“The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic Lives.” All graces flow to us from the Eucharist. The Eucharist, the risen and glorified Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, is the perpetuation of Calvary, the sacrificial banquet. Throughout history, God relates with us in a covenant manner; He made covenant with His people though Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, etc. This sacrament is the fullness and the fulfillment of all covenants. Jesus Christ instituted it as the “New Way” to worship God in the covenant manner: “new covenant in my blood.”
The Eucharist is NOT symbol.
It is the true Body and Blood of Jesus. Emphasizing the real presence of Jesus, body and blood, soul and divinity, the Author to the Hebrews declares:
“For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24).
How gracious and loving is our God who has gone beyond changing water into wine at Cana, to changing wine and bread into His very self. No words can ex-press gratitude for such unconditional love. Only a deep, silent presence at the core of our being cries out, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of heaven and earth, Hosana in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Biblical Reference
Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it,and gave it to them, saying, ìThis is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.î And like-wise the cup after they had eaten, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.î (Luke 22:19-20)
I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
“If any one eats of this bread, he will live forever;…he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and…abides in me, and I in him. (John 6:51,54,56)
Teaching of the Church
At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, sign of unity, bond of charity, Pascal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1323)
