271. What is the Eucharist?
(Comp
271) The Eucharist is the very sacrifice of the Body and Blood of the Lord
Jesus which he instituted to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout
the ages until his return in glory. Thus he entrusted to his Church this
memorial of his death and Resurrection. It is a sign of unity, a bond of
charity, a paschal banquet, in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled
with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.
“In
brief”
(CCC 1409)
The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, that is, of the work of
salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a work
made present by the liturgical action.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1322)
The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised
to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to
Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord's own
sacrifice by means of the Eucharist. (CCC 1323) "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, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet 'in
which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future
glory is given to us’" (SC 47).
On
reflection
(CCC 1402)
In an ancient prayer the Church acclaims the mystery of the Eucharist: "O
sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion
is renewed, the soul is filled with grace and a pledge of the life to come is
given to us." If the Eucharist is the memorial of the Passover of the Lord
Jesus, if by our communion at the altar we are filled "with every heavenly
blessing and grace" (Roman Missal,
EP I (Roman Canon) 96: Supplices te
rogamus), then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly
glory.
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