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Sep 11, 2024 · In the Eucharist, Catholics are united to Christ as they receive Him, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity under the humble appearances of bread and wine. Learn more about the importance of the Holy Eucharist in Catholicism and why we call it the “source and summit” of our Faith.
The Eucharist is the center of the Catholic Church because, at every Mass, we sacramentally renew Christ’s one sacrifice of the Cross, which is the source of Catholic life, and then we receive him in Holy Communion, which anticipates the summit of Catholic worship in heaven (Rev. 19:9).
- Overview
- Origin in Scripture
- Historical development
Eucharist, in Christianity, ritual commemoration of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples. The Eucharist (from the Greek eucharistia for “thanksgiving”) is the central act of Christian worship and is practiced by most Christian churches in some form. Along with baptism it is one of the two sacraments most clearly found in the New Testament.
The story of the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus on the night before his Crucifixion is reported in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24; and Luke 22:17–20) and in the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 11:23–25). According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus established the practice at the Last Supper, a tradit...
It is clear that the earliest Christians regularly enacted the Eucharist. Originally, the rite was a repetition of the common meal of the local group of disciples with the addition of the bread and the cup signifying the presence of Jesus. St. Paul’s earliest record of the ordinance in his first letter to the Corinthians, written about 55 ce, suggests that some abuses had arisen in conjunction with the common meal, or agapē, with which it was combined. It had become an occasion of drunkenness and gluttony. To rectify this, St. Paul recalled and reestablished the original institution and its purpose and interpretation as a sacrificial-sacramental rite. Fellowship meals continued in association with the postapostolic Eucharist, as is shown in the Didachē (a Christian document concerned with worship and church discipline written c. 100–c. 140), and in the doctrinal and liturgical development described in the writings of the early Church Fathers little was changed. During the late 2nd century the meal became vestigial and was finally abandoned. The Eucharist was originally celebrated every Sunday, but by the 4th century it was celebrated daily. The eucharistic formula was set in a framework of biblical readings, psalms, hymns, and prayers that depended in form somewhat on the synagogue service. This remained one basis of the various liturgies that arose, including the Roman rite.
The “presence” of Jesus in the elements of bread and wine has been variously interpreted in actual, figurative, or symbolic senses, but the sacramental sense, as the anamnesis, or memorial before God, of the sacrificial offering on the cross once and for all, has always been accepted. A eucharistic theology gradually took shape in the apostolic and early church without much controversy or formulation. Not until the beginning of the Middle Ages did controversial issues arise that found expression in the definition of the doctrine of transubstantiation at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. This definition opened the way for the Scholastic interpretation of the eucharistic presence of Christ and of the sacramental principle, in Aristotelian terms. Thus, St. Thomas Aquinas maintained that a complete change occurred in the “substance” of each of the species, while the “accidents,” or outward appearances, remained the same. During the Reformation, though the medieval doctrine was denied in varying ways by the reformers, it was reaffirmed by the Council of Trent in 1551. Holy Communion was retained as a sacrament by most of the Protestant groups, except that those churches that see the supper solely as a memorial prefer to speak not of a sacrament but of an ordinance.
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Jun 2, 2013 · Jesus has given us himself so that we can have life and not only here on earth but with him in heaven for all eternity. Without the Eucharist I am weak and worldly. A deacon I knew said that for him, the Eucharist was his “energy pill” and what helped him throughout his day, no matter how long or difficult.
Jan 16, 2024 · But why is the Eucharist so important in our faith? Here are three reasons: 1. It nourishes our souls. In John 6:35, Jesus said, I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not...
Beyond doctrinal interpretations, the Eucharist is a form of communion—a communal participation in the divine. It fosters a sense of unity amongst believers, who collectively share in the body and blood of Christ, and in doing so, affirm their membership in the larger body of the Church.
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Why is the Eucharist not only a meal but also a sacrifice? While our sins would have made it impossible for us to share in the life of God, Jesus Christ was sent to remove this obstacle. His death was a sacrifice for our sins.
