The Eucharist: Christ, the Living Bread of Life.
but especially under the sacramental
I. BASIC DESCRIPTION OF THE
EUCHARIST
The basics of the Catholic Faith in the Eucharist
are presented in Vatican II’s “Constitution on the
Sacred Liturgy.”
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 and
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; cf. CCC 1323)
The specific points of this descriptive
definition of the Eucharist can be
summarized as follows.
The Eucharist was instituted by Christ. He
prepared for it in the many fellowship meals
which he shared during his public life. He
established the Eucharist at the Last Supper, the
night before he died on the Cross. And he
confirmed it as the Risen Christ in his Easter meal
appearances to his disciples.
The Eucharist is celebrated with Christ by the
Christian community, the Church. It is an
essentially ecclesial act, carried out “by the
Mystical Body of Christ, that is, by the Head and
his members”
The Eucharist is at once both sacrifice and sacred
meal. It is the memorial instituted by Christ so
that the saving benefits of his Death and
Resurrection can be shared by the People of God
through every age.
1. Christ himself is really present in the
Eucharistic celebration in multiple ways,
signs of bread and wine.
2. The Eucharist is the eschatological
pledge and foretaste of our future glory.
A. THANKSGIVING WORSHIP
In the Eucharistic celebration the Church finds the
source of its mission and the pledge of its future
destiny. “Just as the Church ‘makes the Eucharist,’
so ‘the Eucharist builds up’ the Church” (DC 4).
The Eucharistic celebration brings us together as a
community in Christ in whom we have “received
the means for giving worthy worship to God” . This
community worship in and through the Risen
Christ celebrates most perfectly all the essential
goals of prayer: thanksgiving, praise and
adoration of God, contrition for our sins, petition
for His grace, and offering of all we have, do and
are.
Recognizing “the Eucharist as the source and
summit of the whole Christian life” PCP II decreed
that “the centrality of the Eucharist in Catholic
piety shall be given greater emphasis”.
B. SACRIFICE-SACRAMENT
a) Sacrifice
Christ instituted the Eucharist at his
Last Supper with his apostles, so that his
bloody sacrifice on the Cross could be
perpetuated through all ages
 Pope Paul VI explained what this means:
“through the mystery of the Eucharist,
the sacrifice of the Cross which was
once offered on Calvary, is remarkably
reenacted and constantly recalled, and
its saving power exerted for the
forgiveness of sins”
Christ instituted the Eucharist so that
his once-and-for-all saving Death on the
Cross might be made present even to us
__ 2,000 years later. The Eucharist is a
sacrifice because Christ is present
precisely as “offering himself for us as a
sacrifice to the Father”. Thus, the heart
of the Eucharistic celebration is Christ,
our Lord’s perfect saving LOVE.

Our Savior himself is present in his total
offering of himself to the Father. In the
Eucharist, the Death and Resurrection of
Christ are not just remembered, but
effectively proclaimed and made
present. Briefly then, the Eucharist is a
sacrifice because it:
• represents, makes present, the sacrifice of
the Cross;
• is its memorial; and
• applies its fruit
• offering all men and women the power
• Therefore the Mass is not a sacrifice
separate from the Cross. Rather, the
sacrifice of the Cross and its sacramental
renewal in the Mass are, apart from the
difference in the manner of offering,
ONE and the SAME sacrifice. It is this
sacramental renewal which Christ the
Lord instituted at the Last Supper and
commanded his apostles to celebrate in
his memory. The Mass is therefore a
sacrifice of praise, of thanksgiving, of
propitiation and of satisfaction (Instr.
Rom. Missal 2).
b) Christ the Key
Again the key to this UNITY of the
Eucharistic sacrifice and the Sacrifice of
the Cross is Christ himself. For Catholics,
the Eucharist is more than just a “sign”
of Christ’s sacrifice without the reality of
that sacrifice. Rather, the Eucharist is
the presence of Christ’s sacrifice,
because Christ’s sacrifice IS Christ, and
Christ is really present in the Eucharist.
Christ is both Priest and Victim of the
Sacrifice of the Cross, which is
celebrated sacramentally in the
Eucharistic sacrifice. Therefore Christ is
central to the Eucharist not just as
SUPREME WORSHIPPER, but, more
importantly, as the PRIEST and VICTIM
of the Eucharistic sacrifice.
1. Understanding Christ’s New Sacrifice
But Christ’s sacrifice radically changed
the sacrifices of the Old Covenant with
their slaughter of animals, sprinkling of
blood, and the sacrificial meal. Instead
of the blood of animals, at the Last
Supper Christ instituted the sacrifice of
the NEW Covenant in his own blood,
telling his apostles; “This is my blood,
the blood of the Covenant, to be poured
out in behalf of many for the forgiveness
of sins” (Mt 26:28).
But this was not to placate a wrathful
Father. On the contrary, Christ’s
sacrifice was in perfect, loving
obedience, revealing the Father’s own
redeeming love for us. Therefore,
• in the Father’s eyes, Christ’s sacrifice
meant that His beloved Son was
redeeming the whole universe by
to give glory to the Father with himself,
the “first-born of all creation” (Col
1:15);
• for Christ himself, his death meant the
way “to pass from this world to the
Father,” by “loving his own to the end”
(Jn 13:1). Through his dying in an act of
perfect self-giving love, Christ became
the Risen Lord who sends the Holy
Spirit on us all.
2. Death and Resurrection
The “newest” thing about Christ’s
sacrifice, what makes it unique, is that it
ended not in death but in a new and
glorious life. Christ’s Resurrection is
both the fulfillment of his sacrificial act
and the sign of the Father’s acceptance
of his sacrifice. As Victim, Christ is the
new Passover Lamb of the Last Supper
and of Calvary. He IS in his very being
the one perfect sacrifice of love.
Moreover, Christ, the victim, has passed
from death to life. Therefore he is the
LIVING SACRIFICE, really present in the
Eucharist, eternally, pleasing to the
Father. St. Paul writes: “Christ Jesus. . .
died, rather, was raised, . . . is at the right
hand of God and. . . intercedes for us”
(Rom 8:34).
Actually, Christ’s whole life constituted
a redeeming process, begun at the
Incarnation when he “was conceived by
the power of the Holy Spirit and born of
the Virgin Mary.” It developed through
his Hidden Life, his Public Ministry of
teaching, preaching and miracles,
leading to the Last Supper, his Passion
and Death. The final moment and
culmination of this whole process of
 redemption was his glorious
Resurrection.
Rather than simply as a “reward” from
the Father for his sacrificial physical
death on Calvary, Christ’s Resurrection
should be seen as the perfect fulfillment
of his whole life of redeeming LOVE. As
such it is the first moment of his new,
glorified life in the Spirit, and his entry
into eternal life as the Risen Lord, who
sends his Spirit upon us.
c) The Church Offers
Christ entrusted his Eucharist to the
Church. It is the whole Christ, Jesus the
Head and all of us
as members of His Body, that celebrates
the Eucharist (cf. CCC 1368-69). The
Eucharist, then, is “the action not only of
Christ, but also of the Church. The
Church, the spouse and minister of
Christ, performs together with him the
role of priest and victim, offers him to
the Father and at the same time makes a
total offering of herself together with
him” (EM 3c). Here again we see the call
to actively participate in the Mass,
sharing in Christ’s role both as Priest
offering sacrifice, and as Victim being
offered, by joining all our own activities
to Christ’s redeeming work. PCP II
explains how the lay faithful live Christ’s
priesthood in three dimensions:
 as a consecration to God;
 as mediating God’s plan to transform the
world; and
 as a sacrifice of life together with Christ
celebrated in the Eucharist (cf. PCP II
413).
Filipino Catholics used to be urged to
“attend” Mass on Sundays and Holy
Days of Obligation.
But now this is changed to emphasize
that the Church together with Christ
actually celebrates the Eucharist. In the
Mass Jesus actually incorporates us into
his very own redeeming sacrifice.
Therefore, in celebrating on the altar
“the sacrifice of the Cross by which
‘Christ our Passover [Paschal lamb] has
been sacrificed’ (1 Cor 5:7), the work of
our redemption is carried on” (LG 3).
Thus in Eucharistic Prayer III the priest
celebrant prays:
We offer you, in thanksgiving,
this holy and living sacrifice.
Look with favor on your Church’s
offering, and
see the Victim whose death has
reconciled us to yourself.
d) Memorial
We know the Eucharist is a memorial of
Christ’s Death and Resurrection. At the
Last Supper, Christ commanded his
apostles: “Do this in remembrance of
me” (Lk 22:19; cf. 1 Cor 11:24).
So in Eucharistic Prayer IV the priest
celebrant prays:
Father, we now celebrate this memorial
of our redemption.
We recall Christ’s death, his descent
among the dead,
his resurrection, and his ascension to
your right hand;
and looking forward to his coming in
glory,
we offer you his body and blood,
the acceptable sacrifice
which brings salvation to the whole
world.
1. Biblical Sense of Remembrance
But when Christ commanded the
apostles “Do this in memory of me,” he
did not mean what we today usually
have in mind in celebrating various
anniversaries, birthday parties, and the
like. In the biblical tradition,
“remembrance” is not primarily a
looking backward to recall a past event,
but rather a making present the great
acts of the past which God had worked
(cf. Ex 13:3). Thus the Old Testament
Passover ritual is described: “This day
shall be a memorial feast for you, which
all generations shall celebrate with
pilgrimage to the Lord as a perpetual
institution” (Ex 12:14). The Jewish
memorial meal of the Passover, then,
was not just a subjective remembering
on the part of the Jews, of God’s past
saving action. Rather, it was primarily
the action of God, making present to
 later generations His saving power of
the Exodus (cf. CCC 1363).
So the Eucharistic celebration makes
present Christ’s “exodus”, by which he
once-for-all took away sin (cf. Heb 9:26,
28). In comparison with Israel’s
thanksgiving Passover remembrance,
Christians have their remembrance of
Jesus’ Passover - his Death,
Resurrection, Ascension, and sending
the Spirit. So Christians celebrate their
memorial:
 for deliverance from Egypt, the land of
slavery, but more for the Lord’s
Resurrection and Ascension to the
Father;
• for crossing the Red Sea, but more for
their own Baptism delivering them from
sin and death;
 for the pillar of fire illumining the desert
at night, but more for Christ the true
guiding Light (cf. Jn 8:12);
 for the manna in the desert, but even
more for the living Bread, given for the
life of the world (cf. Jn 6:51);
 for Moses, the “faithful servant,” but
more for Jesus the faithful Son placed
over us, God’s house (cf. Heb 3:5-6);
 for the springs of living water in the
wilderness, but more for the “spring
welling up to eternal life” (cf. Jn 4:14);
 for the Law of God (Torah) promulgated
on Sinai, but more for the love of God
poured out into our hearts by the Holy
Spirit (cf. Rom 5:5).
C. COMMUNION-SACRAMENT
A. Paschal Banquet
The Eucharist is also essentially the
“sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a
bond of charity, a Paschal Banquet” (SC
47; cf. CCC 1382). Instituted by Christ
himself at the Last Supper, the Eucharist
was commonly known among the early
Christian communities as “the breaking
of Bread.” Thus, the book of Acts
describes the life of the first Christian
community: “They devoted themselves
to the apostles’ instruction and the
communal life, to the breaking of bread
and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). This meant
that all who ate the one blessed, broken
Bread that is Christ, were drawn into
communion with him and with one
another, to form one single body with
him. So St. Paul writes: Is not the cup of
blessing that we bless, a sharing in the
blood of Christ? Is not the bread that we
break, a sharing in the body of Christ?
Because the loaf of bread is one, we,
many though we are, are one body, for
we all partake of the one loaf” (1 Cor
10:16f).
1. Sacred Meal
The original setting of the Eucharist at
the Last Supper brought out the meal
dimension very strongly. But this simply
continued Christ’s “meal ministry” that
he had carried on throughout his public
life. From the start Jesus had
scandalized the scribes and Pharisees by
sitting at table with sinners and tax
collectors. One such was Matthew,
whom Christ called to be his apostle (cf.
Mt 9:10-13). Another, Zacchaeus, Christ
called down from his perch in a tree, so
that Jesus could eat with him at his
home (cf. Lk 19:5). Even when a
Pharisee called Simon had invited Jesus
to dine with him, Jesus used the
opportunity to contrast the great faith of
the sinful woman who had entered
uninvited, with the lack of common
hospitality shown by the Pharisee (cf.
Lk 7:36-50). After his Resurrection,
Jesus “broke bread” with the two
disciples on the way to Emmaus (cf. Lk
24:30-31), and with seven of the
apostles on the shore of the Sea of
Tiberias (cf. Jn 21:12f). In all these
meals Christ brought salvation to those
who opened their hearts to him in
loving communion.
2. Sign of unity and bond of charity
Christ instituted the Eucharist to signify
and thus bring about the unity of the
Church (cf. UR 2). Even in our local
parishes, the cele-bration of the Lord’s
Supper is the most effective way to
“weld the whole Body together,” for it is
the clearest symbol of “that charity and
unity of the Mystical Body without
which there can be no salvation” (cf. LG
26). For in celebrating the Eucharist
 together, the faithful are drawn into the
compelling love of Christ, to become one
heart in love and practice in deed what
they profess by the Creed (cf. SC 10).
Since Filipinos are both naturally
gregarious __ always accompanied by
someone __ and fond of eating together,
this essential dimension of the Eucharist
as fraternal meal in the Lord is very
attractive.
3. Elements of a meal
In sharing a meal together we satisfy
much more than physical hunger.
Equally important is our deep hunger
for understanding, love, companionship.
A shared meal involves three basic
elements: a coming together, a dialogue,
and a sharing of food and drink.
First, like in a family meal or among
people united by some common bond,
the Eucharist brings Catholics together,
united by their Baptism, their common
faith in Jesus Christ, their Savior, and by
their hope of deepening their union with
Christ and with one another.
Second, conversation provides the
meal’s distinctive human quality. The
whole Eucharist is a dialogue between
God and His faithful. For example, God
speaks through the Scriptural Readings
(Liturgy of the Word), and the faithful
respond by their profession of faith
(Creed) and the General Intercessions.
Finally, a meal involves preparing the
food and drink, offering them to the
participants, and eating and drinking
together. So likewise in the Liturgy of
the Eucharist, there is the preparation of
the Gifts, the invocation of the Holy
Spirit, and the Consecration by the
priest celebrant, using the very words of
Christ:
“Take this, all of you, and eat it:
This is MY BODY which will be given up
for you. . . .
Take this, all of you, and drink from it:
This is the cup of MY BLOOD,
the blood of the new and everlasting
Covenant.
It will be shed for you and for all, so that
sins may be forgiven.
Do this in memory of me.”
Following the Eucharistic Prayer, the
faithful receive holy Communion to be
united with Christ and with one another.
The reality of this Eucharistic meal rests
squarely on Christ’s solemn promise:
“I myself am the living bread come
down from heaven;
If anyone eats this bread he shall live
forever.
The bread that I will give is my flesh for
the life of the world . . . .
He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my
blood has life eternal
and I will raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food, and my blood
real drink.
The man who feeds on my flesh and
drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him . . .
the man who feeds on me will have life
because of me.”
(Jn 6:51, 54-57)
B. Human Hungers
Thus, in the Eucharistic meal, through
the sign of physical nourishment in a
meal, Christ becomes the Bread of our
spiritual lives, nourishing our faith, hope
and love. The Eucharist responds to the
deepest hungers of our lives, both
personal and communal. Such are the
basic human hungers for
b. love and acceptance,
c. understanding,
d. purpose in life, and
e. justice and peace.
As persons created in the image of God
who IS LOVE, we hunger for acceptance
and love. In the Eucharist, Christ comes
to each of us with his total acceptance
and self-giving love. Christ who “loved
me and gave himself up for me” (Gal
2:20), calls each of us into intimate
communion with him, strengthening our
own inner security and personal self-
acceptance.
We hunger for understanding, especially
from our loved ones. Such
understanding we find ultimately only
in Jesus Christ, who alone knows us
perfectly from within. In the Eucharist,
Jesus becomes truly closer and more
intimate to each of us than we are to
ourselves. Moreover, in the Eucharistic
experience of “being understood,” we
are challenged to reach out to others to
understand them beyond our own
prejudices and limitations. Thus, the
Christian community is inspired in
celebrating the Eucharist to respond to
the basic human yearning of its
members for understanding.
To our basic hunger for a clear purpose
in life, the Eucharist brings Christ
precisely in his redemptive mission of
bringing us to the Father, and sending
us the Holy Spirit to renew our hearts
and minds. The Eucharist, then, calls us
to renew our own commitment to share
in Christ’s redemptive mission by
promoting, in our own small ways, the
Kingdom of God on earth. But more, the
Eucharist gives meaning and value to all
our actions, pains and sufferings,
because we can offer them together with
Christ’s own Self-offering, as members
of his own Body. Thus, St. Paul wrote: “I
find my joy in the suffering I endure for
you. In my own flesh I fill up what is
lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the
sake of his body, the Church” (Col 1:24).
Finally, responding to the hunger for
justice and peace, the Eucharist is the
sacrament of God’s Universal Love.
There are no distinctions around the
Table of the Lord. Christ died and rose
from the dead for ALL, with no
exceptions! Sharing the Bread of Life,
then, relates each communicant to every
other son/daughter of the Father, even
with __ following Christ’s example __ a
“love of preference for the poor” (cf.
PCP II 312). Many Filipino Catholics are
only now beginning to realize the close
connection between the Mass and social
justice. The PCP II laid great stress on
our Church as “Church of the Poor” (cf.
PCP II 122-36). It called Filipino
Catholics to a radical conversion, based
on the formation of a social conscience
(cf. PCP II 283-89), inspiring a
spirituality of social transformation (cf.
PCP II 262-82), which fosters social
justice and peace (cf. PCP II 304-6), by
means of active non-violence (cf. PCP II
307-11).
D. PRESENCE-SACRAMENT
“To live forever” does not exclude
physical death, but rather the death that
destroys “both soul and body in
Gehenna” (Mt 10:28). As Christ
explained to Martha: “I am the
resurrection and the life. Whoever
believes in me, though he should die,
will live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me will never die” (Jn
11:25f).
Besides being the sacrament of Christ’s
sacrifice and of communion with him in
the Paschal Banquet, the Eucharist is
also the sacrament of his Presence.
Christ’s Eucharistic presence must be
seen against the many ways he is
present in the Church. Paul VI
elaborates on the Vatican II doctrine by
explaining that:
Christ is present in the Church:
f. when she prays, since Christ prays for
us and with us;
g. as she performs her works of mercy (cf.
Mt 25:40);
h. on her pilgrimage of struggle toward
eternal life;
i. as she preaches the Word of God in the
name of Christ, by the authority of
Christ, and with Christ’s help;
j. as she governs the People of God with
power from Christ;
k. most effectively when she offers the
Eucharist. (MF 35)
A. Christ’s Multiple Presences
Within the Eucharistic celebration itself,
Christ “is really present in the assembly
itself, gathered in his name, in the
person of the minister, in his Word
[since he speaks when the holy
Scriptures are read], and indeed
substantially and unceasingly under the
Eucharistic species” (SC 7; cf. Instr.
Rom. Missal 7). Christ’s presence in the
consecrated bread and wine is called
‘real’ “not to exclude all other types of
 presence, but because it is presence in
the fullest sense, a substantial presence
by which Christ, the God-Man, is wholly
and entirely present” (MF 39; cf. CCC
1374).
1. Qualities of Christ’s Presence
In our daily experience, “presence” can
refer to physical things close to one
another, like furniture in a sala, or
people crowded together in a bus. Or it
can refer to the personal presence of
persons to other persons through
personal sharing of knowledge, affection
and love. This is done by communicating
through cognitive or affective signs. In
the Eucharist, the Risen Christ is present
not like one physical thing to another.
Rather, through the consecrated hosts
and wine the Risen Christ is personally
present to us.
How then can we describe this personal
presence of Christ in the Eucharist? In
its essentials,
Christ’s presence is:
a) sacramental: an objective presence,
through the signs of bread and wine,
seen through the eyes of FAITH of the
faithful;
b) personal: a real, substantial presence in
order to enter into personal communion
with his Church and each member of his
Body, “in spirit”;
c) in his glorified body: not in his earthly
condition, but in his RISEN glorified
body. The one risen Body of Christ __ the
“spiritual body” which St. Paul contrasts
with the “natural body” (cf.1 Cor 15:44)
is sacramentally present at the same
time in all the tabernacles of the world.
d) dynamic and lasting: in the consecrated
bread/wine, which are dynamic and
lasting “effective signs” of his love for us,
and inviting us to respond in love.
2. Limitations
Yet there are obvious limitations to
Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. We
do not encounter him bodily, as we do
with our friends, but only through the
sacramental signs of bread and wine.
Contrary to what happens when we
speak to a friend, we have difficulty at
times distinguishing between what
Christ is saying to us from what we
might be saying to ourselves. Our
dialogue is within a faith encounter, and
we need to “test” what we think we hear
from Christ in the wider context of our
personal and social responsibilities as
Christians. Finally, these limitations of
the Risen Christ’s presence in the
Eucharist lead us to pray for full, perfect
communion with him: “Maranatha __
come Lord Jesus!” (1 Cor 16:22).
B. Transformation of Bread and Wine
Christ’s real presence in the bread and
wine has challenged belief from the time
of Christ’s
own promise to be the food and drink of
his disciples. Many who heard him
reacted: “This sort of talk . . . how can
anyone take it seriously” (Jn 6:60). Jesus
responded by referring to his Ascension
and Glorification as the Son of Man (cf.
Jn 6:62). The Gospel therefore stresses
both the realism of Christ’s presence,
and the spiritual eating of Christ’s
glorified body and blood. “It is the spirit
that gives life . . . the words I spoke to
you are spirit and life” (Jn 6:63). Thus
two extremes are avoided:
l. a crude, materialistic understanding of
the change of bread and wine into
Christ’s earthly “flesh and blood” that
would make communicants equivalent
to cannibals; and
m. the opposite extreme of a merely
symbolic interpretation of the change,
which would reject the real eating and
drinking of the Lord.
1. The Eucharistic Change
In the Eucharist, then, the bread and
wine as food and drink take on a new,
deeply personal
meaning and purpose: Christ’s personal
self-giving presence for our salvation.
Both new meaning and purpose are
based on a radical change in the reality
of the bread and wine, which is known
in the Catholic tradition as trans-
substantiation (Trent, ND 1519,1527; cf.
CCC 1376). This simply means that by
the power of the Holy Spirit, the earthly
substance of bread and wine is changed
into a reality of a different level: the
 glorified Body and Blood of Jesus Christ,
crucified and risen.

2. Eucharistic Change and the Risen

Cosmic Christ
Thus, in the Eucharist ordinary bread
and wine, products of nature and
culture, are transformed to make
present to us the Risen Christ precisely
in his redeeming sacrifice. They take on
an “eschatological form” since they are
no longer “food that perishes,” but “the
food that remains unto life eternal” (Jn
6:27). This change of the bread and
wine must be seen in terms of the Risen
Christ as Redeemer and Unifying Center
of all creation. “In him everything
continues in being” (Col 1:17), since in
his own glorified body Christ sums up
and recapitulates all things in himself.
The changed bread and wine, then,
prefigure the glorification of all matter
in the new age, begun already in the
Resurrection of Christ but taking place
fully only at his Second Coming.