Who and What is The Most Holy Eucharist?
“Who do you say that I am?” —a profound question that Jesus Christ asks of each of us today, personally, as He resides in what appears as a small, humble piece of bread— the Most Blessed Sacrament!
Jesus states, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I give is my flesh for the life of the world…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.” John 6:51-55
The Eucharist contains our beginning and our end point — the risen and glorious Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God that loves each of us (personally) to the point of death on a cross. This Living Bread has been at “the heart” of Christianity. The Old Testament points forward to the Eucharist and The New Testament points back to The Eucharist. It is The New and Everlasting Covenant as proclaimed by Jesus Christ Himself, the early Church Fathers all the way through to our current Pope Francis. The Eucharist has been proclaimed as Jesus Christ Himself from the beginning of the Church as Saint John Paul II spoke during his life, “For us who are disciples of Christ, the Eucharist is still the center of the community. Right from the beginning, the Eucharist has always created community.”
The Holy Eucharist, the New Covenant between God and his people was established by Jesus Christ at The Last Supper and ever since The Eucharist is the mystical source that makes us One with God and each other. Jesus is fully present — His Body, His Blood, His Soul and His Divinity in the Consecrated Eucharist.
Exodus 16:14-15: And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as hoarfrost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
Matthew 26:26-28: 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.
(**NOTE – The Eucharist is a communal meal, a sacrificial meal, a memorial meal, and a sin-forgiving meal, according to Jesus.)
John 6:53-58, 66-67 : “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.’ After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Will you also go away?'”
1 Corinthians 11:27 : “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.”
Luke 24: 28-31: So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.
The Eucharist is NOT Symbolic:
Matthew 26:26: 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.”
John 6:51: I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
John 6:55: For my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed.
1 Corinthians 10:16: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 11:27: Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.
(**Note: The word “symbolic” is not to be found in any passage concerning the Eucharist. Catholics walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7))