The Sacrament of the

Eucharist
 Reflection….
 Eucharist is the summit and source of
Christian life and the center piece of the 7
ritual sacraments. Why?
 CFC, art. no. 1665
 What does the Eucharist
Celebrate?
 The Eucharist serves as a
reminder that God
nourishes us and loves us
unconditionally.
 It also signifies the love
poured out to us giving us
new life.
 The Eucharist got its origin
from a sacred Jewish meal
called “Passover Seder”
Passover Seder Meal
 The Passover Seder was a ritual meal that Jews
celebrated when Moses was leading them out of Egypt.
It is a meal in which they give thanks to God for
freeing them from slavery.
 Jesus used this meal and put new meaning into, he
identified the bread and wine. He made them symbolic
symbols of his own body and blood.
 The bread symbolizes that Jesus’ body that is given to
us for nourishment and his blood that gives us new life.
 The word Eucharist is derived from the Greek word of
“thanksgiving”
 The Eucharist symbolizes how human
relationship should be, which is that we should
all be reconcile, we need to make peace,
support one another, and if needed give our
life for another person.
 Jesus Christ although now in heaven is still
present with us when we receive the Eucharist
this is known as Real Presence.
 Biblical Foundation
 Mt. 26:26-28
 Mark 14:22-24
 Luke 22:17-20
 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
 What does the Catholic faith
assert of the Eucharist?
 CFC, art. no. 1739
 HOW IS THE EUCHARISTIC
CELEBRATION “PRAYER”?
 CFC, art. no. 1742
 How is Christ present in the Eucharist?
 Catholics says that Jesus is present in four ways:
 The presiding priest who offers us Jesus

 In the scriptures that are being read

 The people surrounding us

 The eucharistic species that is the bread and

wine that is consecrated to be Jesus’ body and
blood.
 The consecration of the bread and wine is the most
sacred moment throughout mass.
 In Catholic theology this is known as
transubstantiation.
 For Jesus to be truly present in the Eucharist so must
be the participants they have to be “truly present”
otherwise it is a meaningless ritual.
 Not only do we have to receive the body and blood of
Christ we have to be like Christ in our lives and its
possible because Jesus is with us.
 Form and Matter
 MATTER: Bread and Wine, CFC, art. no. 1750
 FORM: Prayer of Consecration
 The Eucharistic Prayer is the heart of the
Liturgy of the Eucharist. In this prayer, the
celebrant acts in the person of Christ as
head of his body, the Church. He gathers not
only the bread and the wine, but the
substance of our lives and joins them to
Christ's perfect sacrifice, offering them to the
Father.
 It is generally understood that the consecration,
during which the people should kneel unless
they are already kneeling, is that part of the
Eucharistic Prayer that goes from the epiclesis,
when the priest extends both hands over the
gifts asking the Father to send the Holy Spirit to
sanctify the gifts, until the priest invites the
people to sing or recite the memorial
acclamation following the proclamation of the
institution narrative with the chalice.
 Recipient/Minister and Effects
 Code of Canon Law 912, states that “any
baptized person who is not forbidden by law
may and must be admitted to Holy
Communion.”
 Code of Canon Law. Art 913, emphasizes the
necessity of catechetical and spiritual
preparation of children.
 Ministers
 Only validly ordained priest can preside at the
Eucharist and consecrate the bread and wine
so that they become the Body and Blood of the
Lord. (CCC, 333)
 Lay ministers, however, are allowed by the
Catholic Church to distribute the Holy
Eucharist to the faithful…..
 Effects
 CFC, art. no. 1751
 The Ritual of the Eucharist:
Symbolic actions and words
 Eucharist is a term Catholics
use in a variety of ways
 The whole Mass is also called
Eucharist
 The second part of mass that is
known as liturgy of the
Eucharist
 Communion which is the
consumption of the bread and
wine
 The Blessed Sacrament(the
consecrated bread that is kept in
the Tabernacle) is also called the
Eucharist Tabernacle in church
 In Mass or The Eucharist is composed of 4 parts
 The gathering rite this is the beginning of Mass

 The liturgy of the word is next it is the

proclaiming of the word of God through Scriptures
 The liturgy of the Eucharist is after it includes
the consecration and communion of the bread and
wine
 The dismissal rite is the conclusion of Mass and is
when the celebration ends
 There are 4 essential actions in Mass is
 Liturgy of the Word: the scriptures
 Thanksgiving: thanking God for everything in
creation
 Concentration: changing the bread and wine into
Jesus’ body and blood
 Communion: is receiving Jesus’ body and blood
 Only ordain priest can preside over the
Eucharist.
 Liturgy of the Word
 In the Liturgy of the Word it is an
opportunity to encounter God
 There the Lectionary the book
that is raised high in the air
during procession and kissed by
the priest
 There is usually 3 reading
 One from the Old Testament
 The second from a epistle
from St. Paul
 The third is a reading from
the Gospel
 The last part of the
liturgy is the prayer of
the faithful or general
intercessions
Lectionary used in
church
 Symbolism of the Bread
 The bread often represents life so
it is an appropriate symbol for
Eucharist
 The bread is both a gift of God
and a work of human hands
 In the ritual of Eucharist the
bread is transformed.
 It becomes Christ offered up,
broken, and given up to his
people
 The gathered people are
reminded that they too are Christ-
meant to be bread that is offered
up, broken and given to others.
 Symbolism of the Wine
 The wine is also a gift from God
and the works of human hands
 It is also considered a symbol life
because humans can’t live long
without water to drink it is a “staff
of life”
 It is a symbol that Christ willingly
shed his blood to free humanity
from sin and death
 For many centuries before the II
Vatican Council, the priest was
the only one who could drink from
the cup
 The cup like the bread is meant to
be shared by all believers.
 The Eucharist History
 In the beginning of the history of the church the
Eucharist was celebrated as a fellowship meal or
“love feast” known as agape
 The Christians shared the food that each of them
brought it was eventually broken down to just the
bread and wine
 The feast came to be the same in all different
communities it consisted of an offering , a
thanksgiving, breaking of the bread, and people
receiving the bread and wine.
 After religion was legalized in the fourth century the
practices went public.
 The place of worship moved from homes to church
buildings
 The priest would start saying the mass while people
watched in silence
 The Eucharist became less of a part of the community
 Less and less people received the communion, the
church required that the faithful receive communion
once a year
 During that time the Masses were being said in
Latin, it eventually changed to the vernacular
of the area after II Vatican Council
 Also the altar and the priest now faced the
people
 These changes help bring people together,
which is the purpose of the Eucharist