Eucharist Essay Research Paper THE SACRAMENT OF

Eucharist Essay, Research Paper

THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST & # 8220 ; The Liturgy is the acme toward which the activity of the Church is directed ; at the same clip it is the fountain from which all her power flows & # 8221 ; ( Abbott 142 ) . This grave quotation mark represents the nucleus of the church & # 8217 ; s official instruction on the Sacred Liturgy. When wickedness entered the universe with the autumn of Adam and Eve1 so began the demand for rapprochement between God and His people. Throughout the Hebrew scriptures many compacts were made to convey about this rapprochement. The Covenant of Abraham and the Covenant of Moses, although they bound or incorporate God and His people, proved non to be complete. For true and complete rapprochement, God sent His Son that this New Covenant could be achieved through the passion, decease and Resurrection. The Eve of the Israelites hegira from Egypt, God struck down the first Born of all the Egyptians. The Israelites were told by God to observe a sacred repast. They were to give a one twelvemonth old male lamb, without defect. The blood of this lamb was to be smeared on the two doorjambs and header of the houses in which they ate. The angel of decease would & # 8220 ; base on balls over & # 8221 ; their places saving their first born kids. Consequently, this ritual repast became known as the Passover Supper.2 When Jesus celebrated the Passover repast with his adherents, he established a new and everlasting compact non in the blood of a lamb, but in His ain blood. He became the Lamb of Sacrifice. Jeremiah prophesied this new compact when he said: & # 8220 ; The yearss are certainly coming, says the Lord, when I will do a new compact with the house of Israel. . . . I will do an everlasting covenant. & # 8221 ; 3 St. Paul explains the theological significance of this sacrament as a brotherhood with the organic structure and blood of Christ & # 8211 ; and a re-presentation of the Lords passion, decease and Resurrection ; therefore the Paschal Mystery of Christ: For I received from the Lord what I besides handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the dark he was handed over, took staff of life, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, & # 8220 ; This is my organic structure that is for you. Make this is recollection of me. & # 8221 ; In the same manner besides the cup, after supper, stating, & # 8220 ; : This is the new compact in my blood, Do this, every bit frequently as you drink it, in recollection of me. & # 8221 ; For every bit frequently as you eat this staff of life and imbibe the cup, you proclaim the decease of the Lord until he comes.4 In the earliest church this sacred repast of Jesus normally took topographic point within the context of a common repast instead than as a separate rite. Most people celebrated this ritual in places. The communities were really little. The breakage of the staff of life was the cardinal act of supplication and worship of the people, reminding the early Christians of their individuality and of Christ & # 8217 ; s presence among them. The Christians formulated their ain plans of Scripture readings and supplication and before long these were joined straight to the memorial-sacrificial repast. This combination of a Holy Eucharist of the Word and a Holy Eucharist of the Body and Blood of Christ remains the two major constituents of the Catholic Eucharistic Holy Eucharist today. The Holy sacrament expresses the Church & # 8217 ; s faith that Christ is present in the staff of life and vino. A council of the Eastern church at Nicea in 787 affirmed the existent presence of Christ & # 8217 ; s organic structure and blood in the staff of life and vino but this was non clearly accepted in the Western Church.5 In 831, a Gallic theologist named Paschasius Radbertus steadfastly declared that in the Eucharist the staff of life and wine cease to be bread and vino and go the organic structure and blood of Christ, the same organic structure that was born of Mary and died on the cross.6 The belongingss of staff of life and vino remain the same but the substance of staff of life and vino are changed to the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This is known as transubstantiation. The Fourth Lateran Council declared this a philosophy of the church in 1215.7 St. Thomas Aquinas, the celebrated physician

tor of the church, states in the Summa Theologiae that the Mass is “both offered as a sacrifice and consecrated and received as a sacrament” (offertur ut sacrificium et consecratur et sumitur ut sacramentum). This means, according to St. Thomas, the fruits of the Mass are first the oblation of sin, then the consecration of the matter offered and finally its reception.8 The sacrifice of the Mass is the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross. The priest offers the sacrifice in the name of the people and re-presents to God the Father the death of Jesus through the separate consecration of the bread and wine. This is done through the power of the Holy Spirit or as it is known, the Epiclesis. Thus there is a Trinitarian dimension to the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The word “Eucharist” itself means Thanksgiving. The prayer of the Mass is a prayer of thanksgiving to God the Father for the love sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, by which our sins are forgiven and we receive the promise of life everlasting. In the celebration of this sacrament, the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not simply remembered, but is made actual and present through the power of the Holy Spirit. We proclaim “Christ is Died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again”9 This convergence of time and eternity in the present moment is known as Anamnesis.10 Consequently, the principal fruit of receiving Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus.11 Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it, Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body, the Church.12 In the sense of the scripture, the memorial is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God for men.13 In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained.”14 What is the relevance of Eucharist in the Church today? When the bishops of the world met at the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s, one of their most important tasks was to initiate a liturgical renewal. They revised the liturgy to emphasize the actions and elements Jesus had begun at the Last Supper which had become clouted over the centuries. These actions and elements are: the gathered community as a primary sign of the Lord’s presence, the call to forgiveness and penance, the Word proclaimed and understood in the language of the people, the reception of both bread and wine by all the baptized, and the command to be eucharistic people through the service of others in need. Pope Pius XII’s Encyclical on The Sacred Liturgy, Mediator Dei, insisted that it is our “duty and highest privilege to take part in the Eucharist Sacrifice.”15 It is there, especially, that we are nourished by God’s Word and the Lord’s Body; it is there that we offer Christ our Mediator and ourselves in Him and through Him to the Father. The words, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord” brings the presence of Jesus, the very body of Christ, to those waiting in the world. This command is meant to be acted on by the faithful. Mother Teresa of Calcutta calls this presence “our love in action.” Today Christ lives in His church. He is experienced when our Christian community lives His values and celebrate the lived reality. The grace of the sacrament is the grace of the Church in service to others. In so doing, Catholics help strengthen the Christian community and offer a model for the building up of the whole human family. The Sacrament of the Eucharist is to be lived. After gathering as a faith community to celebrate this Sacred Mystery of the Body and Blood of Jesus and reflecting on God’s word in the scriptures, the faithful nourished by this experience are to go forth and be Christ’s presence in the world. ENDNOTES