320. What is Viaticum?
(Comp
320) Viaticum is the Holy Eucharist received by those who are about to
leave this earthly life and are preparing for the journey to eternal life.
Communion in the body and blood of Christ who died and rose from the dead,
received at the moment of passing from this world to the Father, is the seed of
eternal life and the power of the resurrection.
“In brief”
(CCC 1406) Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came
down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever;… he who
eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and… abides in me, and I in him" Jn 6:51, 54, 56).
To deepen and explain
(CCC 1525) Thus, just as the sacraments of Baptism,
Confirmation, and the Eucharist form a unity called "the sacraments of
Christian initiation," so too it can be said that Penance, the Anointing
of the Sick and the Eucharist as viaticum constitute at the end of Christian
life "the sacraments that prepare for our heavenly homeland" or the
sacraments that complete the earthly pilgrimage.
Reflection
(CCC 1524) In addition to the Anointing of the Sick, the
Church offers those who are about to leave this life the Eucharist as viaticum.
Communion in the body and blood of Christ, received at this moment of
"passing over" to the Father, has a particular significance and
importance. It is the seed of eternal life and the power of resurrection,
according to the words of the Lord: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my
blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (Jn
6:54). The sacrament of Christ once dead and now risen, the Eucharist is here
the sacrament of passing over from death to life, from this world to the Father
(Cf. Jn 13:1).
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