The Seven Sacraments Part Four: The Eucharist
The Eucharist is the third sacrament of Christian Initiation, the other two being Baptism and Confirmation. But unlike Baptism and Confirmation, which can only be received once, the Eucharist can and should be received often, weekly and even daily. Whereas Baptism is our participation in the Lord’s death and resurrection and whereas Confirmation is the moment we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, the Eucharist is the sacrament by which we enter into an intimate communion with the crucified and risen Lord who is our life and our salvation.
When we receive the Eucharist we become more and more like the one whom we receive. Thus the purpose of the Eucharist is not only to unite us with the Lord but to make us like the Lord, to conform us to the pattern of God’s Son so that God will see and love in us what He sees and loves in his own Son.
The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. It is the source of the Christian life because it empowers us to live in and with the risen Christ. It is the summit of the Christian life because it is the moment when we are most closely united with the risen Lord, and through him with each other.
To receive the Eucharist is to receive the body and blood of Christ who suffered, died, and rose for our salvation. To receive the Eucharist is to become one with Christ. To receive the Eucharist is to possess the assurance of eternal life; for if we receive the risen Lord we will be raised with him into new and eternal life.
The Eucharist is not merely for our personal edification. Participating in the Eucharist joins us to the Body of Christ, the Church, and the Communion of Saints. Thus, when we receive the Eucharist we enjoy a profound relationship with each other through our relation with Christ. We dwell in Christ; Christ dwells in us; and we are united with each other through the profound union we enjoy in Christ.
Every Mass is a celebration of the Eucharist; this is why we call the Mass the Eucharist. The Eucharist is why we attend Mass weekly and even daily. Saint Paul says that every time we gather as a Eucharistic community we proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again. That is to say, we proclaim to the world the saving mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection by which God has redeemed and reconciled the world in Christ. Our Eucharistic celebration then is the most profound expression of our faith; for it is at this moment that we enter into the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Consider what happens when we attend Mass and participate in the Eucharist. First, we are united with God’s holy people whom God has chosen through Jesus Christ. Second, we enter into a profound union with Christ that changes and transforms our lives so that we become more and more like Christ and less and less like our sinful self. Third, we enter into the body of Christ, which is the Church. Finally, we receive the seed of eternal life, the assurance that God will raise us to new life on the last day.
Were we to understand the full mystery of the Eucharist we would be filled with awe and wonder. We would tremble at the realization that the crucified and risen Christ, the Lord of all creation, enters into our lives. Were we to live the mystery of the Eucharist, we would live in an entirely new way that would proclaim Christ to the world.
Father Matera