EUCHARIST

FAITH IS BELIEVING IN WHAT WE CANNOT PROVE.

YOU CANNOT PROVE TO AN ATHEIST THAT GOD EXISTS. BUT YOU CAN

GIVE HIM REASONS TO BELIEVE THAT HE DOES.

INSTEAD ASK HIM TO PROVE TO YOU THAT GOD DOESN’T EXIST.

Why? If you do not believe that God exists when you are alive, and then you find out differently when you die, you will spend all eternity knowing you were wrong. And If God doesn’t exist, you will never know.

Example – Can of Vegetables When we go grocery shopping, we trust

that what the label says on the outside packaging is what is on the inside. The Church gives us the teachings of Christ to increase our faith.

What other things can we do to increase our faith?

What separates the Catholic faith from other religions? Hint – there are TWO things…

CAN YOU NAME THEM??

…the Lord gave me, and gives me still, such faith in priests who live according to the rite of the holy Roman Church because of their orders that, were they to persecute me, I would still want to have recourse to them…..And I act in this way because, in this world, I see nothing physically of the most high Son of God except His most holy Body and Blood which they receive and they alone administer to others. I want to have these most holy mysteries honoured and venerated above all things and I want to reserve them in precious places.

He writes: ...Behold, each day he humbles Himself as when he came from the royal throne into the Virgin’s womb; each day He himself comes down to us, appearing humbly; each day He comes down from the bosom of the Father upon the altar in the hands of the priest. As he revealed himself to the holy apostles in true flesh, so He reveals himself to us now in sacred bread.

Priest with Chalice - Let everyone be struck with fear, let the whole world tremble, and let the heavens exult when Christ, the Son of the living God, is present on the altar in the hands of a priest! O wonderful loftiness and stupendous dignity! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity! The Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles himself that for our salvation he hides himself under an ordinary piece of bread! Brothers, look at the humility of God, and pour out your hearts before him! Humble yourselves that you may be exalted by him! Hold nothing back of yourselves for yourselves, that he who gives himself totally to you may receive you totally.

Francis emphasises the humility of Christ both in the Incarnation and in the Sacrament for a number of reasons. Not the least important was his desire that he and his followers should be Catholic – i.e. Orthodox in faith.

• The Roman Catholic Church has consistently held fast to the belief in the Real Presence. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

• The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all sacraments tend." 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." "This presence is called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is present in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present."

Jesus had a great desire to eat “this”, the last typical Pasch with His disciples. When he had eaten this Paschal lamb with them, the Old Covenant was closed, and the New Covenant of grace began. The Loving Heart of Jesus longed to institute the New Covenant of grace, to offer Himself up in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood for our salvation and to give Himself to us for the nourishment of our souls. Therefore, He said, “With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you.”

Firstly, Our Lord wished to cleanse His disciples perfectly from sin, and prepare their souls for the reception of His Body and Blood, teaching us by this ceremony that we must wash our souls in the holy Sacrament of Penance before we receive Holy Communion.

•Secondly, our Lord desired by this washing of their feet to give to His disciples and to all Christians an example of humility and brotherly love. God gave us this example that we too might be humble and serve one another. What love Christ has shown us!

• The Last Supper • "Now as they were eating, Jesus took

bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'" (Matthew 26:26-28)

Where is PROOF OF THE

EUCHARIST IN THE BIBLE?

Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.

• I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

• The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat? Jesus said to them, Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

• Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.

This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever. These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Then many of his disciples who were listening said, This saying is hard; who can accept it? Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?

It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe. Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father. As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

Jesus then said to the Twelve, Do you also want to leave? Simon Peter answered him, Master, to whom shall we go? You

have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.

• For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

• In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

• Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord.

• A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

But you can from eating the Body and Blood of Our Lord unworthily.

Do you know why?

Fourth Commandment of the Church

Our Lord Makes the attainment of eternal life dependent on the receiving of His Body and Blood. Since it is the duty of every man to try and save his soul, and Holy Communion is necessary, as of precept, it is the duty of every man to receive Holy Communion, and as soon as his will is sufficiently formed and enlightened to decide whether or not he desires to partake of this heavenly Food. The Church, therefore, is fulfilling our Lord’s command, and providing for the salvation of souls, when she commands all the faithful to receive Holy Communion.

Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture: Bishop Justus Knecht

Are rich in blessings. He who receives the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ worthily has, in His own words, everlasting life. Even after the sacred species have disappeared, a nourishing and vivifying strength is left in our souls, which is none other than the divine strength of the Son of God.

St. Cyril says: “Even as melted wax unites itself to wax, mingling with it, and becoming one with it, so does he who receives the Body of the Redeemer become one with Him, so completely to be united with Him.”

He who does not believe in the real presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist has no part in Him, because he has no firm belief in the Divinity of Christ. The true believer does not ask, as the Jews did, “How can this be?” but believes the words of Christ unconditionally, because he knows that Christ is the Son of God, and with God all things are possible.

It is evident from our Lord’s words: “He that eateth this Bread (My Body under the form of bread) will live forever”, so that he who receives Holy Communion under one kind, does not receive less than he who receives under both kinds.

Christ is equally present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in either the bread or the wine once both are consecrated by a priest validly ordained by a bishop with apostolic succession.  For many years the Church gave it only under the form of bread because of the plague during the Middle Ages.  This is why the cup was no longer administered to the faithful to prevent the further deaths by infection to the plague. 

 The option of giving the cup was restored after Vatican II to those priests who decided to offer it.  Originally it was on special Feasts. The option was further increased with the creation of Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist. 

 Why did the Church extend this option again since Christ was equally present under either species?  Because it was more like the Last Supper. Christ said take and Eat followed by the Chalice when He said Take and Drink. 

1. Living Faith

He asked: “But whom do you say that I am?”

Peter answered: “Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

2. Humility - Remember the tale of The Publican in the Temple?

The Pharisee, standing, prayed thus with himself: ‘O God, I give Thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust adulterers, as also this publican. I fast twice in the week: I give tithes of all that I possess.” But the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift his eyes towards heaven, but struck his breast, saying: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner!”

Without humility there can be no forgiveness of sins, no grace, no future happiness. It is therefore an indispensable virtue. Even as pride lies at the root of all sin, so is the humility the foundation of all true virtues. “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

Example: St. Mary Magdalene (Feast day - July 22) Mary Magdalene was well known as a sinner when she first saw Our Lord. She was very beautiful and very proud, but after she met Jesus, she felt great sorrow for her evil life and repented.

The Cure of the Leper – St. Luke 5:12

St. Luke called him a man full of leprosy, which would mean that he was afflicted with the malady in its worst form.

As Jesus descended from the mountain, a leper came, who falling down, adored Him, saying: “Lord if thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean!” Jesus, stretching forth His hand, touched him, saying, “ I will: be thou made clean.” And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed.

Jesus appears to two disciples on the way to Emmaus.

The two disciples corresponded with grace and therefore obtained further grace. Our Lord gave them His Body to be the food of their souls and made Himself known to them “in the breaking of the bread”. Thus all their doubts were set to rest, their faith confirmed, and an unspeakable joy filled their hearts.

Jesus heals on the Sabbath the man languishing thirty eight years.