upon the obedience of Jesus to the will of the Father. Allow Jesus to free you from fear that prevents us from making those acts of absolute surrender and trust and repeat these words in the quiet of your heart: “This is His body, broken for me; this is His blood, poured out for me.”

EUCHARIST AND THE ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

The beautiful accounts of the Last Supper that we read in the gospels and in the letter of Paul to the Corinthians, we hear that Jesus has taken bread and “blessed it” (Matthew, Mark) or “gave thanks” (Luke, I Corinthians) before breaking it and giving it to His disciples. The word “bless” and “give thanks” are related actions. The Jewish custom of blessing food is an act of praising God for His goodness to us. As you can see, we have used this Greek word, eucharistia to speak about our great sacrament: Eucharist – a call to give thanks!.

Fr. Benny Mekkatt, CFIC