The Eucharist as a Sacrifice
On the night before Jesus suffered on the cross, He shared one last meal with his disciples. It is during this meal that the sacrament of His Body and Blood was instituted. It is now commonly known as the sacrament of the Eucharist. He did this in order to preserve it throughout the ages and to entrust to the church a memorial of his sacrifice for us through death. It is a memorial in the sense that it makes present the sacrifice which Christ offered to God, on the cross. When we go to Mass, listen to the priest, take part in the Eucharist with faith, we will feel God’s love working in us.
Liturgical evidence emphasises the understanding of the Eucharist as a sacrifice. For example, the sacrificial nature of the Holy Eucharist is shown in the words, “This is my body which is given for you” and “This cup is the New Covenant in my Blood that will be shed for you” (Luke 22:19-20). The Catholic Church professes that in the celebration of the Eucharist, the bread and wine wholly become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. Jesus also said “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 my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (Jn 6:51-55). Recalling these words of Jesus, we can truly …show more content…
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “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 presence 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" (paragraph
On the night before Jesus suffered on the cross, He shared one last meal with his disciples. It is during this meal that the sacrament of His Body and Blood was instituted. It is now commonly known as the sacrament of the Eucharist. He did this in order to preserve it throughout the ages and to entrust to the church a memorial of his sacrifice for us through death. It is a memorial in the sense that it makes present the sacrifice which Christ offered to God, on the cross. When we go to Mass, listen to the priest, take part in the Eucharist with faith, we will feel God’s love working in us.
Liturgical evidence emphasises the understanding of the Eucharist as a sacrifice. For example, the sacrificial nature of the Holy Eucharist is shown in the words, “This is my body which is given for you” and “This cup is the New Covenant in my Blood that will be shed for you” (Luke 22:19-20). The Catholic Church professes that in the celebration of the Eucharist, the bread and wine wholly become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. Jesus also said “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 my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (Jn 6:51-55). Recalling these words of Jesus, we can truly …show more content…
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “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 presence 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" (paragraph