The Eucharist

Teachings on the Eucharist

in Papal Catechesis

Pope John Paul II

The Eucharist
Editor
Thomas Paul

THE KINGDOM
PUBLICATIONS
KOCHI

The Eucharist The Eucharist

The Eucharist
English Greetings

Pope John Paul II Holy Eucharist is the centre of Christian life and it is
the highest form of prayer. It is the fountain through
Teachings on The Eucharist in Papal Catechesis
which Christ gives himself to the faithful. Catholic Church
and its Magisterium have always realized the importance
of the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist. Catholic Church
Editor : Thomas Paul wants its members to grow up in the knowledge of
Eucharist and to live it in their lives.
First Impression : October 2004
Cover Design : Kitho Kingdom publications is keen on its mission of
Typesetting & spreading Gods message of love to the masses. This
Lay-out : The Kingdom Publications book includes a collection of Papal Teachings of Pope
Printed at : Viani Printings, Kochi. John Paul II specifically on the sacrament of Holy
Eucharist. Mr. Thomas Paul, the editor of the book has
done a great work by collecting the documents from
Published by: The Kingdom Publications, various sources and compiling them into an authentic
A/1-B, Garden Court, Opp. P.O.C, voice of the Church. I congratulate Mr. Thomas Paul
Palarivattom, Edappally P.O., and his team members for this great task and pray for
Kochi-682024, Kerala , India Gods blessings on them. May this work deepen our
Ph: 0484-2806376 faith and increase ours love for Eucharist.
Email : kthomaspaul@gmail.com

Mar Thomas Chakiath,

Auxiliary Bishop,
Ernakulam - Angamaly.

The Eucharist The Eucharist

 Part - III
Holy Fathers Catechesis on the Eucharist which were not under the
The Eucharist particular series in the year 2000
1. Jesus still offers Himself in the Eucharist 61
Holy Fathers Catecheses on the Eucharist
2. We adore you, true Body of Christ! 63
3. Eucharist Spurs Christians to Mission 67
4. The Living Bread Come Down from Heaven! 70
Editors Note 9
5. If anyone eats this Bread, he shall live 75
Part - I
6. Eucharist, source of all vocations 80
Holy Fathers series of Catechesis on the Eucharist in the year 2000
7. Do this in Memory of Me 86
1. Eucharist is celebration of divine glory 11
8. Eucharist, lifegiving Bread makes the Church 89
2. Eucharist: memorial of Gods mighty works 15
9. God draws close to his creatures 93
3. Eucharist is perfect sacrifice of praise 19
10. In Eucharist Christ comes as light, life of the world 96
4. Eucharist, banquet of communion with God 23 11. The Holy Eucharist expresses the fullness
5. The Eucharist, A taste of eternity in time 27 of the mystery of Christs love 100
6. Eucharist is sacrament of the Churchs unity 31 12. Do this in remembrance of me 104
7. Word, Eucharist and divided Christians 35 Part IV
Part - II The relevant Catechesis on the Eucharist from the Catechism of the
Catholic Church from the Vatican Website
Apostolic Letter Mane Nobiscum Domine - Stay with us, Lord
of Pope John Paul II on the year of the Eucharist October 2004 - The Sacrament of the Eucharist
October 2005 1 The Eucharist - source and summit of ecclesial life 107
Introduction 39 2 What is this sacrament called? 108
1. In the wake of the council and the great Jubilee 42 3 The Eucharist in the economy of salvation 110
2. The Eucharist, a mystery of light 45 4 The liturgical celebration of the Eucharist 113
3. The Eucharist source and manifestation of communion 50 5 The sacramental sacrifice thanksgiving, memorial, presence 117
4. The Eucharist, principle and plan of mission 53 6 The Paschal Banquet 125

Conclusion 57 7 The Eucharist -Pledge of the glory to come 130


Editors Note
Come then, Good Shepherd, bread divine,
Still show to us thy mercy sign;
Oh, feed us, still keep us thine;
So we may see thy glories shine
in fields of immortality.
O thou, the wisest, mightiest, best,
Our present food, our future rest,
Come, make us each thy chosen guest,
Co-heirs of thine, and comrades blest
With saints whose dwelling is with thee
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, III, q.83, G.4C)
O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity!
O bond of charity! (St Augustines exclamation)
The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does
not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the
heart of the mystery of the Church. In a variety of ways she joyfully
experiences the constant fulfillment of the promise: Lo, I am with
you always, to the close of the age (Mt 28:20), but in the Holy
Eucharist, through the changing of bread and wine into the body and
blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this presence with unique intensity.
Ever since Pentecost, when the Church, the People of the New
Covenant, began her pilgrim journey towards her heavenly homeland,
the Divine Sacrament has continued to mark the passing of her days,
filling them with confident hope (Ecclesia de Eucharistia 1).
The Church has received the Eucharist from Christ her Lord
not as one gift however precious among so many others, but as
the gift par excellence, for it is the gift of himself, of his person in
his sacred humanity, as well as the gift of his saving work (Ecclesia
de Eucharistia -11).
Pope John Paul II invites the faithful to return to the Eucharist
and to rediscover the gift of the Eucharist as the light and strength
for our daily life in the world, in the exercise of the respective
professions and in contact with the most diverse situations.
The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.
The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and
works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are
oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole
spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch. (CCC
1324).
The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that
communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by
which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of Gods
action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to
Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit. (CCC 1325).
The Pope has given a series of catechesis on the Eucharist. It
will lead the faithful to a deeper understanding of this gift par
excellence. This book is a compilation of the 1) Papal Catechesis
on the Eucharist, 2) Apostolic Letter, Mane Nobiscum Domine
(Stay with us, Lord), and other pertinent papal messages and
teachings on the Eucharist. It is our hope that men and women from
all walks of life will find this as an invaluable resource for their journey
of life.
I express sincere gratitude to His Eminence Mar Thomas
Chakiath, Auxiliary Bishop, Ernakulam - Angamaly, for giving
greetings for this book.
With love and prayers,
Thomas Paul.

Part - I
1 only the promise but the pledge of future glory: futurae gloriae
Eucharist is Celebration
of Divine Glory
The glory of Easter is perpetuated in the Eucharistic sacrifice,
which makes present the saving mystery of Christ, who fulfils
the revelation of Gods glory
At the General Audience of Wednesday, 27 September, 2000, the
Holy Father spoke of the Eucharist, the supreme earthly celebra-
tion of Gods glory, which he reveals to us in a mysteriously
great yet humble way. Great, because it is the principal expres-
sion of Christs presence among us always, to the close of the
age; humble, because it is entrusted to the simple, everyday signs
of bread and wine, the Pope said. Here is a translation of his
catechesis, which was the first in the series on the Eucharist and
was given in Italian.
1. According to the programme outlined in Tertio millennio
adveniente, this Jubilee Year, the solemn celebration of the Incarna-
tion, must be an intensely Eucharistic year (Tertio millennio
adveniente, n. 55). Therefore, after having fixed our gaze on the glory
of the Trinity that shines on mans path, let us begin a catechesis on
that great yet humble celebration of divine glory which is the Eucha-
rist. Great, because it is the principal expression of Christs presence
among us always, to the close of the age (Mt 28:20); humble,
The Eucharist
because it is entrusted to the simple, everyday signs of bread and
wine, the ordinary food and drink of Jesus land and of many other
regions. In this everyday nourishment, the Eucharist introduces not
nobis pignus datur (St Thomas Aquinas, Officium de festo corporis
11 12 Christi). To grasp the greatness of the Eucharistic mystery, let us
reflect today on the theme of divine glory and of Gods action in the
world, now manifested in the great events of salvation, now hidden
beneath humble signs which only the eye of faith can perceive.
Whole world is illumined
by light of Gods glory
2. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word kabd indicates the
revelation of divine glory and of Gods presence in history and creation.
The Lords glory shines on the summit of Sinai, the place of revela-
tion of the divine Word (cf. Ex 24:16). It is present in the sacred tent
and in the liturgy of the People of God on pilgrimage in the desert (cf.
Lv 9:23). It dominates in the temple, the place - as the Psalmist says
- where your glory dwells (Ps 26:8). It surrounds all the chosen
people as if in a mantle of light (cf. Is 60:1): Paul himself knows that
they are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the
covenants... (Rom 9:4).
3. This divine glory, which is manifest to Israel in a special way, is
present in the whole world, as the prophet Isaiah heard the seraphim
proclaim at the moment of receiving his vocation: Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory (Is 6: 3). Indeed,
the Lord reveals his glory to all peoples, as we read in the Psalter: all
the peoples behold his glory (Ps 97:6). Therefore, the enkindling of
the light of glory is universal, so that all humanity can discover the
divine presence in the cosmos.
It is especially in Christ that this revelation is fulfilled, because he
reflects the glory of God (Heb 1: 3). It is also fulfilled through his
works, as the Evangelist John testifies with regard to the sign of Cana:
The Eucharist
Christ manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him (Jn 2:
11). He also radiates divine glory through his word which is divine: I
have given them your word, Jesus says to the Father; the glory
which you have given me, I have given to them (Jn 17: 14, 22). More
radically, Christ manifests divine glory through his humanity, assumed
in the Incarnation: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full
of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son
from the Father (Jn 1: 14).
Gods glory is revealed
in Eucharistic sacrifice
4. The earthly revelation of the divine glory reaches its apex in
Easter which, especially in the Johannine and Pauline writings, is treated
as a glorification of Christ at the right hand of the Father (cf. Jn 12:
23; 13: 31; 17: 1; Phil 2: 6-11; Col 3: 1; 1 Tm 3: 16). Now the paschal
mystery, in which God is perfectly glorified (Sacrosanctum
Concilium, n. 7), is perpetuated in the Eucharistic sacrifice, the
memorial of the death and resurrection entrusted by Christ to the
Church, his beloved Spouse (cf. ibid., n. 47). With the command Do
this in remembrance of me (Lk 22: 19), Jesus assures the presence
of his paschal glory in all the Eucharistic celebrations which will mark
the flow of human history. Through the Holy Eucharist the event of
Christs Pasch expands throughout the Church.... By communion with
the Body and Blood of Christ, the faithful grow in that mysterious
divinization which by the Holy Spirit makes them dwell in the Son as
children of the Father (John Paul II and Moran Mar Ignatius Zakka
I Iwas, Joint Declaration, 23 June 1984, n. 6: Enchiridion Vaticanum,
9, 842).
5. It is certain that today we have the loftiest celebration of divine
glory in the liturgy: Since Christs death on the Cross and his resur-
rection constitute the content of the daily life of the Church and the
pledge of his eternal Passover, the liturgy has as its first task to lead
us untiringly back to the Easter pilgrimage initiated by Christ, in which
The Eucharist
we accept death in order to enter into life (Apostolic Letter Vicesimus
quintus annus, n. 6). Now, this task is exercised first of all through the
Eucharistic celebration which makes present Christs Passover and
communicates its dynamism to the faithful. Thus Christian worship is
the most vivid expression of the encounter between divine glory and
13 14 the glorification which rises from human lips and hearts. The way we
glorify the Lord generously (Sir 35: 8) must correspond to the
glory of the Lord that filled the tabernacle (cf. Ex 40: 34).
6. As St Paul recalls, we must also glorify God in our bodies, that
is, in our whole existence, because our bodies are temples of the
Spirit who is within us (cf. 1 Cor 6: 19, 20). In this light one can also
speak of a cosmic celebration of divine glory. The world created, so
often disfigured by selfishness and greed, has in itself a Eucharistic
potential: it is destined to be assumed in the Eucharist of the Lord,
in his Passover, present in the sacrifice of the altar (Orientale lumen,
n. 11). The choral praise of creation will then respond, in harmonious
counterpoint, to the breath of the glory of the Lord which is above
the heavens (Ps 113: 4) and shines down on the world in order that
in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him
belong glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen! (1 Pt 4: 11).
The Eucharist

2 present and real (CCC, n. 1363). The memorial recalls the bond of
Eucharist: memorial
of Gods mighty works
For Christians, the Eucharist is the great memorial in
which the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ is made
sacramentally present and its power is communicated
The Eucharist as memorial was the subject of the Holy Fathers
catechesis at the General Audience of Wednesday, 4 October,
2000. This memorial, however, is no mere recollection of past
events: The Eucharist is the memorial of Christs death, but it is
also the presence of his sacrifice and the anticipation of his glo-
rious coming. It is the sacrament of the risen Lords continual
saving closeness in history. Here is a translation of the Popes
catechesis, which was the second in the series on the Eucharist
and was given in Italian.
1. Prominent among the many aspects of the Eucharist is that of
memorial, which is related to a biblical theme of primary impor-
tance. We read, for example, in the Book of Exodus: God remem-
bered his covenant with Abraham and Jacob (Ex 2: 24). In Deuter-
onomy, however, it says: You shall remember what the Lord your
God did ... (7: 18). In the Bible, the remembrance of God and the
remembrance of man are interwoven and form a fundamental ele-
ment in the life of Gods People. However, this is not the mere com-
memoration of a past that is no more, but a zikkarn, that is, a
The Eucharist
memorial. It is not merely the recollection of past events, but the
proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God for men. In the
liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way
an unfailing covenant: The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless
15 16 us (Ps 115: 12).
Passover liturgy was memorial
of Gods mighty works
Biblical faith thus implies the effective recollection of the works
of salvation. They are professed in the Great Hallel, Psalm 136,
which - after proclaiming creation and the salvation offered to Israel
in the Exodus - concludes: It is he who remembered us in our low
estate, for his steadfast love endures for ever; and rescued us...; he
who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures for ever
(Ps 136:23-25). We find similar words in the Gospel on the lips of
Mary and Zechariah: He has helped his servant Israel, in
remembrance of his mercy ... to remember his holy covenant (Lk
1:54, 72).
2. In the Old Testament, the memorial par excellence of Gods
works in history was the Passover liturgy of the Exodus: every time
the people of Israel celebrated the Passover, God effectively offered
them the gifts of freedom and salvation. In the Passover rite, therefore,
the two remembrances converge: the divine and the human, that is,
saving grace and grateful faith. This day shall be for you a memorial
day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord.... It shall be to you as
a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the
law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the
Lord has brought you out of Egypt (Ex 12:14; 13:9). By virtue of this
event, as a Jewish philosopher said, Israel will always be a community
based on remembrance (M. Buber).
3. The interweaving of Gods remembrance with that of man is
also at the centre of the Eucharist, which is the memorial par ex-
The Eucharist
cellence of the Christian Passover. For anamnesis, i.e., the act of
remembrance, is the heart of the celebration: Christs sacrifice, a
unique event done ephapax, that is, once for all (Heb 7:27; 9:12, 26;
10:12), extends its saving presence in the time and space of human
history. This is expressed in the last command, which Luke and Paul
record in the account of the Last Supper: This is my body which is
for you. Do this in remembrance of me.... This cup is the new cov-
enant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance
of me (1 Cor 11:24-25; cf. Lk 22:19). The past of the body given
for us on the Cross is presented alive today and, as Paul declares,
opens onto the future of the final redemption: As often as you eat
this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he
comes (1 Cor 11:26). The Eucharist is thus the memorial of Christs
death, but it is also the presence of his sacrifice and the anticipation
of his glorious coming. It is the sacrament of the risen Lords con-
tinual saving closeness in history. Thus we can understand Pauls
exhortation to Timothy: Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead,
descended from David (2 Tm 2:8). In the Eucharist this remembrance
is alive and at work in a special way.
Without the Eucharist the Church
could fall into forgetfulness
5. To remember is therefore to bring back to the heart in
memory and affection, but it is also to celebrate a presence. Only
17 18 the Eucharist, the true memorial of Christs paschal mystery, is capable
of keeping alive in us the memory of his love. It is, therefore, the
secret of the vigilance of the Church: it would be too easy for her,
otherwise, without the divine efficacy of this continual and very sweet
incentive, without the penetrating power of this look of her Bride-
groom fixed on her, to fall into forgetfulness, insensitivity and unfaith-
fulness (Apostolic Letter Patres Ecclesiae, III: Ench. Vat., 7, 33).
This call to vigilance opens our Eucharistic liturgies to the full coming
of the Lord, to the appearance of the heavenly Jerusalem. In the
Eucharist Christians nurture the hope of the definitive encounter with
their Lord.

4. The Evangelist John explains to us the deep meaning of the

memorial of Christs words and events. When Jesus cleanses the
temple of the merchants and announces that it will be destroyed and
rebuilt in three days, John remarks: When he was raised from the
dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they be-
lieved the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken (Jn 2:22).
This memorial which produces and nourishes faith is the work of the
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in the name of Christ: He
will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I
have said to you (Jn 14:26). Thus there is an effective remembrance:
one that is interior and leads to an understanding of the Word of God,
and a sacramental one, which takes place in the Eucharist. These are
the two realities of salvation which Luke combined in his splendid
account of the disciples of Emmaus, structured around the explana-
tion of the Scriptures and the breaking of the bread (cf. Lk 24:13-55).

The Eucharist The Eucharist


3 let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God (Heb 13: 15).
Eucharist
is Perfect Sacrifice of Praise
In the Eucharist, the glorified Christ, who gave his life for
our salvation unceasingly offers to the world the fruits of
Redemption won on Calvary
The Eucharist as the sacrifice of praise was the subject of the
Holy Fathers catechesis at the General Audience of Wednesday,
11 October, 2000. As the term itself originally says in Greek,
Eucharist means thanksgiving; in it the Son of God unites
redeemed humanity to himself in a hymn of thanksgiving and
praise, the Pope said. Here is a translation of his catechesis,
which was the third in the series on the Eucharist and was given
in Italian.
1. Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all
glory and honour is yours, almighty Father. This proclamation of
Trinitarian praise seals the prayer of the Canon at every Eucharistic
celebration. The Eucharist, in fact, is the perfect sacrifice of praise,
the highest glorification that rises from earth to heaven, the source
and summit of the Christian life in which (the children of God) offer
the divine victim (to the Father) and themselves along with it (Lumen
gentium, n. 11). In the New Testament, the Letter to the Hebrews
teaches us that the Christian liturgy is offered by a high priest, holy,
The Eucharist
blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the
heavens, who achieved a unique sacrifice once and for all by offering
up himself (cf. Heb 7: 26-27). Through him then, the Letter says,
Today let us briefly recall the two themes of sacrifice and praise
19 20 which are found in the Eucharist, sacrificium laudis.
The Eucharist is the sacrifice
of Redemption
2. First of all the sacrifice of Christ becomes present in the
Eucharist. Jesus is really present under the appearances of bread and
wine, as he himself assures us: This is my body ... this is my blood
(Mt 26:26, 28). But the Christ present in the Eucharist is the Christ
now glorified, who on Good Friday offered himself on the cross. This
is what is emphasized by the words he spoke over the cup of wine:
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many (Mt
26: 28; cf. Mk 14: 24; Lk 22:20). If these words are examined in the
light of their biblical import, two significant references appear. The
first consists of the expression blood poured out which, as the biblical
language attests (cf. Gn 9: 6), is synonymous with violent death. The
second is found in the precise statement for many, regarding those
for whom this blood is poured out. The allusion here takes us back to
a fundamental text for the Christian interpretation of Scripture, the
fourth song of Isaiah: by his sacrifice, the Servant of the Lord poured
out his soul to death, and bore the sin of many (Is 53:12; cf. Heb
9:28; 1 Pt 2:24).
3. The same sacrificial and redemptive dimension of the Eucharist
is expressed by Jesus words over the bread at the Last Supper, as
they are traditionally related by Luke and Paul: This is my body
which is given for you (Lk 22:19; cf. 1 Cor 11:24). Here too there is
a reference to the sacrificial self-giving of the Servant of the Lord
according to the passage from Isaiah already mentioned (53:12): He
poured out his soul to death...; he bore the sin of many, and made
The Eucharist
intercession for the transgressors. The Eucharist is above all else a
sacrifice. It is the sacrifice of the Redemption and also the sacrifice
of the New Covenant, as we believe and as the Eastern Churches
clearly profess: Todays sacrifice, the Greek Church stated centuries
ago [at the Synod of Constantinople against Sotericus in 1156-57], is
like that offered once by the Only-begotten Incarnate Word; it is
offered by him (now as then), since it is one and the same sacrifice
(Apostolic Letter Dominicae Cenae, n. 9).
4. The Eucharist, as the sacrifice of the New Covenant, is the
development and fulfilment of the covenant celebrated on Sinai when
Moses poured half the blood of the sacrificial victims on the altar, the
symbol of God, and half on the assembly of the children of Israel (cf.
Ex 24: 5-8). This blood of the covenant closely united God and man
in a bond of solidarity. With the Eucharist the intimacy becomes total;
the embrace between God and man reaches its apex. This is the
fulfilment of that new covenant which Jeremiah had foretold (cf.
31:31-34): a pact in the spirit and in the heart, which the Letter to the
Hebrews extols precisely by taking the prophets oracle and linking it
to Christs one definitive sacrifice (cf. Heb 10: 14-17).
5. At this point we can illustrate the other affirmation: the Eucha-
rist is a sacrifice of praise. Essentially oriented to full communion
between God and man, the Eucharistic sacrifice is the source and
summit of the whole of the Churchs worship and of the Christian
life. The faithful participate more fully in this sacrament of thanksgiv-
ing, propitiation, petition and praise, not only when they wholeheart-
edly offer the sacred victim, and in it themselves, to the Father with
the priest, but also when they receive this same victim sacramentally
(Sacred Congregation of Rites, Eucharisticum Mysterium, n. 3e).
As the term itself originally says in Greek, Eucharist means thanks-
giving; in it the Son of God unites redeemed humanity to himself in a
hymn of thanksgiving and praise. Let us remember that the Hebrew
work todah, translated praise, also means thanksgiving. The sac-
rifice of praise was a sacrifice of thanksgiving (cf. Ps 50 [49]: 14,
The Eucharist
23). At the Last Supper, in order to institute the Eucharist, Jesus gave
thanks to his Father (cf. Mt 26: 26-27 and parallels); this is the origin
of the name of this sacrament.
Offer your bodies
21 22 as a living sacrifice to God
6. In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of creation loved by God
is presented to the Father through the death and the Resurrection of
Christ (CCC, n. 1359). Uniting herself to Christs sacrifice, the Church
in the Eucharist voices the praise of all creation. The commitment of
every believer to offer his existence, his body, as Paul says, as a
living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Rom 12: 1), in full
communion with Christ, must correspond to this. In this way, one life
unites God and man, Christ crucified and raised for us all and the
disciple who is called to give himself entirely to him.
The French poet Paul Claudel sings of this intimate communion of
love, putting these words on Christs lips: Come with me, where I
Am, in yourself, / and I will give you the key to life. / Where I Am,
there eternally / is the secret of your origin ... / .... Where are your
hands that are not mine? And your feet that are not nailed to the
same cross? I died and rose once and for all! We are very close to
one another / ... How can you separate yourself from me / without
breaking my heart? (La Messe l-bas).
The Eucharist

4 tol the Eucharist as a banquet of friendship and covenant with God.
Eucharist,
Banquet of Communion with God
The Eucharist is the memorial of Christs sacrifice, but
it is also the sacred wedding-feast of the Lamb, the
greatest sign of our communion with God
The Eucharist as the banquet of communion with God was the
subject of the Holy Fathers catechesis at the General Audience
of Wednesday, 18 October, 2000. Sharing in the Eucharist, the
sacrament of the New Covenant, is the culmination of our assimi-
lation to Christ, the source of eternal life, the source and power
of that complete gift of self, the Pope said, quoting his Encycli-
cal Letter Veritatis splendor. Here is a translation of his catechesis,
which was the fourth in the series on the Eucharist and was given
in Italian.
1. We have become Christ. For if he is the head we are the
members; he and we together are the whole man (Augustine,
Tractatus in Joh., 21, 8). St Augustines bold words extol the intimate
communion that is created between God and man in the mystery of
the Church, a communion which, on our journey through history, finds
its supreme sign in the Eucharist. The commands, Take, eat ... Drink
of it ... (Mt 26: 26-27), which Jesus gives his disciples in that room
on the upper floor of a house in Jerusalem on the last evening of his
The Eucharist
earthly life (cf. Mk 14: 15), are rich in meaning. The universal symbolic
value of the banquet offered in bread and wine (cf. Is 25: 6) already
suggests communion and intimacy. Other more explicit elements ex-
For, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church recalls, it is at the
23 24 same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the
sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated, and the sacred banquet of com-
munion with the Lords body and blood (CCC, n. 1382).
Covenant on Sinai foretold
new covenant in Christs blood
2. Just as in the Old Testament the movable shrine in the desert
was called the tent of meeting, that is, of the encounter between
God and his people and of brethren in faith among themselves, the
ancient Christian tradition called the Eucharistic celebration the
synaxis, i.e., meeting. In it the Churchs inner nature is revealed,
a community of those summoned to the synaxis to celebrate the gift
of the One who is offering and offered: participating in the Holy
Mysteries, they become kinsmen of Christ, anticipating the experi-
ence of divinization in the now inseparable bond linking divinity and
humanity in Christ (Orientale lumen, n. 10).
If we wish to reflect more deeply on the genuine meaning of this
mystery of communion between God and the faithful, we must return
to Jesus words at the Last Supper. They refer to the biblical category
of covenant, recalled precisely through the connection between
Christs blood and the sacrificial blood poured out on Sinai: This is
my blood of the covenant (Mk 14: 24). Moses had said: Behold the
blood of the covenant (Ex 24: 8). The covenant on Sinai which united
Israel to the Lord with a bond of blood, foretold the new covenant
which would give rise - to use an expression of the Greek Fathers - to
a kinship as it were betweeen Christ and the faithful (cf. Cyril of
Alexandria, In Johannis Evangelium, XI; John Chrysostom, In
Matthaeum hom., LXXXII, 5).
The Eucharist
 3. It is especially in the Johannine and Pauline theologies that the
believers communion with Christ in the Eucharist is extolled. In his
discourse at the synagogue in Capernaum Jesus says explicitly: I am
the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this
bread, he will live for ever (Jn 6: 51). The entire text of this dis-
course is meant to emphasize the vital communion which is established
in faith between Christ, the Bread of life, and whoever eats it. In
particular, we find the Greek verb menein, to abide, to dwell, which
is typically used in the Fourth Gospel to indicate the mystical intimacy
between Christ and the disciple: He who eats my flesh and drinks
my blood abides in me, and I in him (Jn 6: 56; cf. 15:4-9).
when we show ourselves to be good people through our deeds
(Tractatus ad Tiberium Diaconum sociosque, II, Responsiones ad
Tiberium Diaconum sociosque, in In divi Johannis Evangelium, vol.
III, Brussels 1965, p. 590). By sharing in the sacrifice of the Cross,
the Christian partakes of Christs self-giving love and is equipped and
25 26 committed to live this same charity in all his thoughts and deeds. In
the moral life the Christians royal service is also made evident and
effective (Veritatis splendor, n. 107). This royal service is rooted in
Baptism and blossoms in Eucharistic communion. The way of holi-
ness, love and truth is therefore the revelation to the world of our
intimacy with God, expressed in the Eucharistic banquet.

4. Then the Greek word for communion, koinonia, is used in the Let us express our desire for the divine life offered in Christ in the
reflection of the First Letter to the Corinthians, where Paul speaks of warm tones of a great theologian of the Armenian Church, Gregory
the sacrificial banquets of idolatry, calling them the table of demons of Narek (10th century): It is not for his gifts, but for the Giver that
(10:21), while expressing a valid principle for all sacrifices: Those I always long. It is not glory to which I aspire, but the Glorified One
who eat the sacrifices are partners in the altar (10:18). The Apostle whom I desire to embrace.... It is not rest that I seek, but the face of
applies this principle in a clear and positive way to the Eucharist: the One who gives rest that I implore. It is not for the wedding feast,
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation (koinonia) but for desire of the Bridegroom that I languish (XII Prayer).
in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participa-
tion (koinonia) in the body of Christ?... We all partake of the one
bread (10: 16-17). Sharing in the Eucharist, the sacrament of the
New Covenant, is the culmination of our assimilation to Christ, the
source of eternal life, the source and power of that complete gift of
self (Veritatis splendor, n. 21).

Holiness, love and truth express

our intimacy with God
5. This communion with Christ thus produces an inner
transformation of the believer. St Cyril of Alexandria effectively
describes this event, showing its resonance in life and in history: Christ
forms us in his image so that the features of his divine nature will
shine in us through sanctification, justice and a good life in conformity
with virtue. The beauty of this image shines in us who are in Christ,

The Eucharist The Eucharist


5 his journey in the wilderness and was strengthened by a mysterious
The Eucharist,
A Taste of Eternity in Time
The Eucharist is not only food for us on our pilgrim way,
but also the promise of what lies at our journeys end when
we enter Gods kingdom
The Eucharist as a foretaste of future glory was the theme of the
Holy Fathers catechesis at the General Audience of Wednesday,
25 October, 2000. In the Eucharist, the Pope said, it is Christ,
crucified and glorified, who comes among his disciples, to lead
them all together into the newness of his Resurrection. Here is a
translation of his catechesis, which was the fifth in the series on
the Eucharist and was given in Italian.
1. In the earthly liturgy we share, by way of foretaste, in that
heavenly liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 8; cf. Gaudium et spes,
n. 38). These limpid and essential words of the Second Vatican Council
show us a fundamental dimension of the Eucharist: its being a futurae
gloriae pignus, a pledge of future glory, as beautifully expressed by
the Christian tradition (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 47). This sac-
rament, St Thomas Aquinas notes, does not admit us at once to
glory, but bestows on us the power of coming into glory and, there-
fore, is called viaticum (Summa Theol., III, 79, 2, ad 1). The com-
munion with Christ that we enjoy now while we are pilgrims and
The Eucharist
wayfarers on the paths of history anticipates that supreme encounter
on the day when we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is
(1 Jn 3:2). Elijah, who collapsed helplessly under a broom tree during
bread until he reached the summit of his encounter with God (cf. 1
27 28 Kgs 19:1-8), is a traditional symbol of the journey of the faithful, who
find strength in the Eucharistic bread to advance towards the shining
goal of the holy city.
This cup is the new covenant
in Christs blood
2. This is also the profound meaning of the manna prepared by
God on the steppes of Sinai, the food of angels, providing every
pleasure and suited to every taste, a manifestation of Gods sweet-
ness toward his children (cf. Wis 16: 20-21). Christ himself will be the
one to shed light on this spiritual significance of the Exodus event. He
is the one who enables us to taste in the Eucharist the twofold savour
of the pilgrims food and the food of messianic fullness in eternity (cf.
Is 25: 6). To borrow a phrase from the Jewish Sabbath liturgy, the
Eucharist is a taste of eternity in time (A. J. Heschel). Just as
Christ lived in the flesh while remaining in the glory of Gods Son, so
the Eucharist is a divine and transcendent presence, a communion
with the eternal, a sign that the earthly city and the heavenly city
penetrate one another (Gaudium et spes, n. 40). The Eucharist,
memorial of Christs Passover, is by its nature the bearer of the eternal
and the infinite in human history.
3. This aspect, which opens the Eucharist to Gods future while
leaving it anchored to present reality, is illustrated by the words Jesus
spoke over the cup of wine at the Last Supper (cf. Lk 22:20; 1 Cor
11:25). With these same words Mark and Matthew evoke the covenant
in the blood of the sacrifices on Sinai (cf. Mk 14:24; Mt 26: 28; Ex 24:
8). Luke and Paul, however, reveal the fulfilment of the new
covenant foretold by the prophet Jeremiah: Behold, the days are
coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the
The Eucharist
house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant I made
with their fathers (Jer 31: 31-32). Jesus, in fact, declares: This cup
is the new covenant in my blood. In biblical language new usually
means progress, final perfection.
It is also Luke and Paul who stress that the Eucharist is an antici-
pation of the horizon of glorious light belonging to the kingdom of
29
God. Before the Last Supper Jesus said: I have earnestly desired to
eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat
it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took a cup, and
when he had given thanks he said, Take this, and divide it among
yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit
of the vine until the kingdom of God comes (Lk 22:15-18). And
Paul explicitly recalls that the Eucharistic supper looks forward to the
Lords final coming: As often as you eat this bread and drink the
cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes (1 Cor 11:26).
It is Christ himself who comes among his disciples
5. In this light - as a Russian theologian, Sergei Bulgakov, evocatively
said - the liturgy is heaven on earth. For this reason, in the Apostolic
Letter Dies Domini I quoted the words of Paul VI, urging Christians
not to neglect thi s encounter, this banquet which Christ prepares for
30
us in his love. May our sharing in it be most worthy and joyful! It is
Christ, crucified and glorified, who comes among his disciples, to lead
them all together into the newness of his Resurrection. This is the
climax, here below, of the covenant of love between God and his
people: the sign and source of Christian joy, a stage on the way to the
eternal feast (n. 58; cf. Gaudete in Domino, conclusion).

4. The fourth Evangelist, John, extols this orientation of the Eucharist

towards the fullness of Gods kingdom in the well-known discourse
on the bread of life that Jesus gave at the synagogue in Capernaum.
The symbol he used as a biblical reference was, as was already
mentioned, the manna offered by God to Israel on its pilgrimage through
the desert. Regarding the Eucharist, Jesus solemnly declared: If any-
one eats of this bread, he will live for ever.... He who eats my flesh
and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day.... This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as
the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever (Jn
6: 51, 54, 58). In the language of the fourth Gospel, eternal life is
the divine life itself which transcends the bounds of time. Being a
communion with Christ, the Eucharist is thus a sharing in Gods life,
which is eternal and conquers death. Jesus therefore says: This is
the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he
has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my
Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should
have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day (Jn 6: 39-40).

The Eucharist The Eucharist


6 of the earth into your kingdom (9, 1).
Eucharist is Sacrament
of the Churchs unity
When Christians celebrate the Eucharist, they are
joined to Christ in a profound union which leads to
communion between all who share in it
The Eucharist as the sacrament of unity was the subject of the
Holy Fathers catechesis at the General Audience of Wednesday,
8 November, 2000. Taking his theme from St Pauls First Letter to
the Corinthians (10: 16-17), the Pope remarked: Those who
receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through
it Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body - the Church.
Here is a translation of his catechesis, which was the sixth in the
series on the Eucharist and was given in Italian.
1. O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!.
St Augustines exclamation in his commentary on the Gospel of John
(In Joannis Evangelium, 26, 13) captures the theme and sums up the
words that Paul addressed to the Corinthians and we have just heard:
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we
all partake of the one bread (1 Cor 10: 17). The Eucharist is the
sacrament and source of the Churchs unity. This has been stressed
since the beginnings of the Christian tradition and is based on the sign
of the bread and wine. This is how it is stated in the Didache, a
The Eucharist
writing composed at the dawn of Christianity: Just as this broken
bread was first scattered on the mountains and, after being harvested,
became one reality, so may your Church be gathered from the ends
Eucharist establishes communion
31 32
between the faithful and Christ
2. St Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, echoed these words in the third
century, saying: The sacrifices of the Lord themselves highlight the
unanimity of Christians strengthened by solid, indivisible charity. For
when the Lord calls the bread formed of the union of many grains his
body, and when he calls the wine pressed from many clusters of
grapes and poured together his blood, in the same way he indicates
our flock formed of a multitude united together (Ep. ad Magnum, 6).
This Eucharistic symbolism of the Churchs unity returns frequently
in the Fathers and Scholastic theologians. The Council of Trent sum-
marized the doctrine, teaching that our Saviour left the Eucharist to
his Church as a symbol of her unity and of the charity with which he
wanted all Christians to be closely united with one another; and for
this reason it is a symbol of that one body of which he is the head
(Paul VI, Mysterium fidei: Ench. Vat., 2, 424; cf. Council of Trent,
Decr. de SS. Eucharistia, introd. and ch. 2). The Catechism of the
Catholic Church sums it up very effectively: Those who receive the
Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it Christ unites
them to all the faithful in one body - the Church (CCC, 1396).
3. This traditional doctrine is deeply rooted in Scripture. Paul
develops it in the passage already cited from the First Letter to the
Corinthians, taking koinonia as the basic theme, that is, the commun-
ion which is established between the faithful and Christ in the Eucharist.
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation (koinonia)
in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a
participation (koinonia) in the body of Christ? (10: 16). This communion
is more precisely described in Johns Gospel as an extraordinary rela-
tionship of mutual interiority: he in me and I in him. Jesus, in fact,
The Eucharist
says at the synagogue in Capernaum: He who eats my flesh and munion. Paul is severe with the Corinthians because when they meet
drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him (Jn 6: 56). together, it is not the Lords supper that you eat (1 Cor 11: 20), as a
result of their divisions, injustices and selfishness. In this case, the
It is a theme that will also be underscored in the discourses at the
Eucharist is no longer agape, that is, the expression and source of
Last Supper with the symbol of the vine: the branch is verdant and
love. And whoever partakes of it unworthily, without making it bear
fruitful only if it is grafted on to the vine stem, from which it receives
33 34 fruit in fraternal charity, eats and drinks judgement upon himself (1
sap and support (Jn 15: 1-7). Otherwise it is just a withered branch to
Cor 11: 29). In fact Christian life is expressed in the fulfilling of the
be thrown into the fire: aut vitis aut ignis, either the vine or the fire,
greatest commandment, that is to say in the love of God and neighbour,
St Augustine succinctly comments (In Johannis Evangelium, 81, 3).
and this love finds its source in the Blessed Sacrament, which is com-
Here we see a unity, a communion, which is realized between the
monly called the sacrament of love (Dominicae cenae, n. 5).
faithful and Christ present in the Eucharist, on the basis of the principle
that Paul expresses this way: Those who eat the sacrifices are The Eucharist recalls, makes present and brings about this charity.
partners in the altar (1 Cor 10:18). Let us then answer the appeal of the Bishop and martyr Ignatius,
who exhorted the faithful of Philadelphia in Asia Minor to unity: One
4. Because this type of vertical communion-koinonia makes us
is the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, one is the chalice in the unity of
one with the divine mystery, it produces at the same time a communion-
his blood, one is the altar, just as one is the Bishop (Ep. ad
koinonia we could call horizontal, or ecclesial, fraternal, capable of
uniting all who partake of the same table in a bond of love. We who Philadelphenses, 4). And let us pray with the liturgy to God the Father:
are many are one body, Paul reminds us, for we all partake of the Grant that we, who are nourished by his body and blood, may be
one bread (1 Cor 10:17). The discourse on the Eucharist anticipates filled with his Holy Spirit, and become one body, one spirit in Christ
the great ecclesial reflection which the Apostle will develop in chapter (Eucharistic Prayer III).
12 of the same Letter, when he will speak of the body of Christ in its
unity and multiplicity. The well-known description of the Jerusalem
Church offered by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles also outlines this
fraternal unity or koinonia, connecting it with the breaking of bread,
that is, the Eucharistic celebration (cf. Acts 2:42). This communion is
realized in concrete historical reality: They devoted themselves to
the Apostles teaching and fellowship (koinonia), to the breaking of
bread and the prayers... All who believed were together and had all
things in common (Acts 2: 42-44).

Blessed Sacrament is source

of Christian life and love
5. The profound meaning of the Eucharist is thus denied when it is
celebrated without taking into acount the demands of charity and com-

The Eucharist The Eucharist


7 2. The two disciples turned their backs on the place where Jesus
Word, Eucharist
and Divided Christians
Although the sacrament of Baptism establishes a
basic unity among Christians, doctrinal divisions
are an obstacle to full sacramental sharing
The Word, the Eucharist and divided Christians was the theme of
the Holy Fathers catechesis at the General Audience of Wednes-
day, 15 November, 2000. Citing the words of the Second Vatican
Council, the Pope said that when the Eucharist is celebrated in
the particular Churches, the Church of God is built up and
grows in stature, and through concelebration their communion
with one another is made manifest. Here is a translation of his
catechesis, which was the seventh in the series on the Eucharist
and was given in Italian.
1. In the programme for this Jubilee Year we could not omit the
dimension of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, as I had indicated
earlier in Tertio millennio adveniente (cf. nn.53 and 55). The Trinitarian
and Eucharistic line we developed in our previous catecheses now
prompts us to reflect on this aspect, examining first of all the problem
of restoring unity among Christians. We do so in the light of the Gospel
account of the disciples of Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:13-35), observing the
way that the two disciples who were leaving the community were
spurred to reverse their direction to rediscover it.
The Eucharist
Unity in faith is condition
for Eucharistic participation
had been crucified, because the event had been a cruel disappointment
to them. For this very reason they were leaving the other disciples
35 36
and returning, as it were, to individualism. They were talking with
each other about all these things that had happened (Lk 24: 14),
without understanding their meaning. They did not realize that Jesus
had died to gather into one the children of God who are scattered
(Jn 11: 52). They only saw the tremendously negative aspect of the
cross, which had destroyed their hopes: We had hoped that he was
the one to redeem Israel (Lk 24: 21). The risen Jesus comes up and
walks beside them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him
(Lk 24: 16), because from the spiritual standpoint they were in the
darkest shadows. Then Jesus, with wonderful patience, endeavours
to bring them back into the light of faith through a long biblical
catechesis: Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted
to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Lk 24:
27). Their hearts began to burn (cf. Lk 24: 32). They begged their
mysterious companion 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 (Lk 24: 30-31). Thanks to the clear explanation of
the Scriptures, they emerged from the gloom of incomprehension into
the light of faith and were able to recognize the risen Christ in the
breaking of the bread (Lk 24: 35).
The effect of this profound change was an impulse to set out
again without delay and return to Jerusalem to join the Eleven gath-
ered together and those who were with them (Lk 24: 33). The jour-
ney of faith had made fraternal union possible.
3. The connection between the interpretation of the word of God
and the Eucharist also appears in other parts of the New Testament.
In his Gospel John links this word with Eucharist, when in the dis-
course at Capernaum he presents Jesus recalling the gift of manna in
The Eucharist
the wilderness and reinterpreting it in a Eucharistic key (cf. Jn 6: 32- communion of the Churches around the table of the Word and of the
58). In the Church of Jerusalem, diligent listening to the didache, that Lords Body and Blood. Consequently, on exceptional occasions and
is, the apostolic teaching based on the word of God, preceded partici- for a just cause, the Bishop of the Diocese may permit a member of
pation in the breaking of bread (Acts 2: 42). another Church or Ecclesial Community to take on the task of reader
during a Eucharistic celebration in the Catholic Church (n. 133). Like-
At Troas, when the Christians gathered around Paul to break wise, whenever necessity requires or a genuine spiritual advantage
bread, Luke relates that the gathering began with a long speech by 37 38
suggests, and provided that the danger of error or indifferentism is
the Apostle (cf. Acts 20: 7), which was certainly intended to nurture avoided, a certain reciprocity regarding the sacraments of Penance,
their faith, hope and charity. It is clear from all this that unity in faith the Eucharist and the Anointing of the Sick is lawful between Catholics
is the necessary condition for common participation in the Eucharist. and Eastern Christians (cf. nn. 123-131).
With the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist - as the Second
Vatican Council reminds us, citing St John Chrysostom (In Joh. hom.,
Church is sustained
46) - the faithful, united with their Bishops, have access to God the on her journey by divine bread
Father through the Son, the Word made flesh who suffered and was
5. Nevertheless, the tree of unity must grow to its full extent, as
glorified, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And so, made sharers
Christ implored in his great prayer in the Upper Room, proclaimed
of the divine nature (2 Pt 1: 4), they enter into communion with the
here at the start of our meeting (cf. Jn 17: 20-26; Unitatis redintegratio,
most holy Trinity. Hence, through the celebration of the Eucharist of
n. 22). The limits to intercommunion at the table of the Word and of
the Lord in each of these Churches, the Church of God is built up and
the Eucharist must become a call to purification, to dialogue and to
grows in stature, and through concelebration their communion with
the ecumenical progress of the Churches. They are limits that make
one another is made manifest (Unitatis redintegratio, n. 15). This
us feel all the more strongly, in the Eucharistic celebration itself, the
link with the mystery of divine unity thus produces a bond of communion
weight of our divisions and contradictions. The Eucharist is thus a
and love among those seated at the one table of the Word and of the
challenge and a summons in the very heart of the Church to remind
Eucharist. The one table is a sign and expression of unity. Thus
us of Christs intense, final desire: that they may be one (Jn 17: 11,
Eucharistic communion is inseparably linked to full ecclesial communion
21).
and its visible expression (Directory for the Application of the
Principles and Norms of Ecumenism, 1993, n. 129). The Church must not be a body of divided and suffering members,
but a strong, living organism that moves onward, sustained by the
4. In this light we can understand how the doctrinal divisions
divine bread as prefigured in Elijahs journey (cf. 1 Kgs 19: 1-8), to
between the disciples of Christ grouped in the various Churches and
the summit of the definitive encounter with God. There, at last, will be
Ecclesial Communities limit full sacramental sharing. Baptism, how-
the vision of Revelation: And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
ever, is the deep root of a basic unity that links Christians despite their
coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned
divisions. Therefore, although Christians who are still separated are
for her husband (Rv 21: 2).
excluded from participation in the same Eucharist, it is possible to
introduce into the Eucharistic celebration, in specific cases provided
for in the Ecumenical Directory, certain signs of participation that
express the unity already existing and move in the direction of the full

The Eucharist The Eucharist

Part - II
Apostolic Letter Mane Nobiscum Domine
39
Stay with us, Lord
Apostolic Letter Mane Nobiscum Domine - Stay with us,
Lord of the Holy Father John Paul II to the Bishops, clergy and
faithful for the year of the Eucharist - October 2004 - October
2005
Introduction
1. Stay with us, Lord, for it is almost evening (cf. Lk 24:29).
This was the insistent invitation that the two disciples journeying to
Emmaus on the evening of the day of the resurrection addressed to
the Wayfarer who had accompanied them on their journey. Weighed
down with sadness, they never imagined that this stranger was none
other than their Master, risen from the dead. Yet they felt their hearts
burning within them (cf. v. 32) as he spoke to them and explained
the Scriptures. The light of the Word unlocked the hardness of their
hearts and opened their eyes (cf. v. 31). Amid the shadows of the
passing day and the darkness that clouded their spirit, the Wayfarer
brought a ray of light which rekindled their hope and led their hearts
to yearn for the fullness of light. Stay with us, they pleaded. And he
agreed. Soon afterwards, Jesus face would disappear, yet the Master
would stay with them, hidden in the breaking of the bread which
had opened their eyes to recognize him.
2. The image of the disciples on the way to Emmaus can serve
as a fitting guide for a Year when the Church will be particularly
The Eucharist
engaged in living out the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. Amid our
questions and difficulties, and even our bitter disappointments, the
divine Wayfarer continues to walk at our side, opening to us the
Scriptures and leading us to a deeper understanding of the mysteries
of God. When we meet him fully, we will pass from the light of the
40 Word to the light streaming from the Bread of life, the supreme
fulfilment of his promise to be with us always, to the end of the age
(cf. Mt 28:20).
3. The breaking of breadas the Eucharist was called in earliest
timeshas always been at the centre of the Churchs life. Through it
Christ makes present within time the mystery of his death and
resurrection. In it he is received in person as the living bread come
down from heaven (Jn 6:51), and with him we receive the pledge of
eternal life and a foretaste of the eternal banquet of the heavenly
Jerusalem. Following the teaching of the Fathers, the Ecumenical
Councils and my own Predecessors, I have frequently urged the
Church to reflect upon the Eucharist, most recently in the Encyclical
Ecclesia de Eucharistia. Here I do not intend to repeat this teaching,
which I trust will be more deeply studied and understood. At the
same time I thought it helpful for this purpose to dedicate an entire
Year to this wonderful sacrament.
4. As is known, the Year of the Eucharist will be celebrated from
October 2004 to October 2005. The idea for this celebration came
from two events which will serve to mark its beginning and end: the
International Eucharistic Congress, which will take place from 10-
17 October 2004 in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the Ordinary Assembly
of the Synod of Bishops, which will be held in the Vatican from 2-29
October 2005 on the theme: The Eucharist: Source and Summit of
the Life and Mission of the Church. I was also guided by another
consideration: this years World Youth Day will take place in Cologne
from 16-21 August 2005. I would like the young people to gather
around the Eucharist as the vital source which nourishes their faith
and enthusiasm. A Eucharistic initiative of this kind had been on my
The Eucharist
mind for some time: it is a natural development of the pastoral impulse
which I wanted to give to the Church, particularly during the years of
preparation for the Jubilee and in the years that followed it.
5. In the present Apostolic Letter, I wish to reaffirm this pastoral
continuity and to help everyone to grasp its spiritual significance. As
41
for the particular form which the Year of the Eucharist will take, I
am counting on the personal involvement of the Pastors of the
particular Churches, whose devotion to this great Mystery will not
fail to suggest suitable approaches. My Brother Bishops will certainly
understand that this initiative, coming as it does so soon after the
celebration of the Year of the Rosary, is meant to take place on a
deeply spiritual level, so that it will in no way interfere with the pastoral
programmes of the individual Churches. Rather, it can shed light upon
those programmes, anchoring them, so to speak, in the very Mystery
which nourishes the spiritual life of the faithful and the initiatives of
each local Church. I am not asking the individual Churches to alter
their pastoral programmes, but to emphasize the Eucharistic dimension
which is part of the whole Christian life. For my part, I would like in
this Letter to offer some basic guidelines; and I am confident that
the People of God, at every level, will welcome my proposal with
enthusiasm and fervent love.
The Eucharist
1
In the wake of the council
42
and the Great Jubilee
Looking towards Christ
6. Ten years ago, in Tertio Millennio Adveniente (10 November
1994), I had the joy of proposing to the Church a programme of
preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. It seemed to me
that this historic moment presented itself as a great grace. I realized,
of course, that a simple chronological event, however evocative, could
not by itself bring about great changes. Unfortunately the Millennium
began with events which were in tragic continuity with the past, and
often with its worst aspects. A scenario emerged which, despite certain
positive elements, is marred by acts of violence and bloodshed which
cause continued concern. Even so, in inviting the Church to celebrate
the Jubilee of the two-thousandth anniversary of the Incarnation, I
was convincedand I still am, more than ever!that this celebration
would be of benefit to humanity in the long term.
Jesus Christ stands at the centre not just of the history of the
Church, but also the history of humanity. In him, all things are drawn
together (cf. Eph 1:10; Col 1:15-20). How could we forget the
enthusiasm with which the Second Vatican Council, quoting Pope
Paul VI, proclaimed that Christ is the goal of human history, the
focal point of the desires of history and civilization, the centre of
mankind, the joy of all hearts, and the fulfilment of all aspirations?(1)
The Councils teaching gave added depth to our understanding of the
nature of the Church, and gave believers a clearer insight not only
into the mysteries of faith but also into earthly realities, seen in the
light of Christ. In the Incarnate Word, both the mystery of God and
the mystery of man are revealed.(2) In him, humanity finds redemption
and fulfilment.
The Eucharist
 7. In the Encyclical Redemptor Hominis, at the beginning of my
Pontificate, I developed this idea, and I have frequently returned to it
on other occasions. The Jubilee was a fitting time to invite believers
once again to consider this fundamental truth. The preparation for the
great event was fully Trinitarian and Christocentric. Within this plan,
there clearly had to be a place for the Eucharist. At the start of this
Year of the Eucharist, I repeat the words which I wrote in Tertio
Millennio Adveniente: The Year 2000 will be intensely Eucharistic;
in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the Saviour, who took flesh in
Marys womb twenty centuries ago, continues to offer himself to
humanity as the source of divine life.(3) The International Eucharistic
Congress, held that year in Rome, also helped to focus attention on
this aspect of the Great Jubilee. It is also worth recalling that my
Apostolic Letter Dies Domini, written in preparation for the Jubilee,
invited believers to meditate on Sunday as the day of the Risen Lord
and the special day of the Church. At that time I urged everyone to
rediscover the celebration of the Eucharist as the heart of Sunday.(4)
Contemplating with Mary the face of Christ
8. The fruits of the Great Jubilee were collected in the Apostolic
Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte. In this programmatic document, I
suggested an ever greater pastoral engagement based on the
contemplation of the face of Christ, as part of an ecclesial pedagogy
aimed at the high standard of holiness and carried out especially
through the art of prayer.(5) How could such a programme be complete
without a commitment to the liturgy and in particular to the cultivation
of Eucharistic life? As I said at the time: In the twentieth century,
especially since the Council, there has been a great development in
the way the Christian community celebrates the Sacraments, especially
the Eucharist. It is necessary to continue in this direction, and to stress
particularly the Sunday Eucharist and Sunday itself, experienced
as a special day of faith, the day of the Risen Lord and of the gift of
the Spirit, the true weekly Easter.(6) In this context of a training in
prayer, I recommended the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours,
by which the Church sanctifies the different hours of the day and the
passage of time through the liturgical year.
The Eucharist
9. Subsequently, with the proclamation of the Year of the Rosary
and the publication of the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae,
I returned to the theme of contemplating the face of Christ, now from
a Marian perspective, by encouraging once more the recitation of
the Rosary. This traditional prayer, so highly recommended by the
43 44 Magisterium and so dear to the People of God, has a markedly biblical
and evangelical character, focused on the name and the face of Jesus
as contemplated in the mysteries and by the repetition of the Hail
Mary. In its flow of repetitions, it represents a kind of pedagogy
of love, aimed at evoking within our hearts the same love that Mary
bore for her Son. For this reason, developing a centuries-old tradition
by the addition of the mysteries of light, I sought to make this privileged
form of contemplation an even more complete compendium of the
Gospel.(7) And how could the mysteries of light not culminate in the
Holy Eucharist?
From the Year of the Rosary
to the Year of the Eucharist
10. In the midst of the Year of the Rosary, I issued the Encyclical
Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, with the intention of shedding light
on the mystery of the Eucharist in its inseparable and vital relation to
the Church. I urged all the faithful to celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice
with due reverence, offering to Jesus present in the Eucharist, both
within and outside Mass, the worship demanded by so great a Mystery.
Above all, I suggested once again the need for a Eucharistic spirituality
and pointed to Mary, woman of the Eucharist,(8) as its model.
The Year of the Eucharist takes place against a background
which has been enriched by the passage of the years, while
remaining ever rooted in the theme of Christ and the contemplation of
his face. In a certain sense, it is meant to be a year of synthesis, the
high-point of a journey in progress. Much could be said about how
to celebrate this year. I would simply offer some reflections intended
to help us all to experience it in a deeper and more fruitful way.
The Eucharist

2 Moses and all the prophets, how all the Scriptures point to the
45
The Eucharist, a mystery of light
He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures
the things concerning himself (Lk 24:27)
11. The account of the Risen Jesus appearing to the two disciples
on the road to Emmaus helps us to focus on a primary aspect of the
Eucharistic mystery, one which should always be present in the
devotion of the People of God: The Eucharist is a mystery of light!
What does this mean, and what are its implications for Christian life
and spirituality?
Jesus described himself as the light of the world (Jn 8:12), and
this quality clearly appears at those moments in his life, like the
Transfiguration and the Resurrection, in which his divine glory shines
forth brightly. Yet in the Eucharist the glory of Christ remains veiled.
The Eucharist is pre-eminently a mysterium fidei. Through the mystery
of his complete hiddenness, Christ becomes a mystery of light, thanks
to which believers are led into the depths of the divine life. By a
happy intuition, Rublvs celebrated icon of the Trinity clearly places
the Eucharist at the centre of the life of the Trinity.
12. The Eucharist is light above all because at every Mass the
liturgy of the Word of God precedes the liturgy of the Eucharist in the
unity of the two tables, the table of the Word and the table of the
Bread. This continuity is expressed in the Eucharistic discourse of
Saint Johns Gospel, where Jesus begins his teaching by speaking of
the mystery of his person and then goes on to draw out its Eucharistic
dimension: My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed
(Jn 6:55). We know that this was troubling for most of his listeners,
The Eucharist
which led Peter to express the faith of the other Apostles and of the
Church throughout history: Lord, to whom can we go? You have the
words of eternal life (Jn 6:68). In the account of the disciples on the
road to Emmaus, Christ himself intervenes to show, beginning with
46 mystery of his person (cf. Lk 24:27). His words make the hearts of
the disciples burn within them, drawing them out of the darkness of
sorrow and despair, and awakening in them a desire to remain with
him: Stay with us, Lord (cf. v. 29).
13. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, in the Constitution
Sacrosanctum Concilium, sought to make the table of the word
offer the treasures of Scripture more fully to the faithful.(9)
Consequently they allowed the biblical readings of the liturgy to be
proclaimed in a language understood by all. It is Christ himself who
speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read in the Church.(10) The
Council Fathers also urged the celebrant to treat the homily as part of
the liturgy, aimed at explaining the word of God and drawing out its
meaning for the Christian life.(11) Forty years after the Council, the
Year of the Eucharist can serve as an important opportunity for
Christian communities to evaluate their progress in this area. It is
not enough that the biblical passages are read in the vernacular, if
they are not also proclaimed with the care, preparation, devout attention
and meditative silence that enable the word of God to touch peoples
minds and hearts.
They recognized him in the breaking
of bread (cf. Lk 24:35)
14. It is significant that the two disciples on the road to Emmaus,
duly prepared by our Lords words, recognized him at table through
the simple gesture of the breaking of bread. When minds are
enlightened and hearts are enkindled, signs begin to speak. The
Eucharist unfolds in a dynamic context of signs containing a rich and
luminous message. Through these signs the mystery in some way
opens up before the eyes of the believer.
The Eucharist
 As I emphasized in my Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, it is
important that no dimension of this sacrament should be neglected.
We are constantly tempted to reduce the Eucharist to our own
dimensions, while in reality it is we who must open ourselves up to
the dimensions of the Mystery. The Eucharist is too great a gift to
tolerate ambiguity and depreciation.(12)
15. There is no doubt that the most evident dimension of the
Eucharist is that it is a meal. The Eucharist was born, on the evening
of Holy Thursday, in the setting of the Passover meal. Being a meal
is part of its very structure. Take, eat... Then he took a cup and...
gave it to them, saying: Drink from it, all of you (Mt 26:26, 27). As
such, it expresses the fellowship which God wishes to establish with
us and which we ourselves must build with one another.
Yet it must not be forgotten that the Eucharistic meal also has a
profoundly and primarily sacrificial meaning.(13) In the Eucharist,
Christ makes present to us anew the sacrifice offered once for all
on Golgotha. Present in the Eucharist as the Risen Lord, he
nonetheless bears the marks of his passion, of which every Mass is a
memorial, as the Liturgy reminds us in the acclamation following
the consecration: We announce your death, Lord, we proclaim your
resurrection.... At the same time, while the Eucharist makes present
what occurred in the past, it also impels us towards the future, when
Christ will come again at the end of history. This eschatological
aspect makes the Sacrament of the Eucharist an event which draws
us into itself and fills our Christian journey with hope.
I am with you always... (Mt 28:20)
16. All these dimensions of the Eucharist come together in one
aspect which more than any other makes a demand on our faith: the
mystery of the real presence. With the entire tradition of the
Church, we believe that Jesus is truly present under the Eucharistic
species. This presenceas Pope Paul VI rightly explainedis called
real not in an exclusive way, as if to suggest that other forms of
The Eucharist
Christs presence are not real, but par excellence, because Christ
thereby becomes substantially present, whole and entire, in the reality
of his body and blood.(14) Faith demands that we approach the
Eucharist fully aware that we are approaching Christ himself. It is
precisely his presence which gives the other aspects of the Eucharist
47 48 as meal, as memorial of the Paschal Mystery, as eschatological
anticipation a significance which goes far beyond mere symbol-
ism. The Eucharist is a mystery of presence, the perfect fulfilment of
Jesus promise to remain with us until the end of the world.
Celebrating, worshiping, contemplating
17. The Eucharist is a great mystery! And it is one which above
all must be well celebrated. Holy Mass needs to be set at the centre
of the Christian life and celebrated in a dignified manner by every
community, in accordance with established norms, with the participation
of the assembly, with the presence of ministers who carry out their
assigned tasks, and with a serious concern that singing and liturgical
music be suitably sacred. One specific project of this Year of the
Eucharist might be for each parish community to study the General
Instruction of the Roman Missal. The best way to enter into the mystery
of salvation made present in the sacred signs remains that of
following faithfully the unfolding of the liturgical year. Pastors should
be committed to that mystagogical catechesis so dear to the
Fathers of the Church, by which the faithful are helped to understand
the meaning of the liturgys words and actions, to pass from its signs
to the mystery which they contain, and to enter into that mystery in
every aspect of their lives.
18. There is a particular need to cultivate a lively awareness of
Christs real presence, both in the celebration of Mass and in the
worship of the Eucharist outside Mass. Care should be taken to show
that awareness through tone of voice, gestures, posture and bearing.
In this regard, liturgical law recallsand I myself have recently
reaffirmed(15)the importance of moments of silence both in the
celebration of Mass and in Eucharistic adoration. The way that the
The Eucharist
ministers and the faithful treat the Eucharist should be marked by
profound respect.(16) The presence of Jesus in the tabernacle must
be a kind of magnetic pole attracting an ever greater number of
souls enamoured of him, ready to wait patiently to hear his voice and,
as it were, to sense the beating of his heart. O taste and see that the
Lord is good! (Ps 34:8).
During this year Eucharistic adoration outside Mass should
become a particular commitment for individual parish and religious
communities. Let us take the time to kneel before Jesus present in
the Eucharist, in order to make reparation by our faith and love for
the acts of carelessness and neglect, and even the insults which our
Saviour must endure in many parts of the world. Let us deepen through
adoration our personal and communal contemplation, drawing upon
aids to prayer inspired by the word of God and the experience of so
many mystics, old and new. The Rosary itself, when it is profoundly
understood in the biblical and christocentric form which I recommended
in the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, will prove a
particularly fitting introduction to Eucharistic contemplation, a
contemplation carried out with Mary as our companion and guide.(17)
This year let us also celebrate with particular devotion the Solemnity
of Corpus Christi, with its traditional procession. Our faith in the
God who took flesh in order to become our companion along the way
needs to be everywhere proclaimed, especially in our streets and
homes, as an expression of our grateful love and as an inexhaustible
source of blessings.
The Eucharist
3
49 50 The Eucharist source
and manifestation of communion
Abide in me, and I in you (Jn 15:4)
19. When the disciples on the way to Emmaus asked Jesus to stay
with them, he responded by giving them a much greater gift: through
the Sacrament of the Eucharist he found a way to stay in them.
Receiving the Eucharist means entering into a profound communion
with Jesus. Abide in me, and I in you (Jn 15:4). This relationship of
profound and mutual abiding enables us to have a certain foretaste
of heaven on earth. Is this not the greatest of human yearnings? Is
this not what God had in mind when he brought about in history his
plan of salvation? God has placed in human hearts a hunger for his
word (cf. Am 8:11), a hunger which will be satisfied only by full union
with him. Eucharistic communion was given so that we might be
sated with God here on earth, in expectation of our complete
fulfilment in heaven.
One bread, one body
20. This special closeness which comes about in Eucharistic
communion cannot be adequately understood or fully experienced
apart from ecclesial communion. I emphasized this repeatedly in my
Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia. The Church is the Body of Christ:
we walk with Christ to the extent that we are in relationship with
his body. Christ provided for the creation and growth of this unity by
the outpouring of his Holy Spirit. And he himself constantly builds it
up by his Eucharistic presence. It is the one Eucharistic bread which
The Eucharist
makes us one body. As the Apostle Paul states: Because there is
one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the
one bread (1Cor 10:17). In the mystery of the Eucharist Jesus builds
up the Church as a communion, in accordance with the supreme model
evoked in his priestly prayer: Even as you, Father, are in me, and I
in you, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that
you have sent me (Jn 17:21).
21. The Eucharist is both the source of ecclesial unity and its
greatest manifestation. The Eucharist is an epiphany of communion.
For this reason the Church sets conditions for full participation in the
celebration of the Eucharist.(18) These various limitations ought to
make us ever more conscious of the demands made by the
communion which Jesus asks of us. It is a hierarchical communion,
based on the awareness of a variety of roles and ministries, as is seen
by the reference to the Pope and the Diocesan Bishop in the
Eucharistic Prayer. It is a fraternal communion, cultivated by a
spirituality of communion which fosters reciprocal openness,
affection, understanding and forgiveness.(19)
The Lords Day
23. In a particular way I ask that every effort be made this year to
experience Sunday as the day of the Lord and the day of the Church.
I would be happy if everyone would reflect once more on my words
51 52 in the Apostolic Letter Dies Domini. At Sunday Mass, Christians
relive with particular intensity the experience of the Apostles on the
evening of Easter, when the Risen Lord appeared to them as they
were gathered together (cf. Jn 20:19). In a sense, the People of God
of all times were present in that small nucleus of disciples, the first-
fruits of the Church.(21) During this year of grace, priests in their
pastoral ministry should be even more attentive to Sunday Mass as
the celebration which brings together the entire parish community,
with the participation of different groups, movements and associations.

... of one heart and soul (Acts 4:32)

22. At each Holy Mass we are called to measure ourselves against
the ideal of communion which the Acts of the Apostles paints as a
model for the Church in every age. It is the Church gathered around
the Apostles, called by the word of God, capable of sharing in spiritual
goods but in material goods as well (cf. Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35). In this
Year of the Eucharist the Lord invites us to draw as closely as possible
to this ideal. Every effort should be made to experience fully those
occasions mentioned in the liturgy for the Bishops Stational Mass,
which he celebrates in the cathedral together with his presbyters and
deacons, with the participation of the whole People of God. Here we
see the principal manifestation of the Church.(20) It would be
praiseworthy to specify other significant occasions, also on the
parochial level, which would increase a sense of communion and find
in the Eucharistic celebration a source of renewed fervour.

The Eucharist The Eucharist


4 53
The Eucharist,
principle and plan of Mission
They set out immediately (cf. Lk 24:33)
24. The two disciples of Emmaus, upon recognizing the Lord, set
out immediately (cf. Lk 24:33), in order to report what they had seen
and heard. Once we have truly met the Risen One by partaking of his
body and blood, we cannot keep to ourselves the joy we have
experienced. The encounter with Christ, constantly intensified and
deepened in the Eucharist, issues in the Church and in every Christian
an urgent summons to testimony and evangelization. I wished to
emphasize this in my homily announcing the Year of the Eucharist,
based on the words of Saint Paul: As often as you eat this bread and
drink the cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes (1 Cor
11:26). The Apostle closely relates meal and proclamation: entering
into communion with Christ in the memorial of his Pasch also means
sensing the duty to be a missionary of the event made present in that
rite.(22) The dismissal at the end of each Mass is a charge given to
Christians, inviting them to work for the spread of the Gospel and the
imbuing of society with Christian values.
25. The Eucharist not only provides the interior strength needed
for this mission, but is also in some senseits plan. For the Eucharist
is a mode of being, which passes from Jesus into each Christian,
through whose testimony it is meant to spread throughout society and
culture. For this to happen, each member of the faithful must assimilate,
through personal and communal meditation, the values which the
The Eucharist
Eucharist expresses, the attitudes it inspires, the resolutions to which
it gives rise. Can we not see here a special charge which could
emerge from this Year of the Eucharist?
Giving thanks
54 26. One fundamental element of this plan is found in the very
meaning of the word Eucharist: thanksgiving. In Jesus, in his
sacrifice, in his unconditional yes to the will of the Father, is contained
the yes, the thank you and the amen of all humanity. The Church
is called to remind men and women of this great truth. This is especially
urgent in the context of our secularized culture, characterized as it is
by a forgetfulness of God and a vain pursuit of human self-sufficiency.
Incarnating the Eucharistic plan in daily life, wherever people live
and workin families, schools, the workplace, in all of lifes settings
means bearing witness that human reality cannot be justified without
reference to the Creator: Without the Creator the creature would
disappear.(23) This transcendent point of reference, which commits
us constantly to give thanks for all that we have and arein other
words, to a Eucharistic attitudein no way detracts from the
legitimate autonomy of earthly realities,(24) but grounds that autonomy
more firmly by setting it within its proper limits.
In this Year of the Eucharist Christians ought to be committed to
bearing more forceful witness to Gods presence in the world. We
should not be afraid to speak about God and to bear proud witness to
our faith. The culture of the Eucharist promotes a culture of dialogue,
which here finds strength and nourishment. It is a mistake to think
that any public reference to faith will somehow undermine the rightful
autonomy of the State and civil institutions, or that it can even encourage
attitudes of intolerance. If history demonstrates that mistakes have
also been made in this area by believers, as I acknowledged on the
occasion of the Jubilee, this must be attributed not to Christian roots,
but to the failure of Christians to be faithful to those roots. One who
learns to say thank you in the manner of the crucified Christ might
end up as a martyr, but never as a persecutor.
The Eucharist
The way of solidarity
27. The Eucharist is not merely an expression of communion in
the Churchs life; it is also a project of solidarity for all of humanity.
In the celebration of the Eucharist the Church constantly renews her
awareness of being a sign and instrument not only of intimate union
with God but also of the unity of the whole human race.(25) Each
Mass, even when celebrated in obscurity or in isolation, always has a
universal character. The Christian who takes part in the Eucharist
learns to become a promotor of communion, peace and solidarity
in every situation. More than ever, our troubled world, which began
the new Millennium with the spectre of terrorism and the tragedy of
war, demands that Christians learn to experience the Eucharist as a
great school of peace, forming men and women who, at various
levels of responsibility in social, cultural and political life, can become
promotors of dialogue and communion.
Can we not make this Year of the Eucharist an occasion for
diocesan and parish communities to commit themselves in a particular
way to responding with fraternal solicitude to one of the many forms
of poverty present in our world? I think for example of the tragedy of
hunger which plagues hundreds of millions of human beings, the
55 56 diseases which afflict developing countries, the loneliness of the elderly,
the hardships faced by the unemployed, the struggles of immigrants.
These are evils which are presentalbeit to a different degree
even in areas of immense wealth. We cannot delude ourselves: by
our mutual love and, in particular, by our concern for those in need we
will be recognized as true followers of Christ (cf. Jn 13:35; Mt 25:31-
46). This will be the criterion by which the authenticity of our
Eucharistic celebrations is judged.

At the service of the least

28. There is one other point which I would like to emphasize, since
it significantly affects the authenticity of our communal sharing in the
Eucharist. It is the impulse which the Eucharist gives to the community
for a practical commitment to building a more just and fraternal
society. In the Eucharist our God has shown love in the extreme,
overturning all those criteria of power which too often govern human
relations and radically affirming the criterion of service: If anyone
would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all (Mc 9:35). It
is not by chance that the Gospel of John contains no account of the
institution of the Eucharist, but instead relates the washing of feet
(cf. Jn 13:1-20): by bending down to wash the feet of his disciples,
Jesus explains the meaning of the Eucharist unequivocally. Saint Paul
vigorously reaffirms the impropriety of a Eucharistic celebration lacking
charity expressed by practical sharing with the poor (cf.1Cor 11:17-
22, 27-34).

The Eucharist The Eucharist


Conclusion
29. O Sacrum Convivium, in quo Christus sumitur! The Year
57
of the Eucharist has its source in the amazement with which the
Church contemplates this great Mystery. It is an amazement which I
myself constantly experience. It prompted my Encyclical Ecclesia
de Eucharistia. As I look forward to the twenty-seventh year of my
Petrine ministry, I consider it a great grace to be able to call the whole
Church to contemplate, praise, and adore in a special way this ineffable
Sacrament. May the Year of the Eucharist be for everyone a precious
opportunity to grow in awareness of the incomparable treasure which
Christ has entrusted to his Church. May it encourage a more lively
and fervent celebration of the Eucharist, leading to a Christian life
transformed by love.
There is room here for any number of initiatives, according to the
judgement of the Pastors of the particular Churches. The
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments will not fail to provide some helpful suggestions and
proposals. I do not ask, however, for anything extraordinary, but rather
that every initiative be marked by a profound interiority. If the only
result of this Year were the revival in all Christian communities of the
celebration of Sunday Mass and an increase in Eucharistic worship
outside Mass, this Year of grace would be abundantly successful. At
the same time, it is good to aim high, and not to be content with
mediocrity, since we know we can always count on Gods help.
30. To you, dear Brother Bishops, I commend this Year, confident
that you will welcome my invitation with full apostolic zeal.
Dear priests, who repeat the words of consecration each day,
and are witnesses and heralds of the great miracle of love which
takes place at your hands: be challenged by the grace of this special
The Eucharist
Year; celebrate Holy Mass each day with the same joy and fervour
with which you celebrated your first Mass, and willingly spend time in
prayer before the tabernacle.
May this be a Year of grace also for you, deacons, who are so
closely engaged in the ministry of the word and the service of the
58
altar. I ask you, lectors, acolytes and extraordinary ministers of
holy communion, to become ever more aware of the gift you have
received in the service entrusted to you for a more worthy celebration
of the Eucharist.
In particular I appeal to you, the priests of the future. During
your time in the seminary make every effort to experience the beauty
not only of taking part daily in Holy Mass, but also of spending a
certain amount of time in dialogue with the Eucharistic Lord.
Consecrated men and women, called by that very consecration
to more prolonged contemplation: never forget that Jesus in the
tabernacle wants you to be at his side, so that he can fill your hearts
with the experience of his friendship, which alone gives meaning and
fulfilment to your lives.
May all of you, the Christian faithful, rediscover the gift of the
Eucharist as light and strength for your daily lives in the world, in the
exercise of your respective professions amid so many different
situations. Rediscover this above all in order to experience fully the
beauty and the mission of the family.
I have great expectations of you, young people, as I look forward
to our meeting at the next World Youth Day in Cologne. The theme
of our meetingWe have come to worship himsuggests how
you can best experience this Eucharistic year. Bring to your encounter
with Jesus, hidden in the Eucharist, all the enthusiasm of your age, all
your hopes, all your desire to love.
31. We have before us the example of the Saints, who in the
Eucharist found nourishment on their journey towards perfection. How
The Eucharist
many times did they shed tears of profound emotion in the presence
of this great mystery, or experience hours of inexpressible spousal
joy before the sacrament of the altar! May we be helped above all by
the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose whole life incarnated the meaning of
the Eucharist. The Church, which looks to Mary as a model, is also
called to imitate her in her relationship with this most holy mystery.(26)
The Eucharistic Bread which we receive is the spotless flesh of her
Son: Ave verum corpus natum de Maria Virgine. In this Year of
grace, sustained by Mary, may the Church discover new enthusiasm
for her mission and come to acknowledge ever more fully that the
Eucharist is the source and summit of her entire life.
To all of you I impart my Blessing as a pledge of grace and joy.
From the Vatican, on 7 October, the Memorial of Our Lady of
the Rosary, in the year 2004, the twenty-sixth of my Pontificate.
IOANNES PAULUS PP.II
Notes
1. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et
Spes, 45.
2. Cf. ibid., 22.
3. No. 55: AAS 87 (1995), 38.
4. Cf. Nos. 32-34: AAS 90 (1998), 732-734.
5. Cf. Nos. 30-32: AAS 93 (2001), 287-289.
6. Ibid., 35: loc. cit., 290-291.
7. Cf. Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (16 October 2002), 19-21:
AAS 95 (2003), 18-20.
8. Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia (17 April 2003), 53: AAS 95 (2003),
469.
9. Cf. No. 51.
10. Ibid., 7.
11. Cf ibid., 52.
12. Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia (17 April 2003), 10: AAS 95
(2003), 439.
13. Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia (17 April 2003),
The Eucharist
10: AAS 95 (2003), 439. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline
of the Sacraments, Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum on certain matters
to be observed or to be avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist (25
March 2004), 38: LOsservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, 28 April
2004, Special Insert, p.3.
14. Cf. Encyclical Letter Mysterium Fidei (3 September 1965), 39: AAS 57
59 60 (1965), 764; Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction Eucharisticum
Mysterium on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery (25 May 1967), 9: AAS
59 (1967), 547.
15. Cf. Message Spiritus et Sponsa, for the fortieth anniversary of the
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium (4 December
2003), 13: AAS 96 (2004), 425.
16. Cf. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments,
Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum on certain matters to be observed
or to be avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist (25 March 2004):
LOsservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, 28 April 2004, Special
Insert.
17. Cf. ibid., 137, loc. cit., p.11.
18. Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia (17 April 2003),
44: AAS 95 (2003), 462; Code of Canon Law, canon 908; Code of Canons of
the Eastern Churches, canon 702; Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity, Directorium Oecumenicum (25 March 1993), 122-125, 129-131: AAS 85
(1993), 1086-1089; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter Ad
Exsequendam (18 May 2001): AAS 93 (2001), 786.
19. Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January
2001), 43: AAS 93 (2001), 297.
20. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
Sacrosanctum Concilium, 41.
21. No. 33: AAS 90 (1998), 733.
22. Cf. Homily for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (10 June
2004): LOsservatore Romano, 11-12 June 2004, p.6.
23. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church
in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 36.
24. Ibid.
25. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 1.
26. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia (17 April 2003), 53:
AAS 95 (2003), 469.
The Eucharist
Part - III
1 evening.
Jesus still offers Himself in the Eucharist
In the sacrament of the Eucharist the Saviour, who took flesh in
Marys womb 20 centuries ago, continues to offer himself to hu-
manity as the source of divine life, the Holy Father said on Sunday,
18 June, 2000, before reciting the Angelus with the faithful in St
Peters Square. The Pope reminded them that the 47th Interna-
tional Eucharistic Congress would open that evening with the
celebration of Vespers and would include special liturgies for the
feast of Corpus Christi on Thursday and the Statio Orbis on the
following Sunday. Here is a translation of his reflection, which
was given in Italian.
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
1. We have reached the heart of the Great Jubilee of the Year
2000. In the days ahead we will observe several of its peak moments
with the liturgy. They disclose the profound meaning of the Jubilee
event. In the space of a week we are celebrating two solemnities -
the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi - that fully manifest the nature of
this Holy Year, which is both Trinitarian and Eucharistic.
Prepared by three years of reflection on Christ, the Spirit and the
Father, the Jubilees aim is to give thanks and praise to the divine
Trinity, from whom everything in the world and in history comes and
to whom everything returns (cf. Tertio millennio adveniente, n. 55).
But there is only one way, one door to the mystery of Gods
Love: Jesus, who was born, died and rose again to give life to every
person. Before dying on the Cross as a victim of expiation for our
sins, he left to the Church the memorial of his redeeming sacrifice:
The Eucharist
the sacrament of the Eucharist. Therefore, the Year 2000 cannot fail
to be intensely Eucharistic (ibid.), and Rome is thus hosting the
International Eucharistic Congress, which will begin precisely this
2. In the sacrament of the Eucharist the Saviour, who took flesh
61 62 in Marys womb 20 centuries ago, continues to offer himself to hu-
manity as the source of divine life (ibid.). This is the sense of the
theme chosen for the Eucharistic Congress of the Year 2000: Jesus
Christ, the Only Saviour of the World, Bread for New Life.
This evening I will solemnly open the Congress with the celebration
of Vespers in St Peters Square. The week will be filled with mo-
ments of prayer, art and celebration. Among the many events, I
mention in particular the conference on The Eucharist and the Face
of Christ and the Jubilee of Italian catechists.
Next Thursday we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and
Blood of the Lord: from the Basilica of St John Lateran the traditional
Eucharistic procession will make its way to St Mary Major. On Sunday
evening St Peters Square will host the great concluding celebration,
called the Statio Orbis, as if to indicate that humanity pauses before
the greatest of marvels: the God who becomes food, under the
appearances of bread and wine, to feed the whole world.
3. Where his senses and reason cannot reach, it is faith that
supports man in approaching this mystery. The creature who is the
greatest teacher of faith is Mary Most Holy. Before the abyss of
Gods Love, she teaches us trusting abandonment; before her crucified
and risen Son, she invites us to be in communion with him.
May Mary guide us, then, so that we can fully and fruitfully live
these days of grace.
(47th International Eucharistic Congress, 2000)
The Eucharist

2 In the heart of the Great Jubilee and at the beginning of this week
We adore you, true Body of Christ!
On Sunday evening, 18 June, 2000, the Solemnity of the Holy
Trinity, 50,000 of the faithful gathered with the Holy Father in St
Peters Square to celebrate the opening of the 47th International
Eucharistic Congress with Vespers and Eucharistic adoration,
followed by Benediction. The beauty of the celebration was en-
hanced by the presence of many Italian confraternities that had
brought handmade crucifixes, statues, banners and other objects
of sacred art to express their devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
Following the liturgical reading (Eph 3:14-4:6), the Pope
preached on the Eucharist as the living memorial of Christs
redeeming sacrifice and the centre of the Mystical Bodys life and
unity. Here is a translation of his homily, which was given in
Italian.
1. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the
one hope that belongs to your call (Eph 4:4).
One body!At these solemn Vespers, with which we open the In-
ternational Eucharistic Congress, it is on the Apostle Pauls words
that our attention is particularly focused this evening. One Body: our
thoughts turn first of all to the Body of Christ. The Bread of life!
At the Last Supper, Jesus, who was born of the Virgin Mary 2,000
years ago, wanted to leave us his Body and his Blood, sacrificed for
all hum anity. The Church, his Mystical Body, gathers round the
Eucharist, the sacrament of his love for us. See: Christ and the Church,
one body, one great mystery. Mysterium fidei!
The Eucharist
2. Ave verum corpus, natum de Maria Virgine! - Hail, true Body
of Christ, born of the Virgin Mary! Born when the time had fully
come, born of woman, born under the law (cf. Gal 4:4).
dedicated to the Euchari stic Congress, we return to that historic event
63 64 which marked the fulfilment of our salvation. Let us kneel as the
shepherds did before the man ger in Bethlehem; like the Magi who
came from the East, let us adore Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Like the aged Simeon, let us hold him in our arms, blessing God because
our eyes have seen the salvation which he has prepared in the presence
of all peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of his
people Israel (cf. Lk 2: 30-32).
You, Lord, are the living Bread
come down from heaven
Let us retrace the stages of his earthly life to Calvary, to the glory
of the Resurrection. In the days ahead, it will be in the Upper Room
esp ecially that we will pause to reflect on what Christ Jesus did and
suffered for us.
3. In supremae nocte cenae... se dat suis manibus. At the Last
Supper, while celebrating the Passover with his disciples, Christ of-
fered himself for us. Yes, gathered for the International Eucharistic
Congress, the Church returns in these days to the Upper Room and
remains there in thoughtful adoration. She relives the great myste ry
of the Incarnation, focusing her gaze on the sacrament in which Christ
gave us the memorial of his Passion: This is my body which is given
for you... This cup... poured out for you is the new covenant in my
blood (Lk 22:19-20).
Ave, verum corpus... vere passum, immolatum!
We adore you, true Body of Christ, present in the Sacrament of
the new and eternal Covenant, living memorial of the redeeming sac-
rifice. You, Lord, are the living Bread come down from heaven, who
gives life to man! On the Cross you gave your flesh for the life of the
world (cf. Jn 6: 51): in cruce pro homine!
The Eucharist
 The human mind is astonished at so sublime a mystery. But
strengthened by divine grace, it dares to repeat with faith: Adoro te
devote, lat ens Deitas, quae sub his figuris vere latitas.
I adore you devoutly, O Godhead unseen, who truly lie hidden
under these appearances.
65
4. One body, and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one
hope that belongs to your call (Eph 4:4).
In these words, which we have just heard, the Apostle Paul speaks
of the Church, the community of believers gathered together in the
unity of one body, enlivened by the same Spirit and sustained by sharing
the same hope. Paul is think ing of the reality of Christs Mystical
Body, which finds in his Eucharistic Body its own vital centre from
which the energy of grace flows to all its members.
The Apostle says: The bread which we bre ak, is it not a
participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we
who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread (1
Cor 10:16-17). Thus all of us, the baptized, become members of that
body and therefore individually members one of another (cf. 1 Cor
12:27; Rom 12:5). With heartfelt gratitude let us thank God, who made
the Eucharist the sacra ment of our full communion with him and with
our brothers and sisters.
5. This evening, with the solemn Vespers of the Blessed Trinity,
we are beginning an unusu ally full week which will see Bishops and
priests, religious and lay people from every part of the world gathered
round the Eucharist. It will be an extraordinary experience of faith
and an eloquent testimony of ecclesial communion.
Congress invites us to renew
our faith in the real presence
I greet you, dear brothers and sisters who are taking part in this
Jubilee event, which can be regarded as the heart of the entire Holy
Year. I extend my greeting in particular to the faithful of the Diocese
of Rome, our Diocese, which, un der the guidance of the Cardinal
Vicar and the Auxiliary Bishops, and with the collaboration of the
The Eucharist
clergy, the religious and many generous lay people, has prepared the
various aspects of the Eucharistic Congress. It is ready to ensure that
the Congress will run smoothly in the days ahead, conscious of the
honour it has in hosting this central event of the Great Jubilee.
I would also like to extend a special greeting to the many
66 confraternities meeting in Rome for a significant Fraternity Walk.
Their presence, made more impressive by the artistic crosses and
precious sacred images carried on majestic machines, creates a
worthy setting for the Eucharistic celebration which has brought us
here together.
The minds and hearts of so many of the faithful dispersed throughout
the world converge on this square. I invite everyone, individual be-
lievers and ecclesial communities from every corner of the earth, to
share with us these moments of sublime Eucharistic spirituality. I es-
pecially ask children and the sick, as well as contemplative communi-
ties, to pray for the happy and fruitful success of this world Eucharis-
tic meeting.
6. The Eucharistic Congress also invites us to renew our faith in
the real presence of Christ in the sacrament of the altar: Ave, verum
corpus!
At the same time, we receive the urgent appeal for the
reconciliation and unity of all believers: one body .... one faith, one
baptism! Divisions and disagreements still rend the body of Christ
and prevent Christians of different confessions from sharing the one
Eucharistic Bread. Therefore, let us pray together for the healing
power of divine mercy, which is superabundant in this Jubilee Year.
And you, O Christ, the only Head and Saviour, draw all your
members to yourself. Unite them and transform them in your love, so
that the Church may shine with that supernatural beauty which is
resplendent in the saints of every era and nation, in the martyrs, in the
confessors, in the virgins and in the countless witnesses to the Gospel!
O Iesu dulcis, o Iesu pie, O Iesu, fili Mariae! Amen!
(47th International Eucharistic Congress, 2000)
The Eucharist

3 St. Paul in the Letter to the Corinthians: As often as you eat this
67
Eucharist Spurs
Christians to Mission
The Church and every believer draw holiness and strength
from the Eucharist to undertake the task of proclaiming
the Gospel in daily life
At the General Audience of Wednesday, 21 June, 2000, which
was held in the middle of the 47th International Eucharistic
Congress, the Holy Father spoke of the Eucharist as the source of
the Churchs missionary task. The Pope said that the spiritual
energy of the Eucharist spurs all who are nourished by the
Body of the Lord to offer their lives for him and for their brothers
and sisters by giving themselves without reserve and, if neces-
sary, even by shedding their blood.
1. Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the World, Bread for New
Life: this is the theme of the 47th International Eucharistic Con-
gress, which opened last Sunday and will end next Sunday with the
Statio Orbis in St Peters Square.
The Congress puts the Eucharist at the centre of the Great Jubilee
of the Incarnation and expresses all its spiritual, ecclesial and mis-
sionary depth. It is from the Eucharist, in fact, that the Church and
every believer draw the indispensable strength to proclaim and bear
witness before all to the Gospel of salvation. The celebration of the
The Eucharist
Eucharist, the sacrament of the Lords Passover, is in itself a mission-
ary event, which plants the fertile seed of new life in the world.
This missionary aspect of the Eucharist is explicitly recalled by
bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes
68
(1 Cor 11:26).
2. The Church repeats St Pauls words in the doxology after the
consecration. The Eucharist is a missionary sacrament not only
because the grace of mission flows from it, but also because it contains
in itself the principle and eternal source of salvation for all. The cel-
ebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is therefore the most effective
missionary act that the Ecclesial Community can perform in the history
of the world.
Every Mass ends with the missionary mandate Go, an invitation
to the faithful to bring the message of the risen Lord to their families,
workplaces and societies throughout the world. It was for this reason
that in my Letter Dies Domini I invited the faithful to imitate the
example of the disciples of Emmaus who, once they had recognized
the risen Christ in the breaking of the bread (cf. Lk 24: 30-32), felt
the need to return immediately to share with all their brethren the joy
of meeting the Lord (cf. n. 45). The bread that is broken opens the
life of Christians and of the entire community to sharing and to self-
giving for the life of the world (cf. Jn 6: 51). The Eucharist brings
about that unbreakable bond between communion and mission, which
makes the Church the sacrament of the unity of the whole human
race (cf. Lumen gentium, n. 1).
3. Today it is particulary necessary for every Christian community
to draw from the celebration of the Eucharist the inner conviction and
spiritual strength to come out of itself and open itself to other poorer
communities in need of support in the areas of evangelization and
missionary cooperation, by encouraging that fruitful exchange of
reciprocal gifts which enriches the whole Church.
It is also very important to discern, on the basis of the Eucharist,
The Eucharist
missionary vocations and ministries. After the example of the early
community in Antioch, engaged together in the liturgy of the Lord,
every Christian community is called to listen to the Spirit and to accept
his invitations, setting apart for the universal mission the best energies
of its children, sent out joyfully into the world and accompanied by the
4
prayer and the spiritual and material support they need (cf. Acts 13:
1-3).
69 70 The Living Bread
The Eucharist is also a permanent school of charity, justice and Come Down from Heaven!
peace for renewing the surrounding world in Christ. From the presence
of the Risen One, believers draw the courage to be artisans of soli-
darity and renewal, committed to transforming the structures of sin in
which individuals, communities and at times entire peoples are
entangled(cf.Dies Domini, n. 73).
On Thursday evening, 22 June,2000, thousands of the faithful
4. Lastly, this reflection on the meaning and missionary content of gathered in front of the Basilica of St John Lateran for the Holy
the Eucharist cannot fail to mention those outstanding missionaries Fathers Mass on the feast of Corpus Christi. Concelebrating with
and witnesses to the faith and love of Christ who are the martyrs. the Pope were 38 Cardinals, over 200 Bishops and over 1,000 priests
The relics of the martyrs, preserved since antiquity beneath the altars from Rome and every corner of the world who had come to the Eter-
where the memorial of the Victim whose death has reconciled us is nal City to take part in the 47th International Eucharistic Congress.
celebrated, are a clear sign of the power flowing from Christs sacrifice. At the end of Mass the Pope, prelates, clergy, religious and lay
This spiritual energy spurs all who are nourished by the Body of the faithful escorted the Blessed Sacrament in solemn procession to the
Lord to offer their lives for him and for their brothers and sisters by Basilica of St Mary Major, where Benediction was celebrated. Lin-
giving themselves without reserve and, if necessary, even by shed- ing the streets of Rome for the procession were thousands of city
residents and visitors, who joined in the hymns and prayers that
ding their blood.
accompanied the Eucharistic devotion.
May the International Eucharistic Congress, through the intercession
The Holy Fathers homily was centred on the three themes
of Mary, Mother of the Christ offered in sacrifice for us, help to make
suggested by the Scripture rea dings of the feast: the institution of
believers more conscious of the missionary responsibility that stems the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Melchizedek and the multip lication
from their participation in the Eucharist. The Body given and the of the loaves. The Pope said that countless saints and martyrs drew
Blood poured out (cf. Lk 22: 19-20) are the highest criterion they strength from this mystery to resist even the harshest sufferings. Here
must always use in giving themselves for the worlds salvation. is a translation of his homily, whic h was given in Italian.

(47th International Eucharistic Congress, 2000) 1. The institution of the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Melchizedek
and the multiplication of the loaves: this is the evocative triptych which
the liturgy of the Word presents to us today on the Solemnity of Corpus
Christi.

The Eucharist The Eucharist

 In the centre is the institution of the Eucharist. St Paul, in his First
Letter to the Corinthians which we have just heard, recalled the event
in precise words, adding: As often as you eat this bread and drink
the cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes (1 Cor 11: 26).
As often, hence this evening too, as we celebrate the Eucharist in
the heart of the International Eucharistic Congress, we proclaim
Christs redemptive death and in our hearts rekindle the hope of our
definitive encounter with him.
Conscious of this, we will acclaim after the consecration, as if in
response to the Apostles invitation: When we eat this bread and
drink this cup, we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus, until you come in
glory.
2. Our gaze expands to include the other elements of the biblical
triptych displayed for our meditation today: the sacrifice of Melchizedek
and the multiplication of the loaves.
The first account, very short but of great importance, comes from
the Book of Genesis and was proclaimed in the first reading. It tells
us of Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High,
who blessed Abram and brought out bread and wine (Gn 14:18).
Psalm 109 refers to this passage, attributing to the Messiah-King an
extraordinary priestly character that God has directly conferred on
him: You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek (Ps
109:4).
In Christ our death is vanquished forever
The day before his death on the Cross, Chri st instituted the
Eucharist in the Upper Room. He also offered bread and wine, which
in his sacred hands (Roman Canon) became his Body and his Blood,
offered in sacrifice. Thus he fulfilled the prophecy of the old cov-
enant linked to Melchizedeks sacrificial offering. For this very reason
- the Letter to the Hebrews recalls - he became the source of eter-
nal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high
priest after the order of Melchizedek (5: 7-10).
The Eucharist
The sacrifice of Golgotha was anticipated in the Upper Room: the
death on the Cross of the Incarnate Word, the Lamb sacrificed for
us, the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. In Christs pain
every persons pain is redeemed; in his passion, human suffering ac-
quires new value; in his death, our death is vanquished forever.
71 72
3. Let us now turn our gaze to the Gospel account of the
multiplication of the loaves, which completes the Eucharistic triptych
brought to our attention today. In the liturgical setting of Corpus Christi,
this passage from the Evangelist Luke helps us to understand better
the gift and mystery of the Eucharist.
Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to
heaven, blessed them, broke them and gave them to the Apostles to
distribute to the crowd (cf. Lk 9:16). All, St Luke remarks, ate and
were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets
of broken pieces (cf. ibid, v. 17).
This is an amazing miracle which marks in a way the beginning of
a long historical process: the uninterrupted multiplication in the Church
of the Bread of new life for the people of every race and culture.
This sacramental ministry is entrusted to the Apostles and to their
successors. And they, faithful to the divine Masters command, never
cease to break and distribute the Eucharistic bread from generation
to generation.
The People of God receive it with devout participation. With this
Bread of life, a remedy of immortality, countless saints and martyrs
were nourished and from it drew the strength to resist even harsh and
prolonged sufferings. They believ ed in the words that Jesus once
spoke in Cape rnaum: I myself am the living bread come down from
heaven. If any one eats this bread, he will live forever (Jn 6: 51).
4. I myself am the living bread come down from heaven!
After contemplating the extraordinary Eucharistic triptych made
up of todays readings, let us now turn our minds eye directly to the
The Eucharist
mystery. Jesus calls himself the Bread of life, adding: The bread I
will give is my flesh, for the life of the world (Jn 6: 51).
The mystery of our salvation! Christ - the only Lord yesterday,
today and for ever - wanted his saving presence in the world and in
history to be linked with the sacrament of the Eucharist. He wanted
to make himself the bread which is broken so that everyone can be
73
nourished by his very life through participation in the sacrament of his
Body and Blood.
As we escort him, we will offer him the tribute of our hymns and
prayers: Bone Pastor, panis vere ... True Bread, Good Shepherd,
tend us, we will say to him with trust, Jesus, of your love befriend
us, You refresh us, you defend us, Your eternal goodness send us.
You who all things can and know, Who on earth such food bestow,
Grant us with your saints, though lowest, Where the heavenly feast
74 you show, Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen!
(47th International Eucharistic Congress, 2000)

We profess our faith in Christs real presence

Like the disciples who listened in astonishment to his discourse at
Capernaum, we also find this language hard to understand (cf. Jn 6:
60). We might sometimes be tempted to give it a redu ctive interpre-
tation. But this would take us far from Christ, as was the case with
those disciples who after that no longer went about with him
(Jn 6:66).

We would like to stay with Christ and for this reason we say to
him with Peter: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life (Jn 6: 68). With the same conviction as Peter, let us kneel
today before the sacrament of the altar and renew our profession of
faith in the real presence of Christ.

This is the meaning of todays celebration, which is given special

emphasis by the International Eucharistic Congress in the year of the
Great Jubilee. This is also the sense of the solemn procession which,
as it does every year, will shortly make its way from this square to the
Basilica of St Mary Major.

With humble pride we will escort the Eucharistic Sacrament through

the streets of the city, close by the buildings where people live, rejoice
and suffer; between the shops and offices where they work each
day. We will bring it into contact with our lives beset by a thousand
dangers, weighed down by worries and sorrows, subject to the slow
but inexorable wear and tear of time.

The Eucharist The Eucharist


5 they understand at the time how far these words would take them?
75
If anyone eats this Bread,
he shall live
Holy Father celebrates Statio Orbis liturgy to conclude
47th International Eucharistic Congress
The 47th International Eucharistic Congress closed on Sunday
evening, 25 June, 2000, with a solemn Mass celebrated by the Holy
Father in St Peters Square. Concelebrating with the Pope were
Cardinals, Bishops and priests who had taken part in the Congress
and were joined by thousands of the faithful from Rome and around
the world. Also present were 10,000 boys and girls who had recently
received their First Holy Communion. The area below the altar was
decorated with an infiorata, a symbolic depiction of the Eucha-
rist made of thousands of flower petals by artists from Genzano, a
small town near Rome. After the Gospel had been chanted in Latin,
the Holy Father gave the following homily in Italian. Here is a
translation.
1. Take; this is my body... This is my blood (Mk 14: 22-23).
These words spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper ring out today in
our assembly, as we prepare to close the International Eucharistic
Congress. They resound with unusual intensity, as a renewed com-
mand: Take!.
Christ entrusts to us his Body given and his Blood poured out. He
The Eucharist
entrusts them to us as he did to the Apostles in the Upper Room
before the supreme sacrifice on Golgotha. Peter and the others at the
table were astonished and deeply moved at these words. But could
At that moment the promise Jesus had made at the synagogue in
76
Capernaum was fulfilled: I am the bread of life.... the bread I will
give is my flesh, for the life of the world (Jn 6: 48, 51). The promise
was fulfilled on the very eve of the Passion in which Jesus would
offer himself for humanitys salvation.
2. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many
(Mk 14: 24).
In the Upper Room Jesus speaks of covenant. It is a term which
the Apostles have no difficulty in understanding, since they belong to
the people with whom Yahweh, as the first reading tells us, had made
the old covenant during the exodus from Egypt (cf. Ex 19-24). They
vividly remember Mount Sinai and Moses, who had come down from
that mountain carrying the divine Law engraved on two stone tablets.
Christ is the mediator of a new covenant
They did not forget that Moses had taken the book of the
covenant and read it aloud; and the people had agreed, saying: All
the Lord has said, we will heed and do (ibid., 24:7).
Thus a covenant was made between God and his people, sealed
with the blood of animals offered in sacrifice. For this reason Moses
had sprinkled the people, saying: This is the blood of the covenant
which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words
of his (ibid., 24: 8).
The Apostles, then, understood the reference to the old covenant.
But what did they understand of the new? Certainly very little. The
Holy Spirit will have to descend to open their minds: then they will
understand the full sense of Jesus words. They will understand and
rejoice.
The Eucharist
 We heard a clear echo of this joy in the words proclaimed a few
moments ago from the Letter to the Hebrews: If the sprinkling of
defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of
a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more
shall the blood of Christ! (9:13-14). And the author of the Letter
concludes: Therefore Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so
77
that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inherit-
ance (9: 15).
3. This is the cup of my blood. On Holy Thursday evening the
Apostles reached the threshold of the great mystery. When, at the
end of the supper, they went out with him to the Garden of Olives,
they could not know yet that the words he had pronounced over the
bread and the cup would be dramatically fulfilled the following day, in
the hour of the Cross. Perhaps not even on the tremendous and glo-
rious day that the Church calls feria sexta in parasceve - Good Friday
- did they realize that what Jesus had handed on to them under the
appearances of bread and wine contained the paschal reality.
There is an illuminating passage in the Gospel of Luke. Speaking
of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, the Evangelist notes their
disappointment: We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel
(Lk 24: 21). The other disciples must have also shared this sentiment
before meeting the risen Christ. Only after the resurrection did they
begin to understand that human redem ption had been achieved in
Christs Passover. The Holy Spirit will later guide them into the full
truth by revealing to them that the Crucified One had given his body
and poured out his blood as a sacri fice of expiation for the sins of
human beings, for the sins of the whole world (cf. 1 Jn 2: 2).
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews again offers us a clear
synthesis of the mystery: Christ ...entered once for all into the Holy
Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus
securing an eternal redemption (Heb 9: 11-12).
4. Today we affirm this truth at the Statio Orbis of this International
Eucharistic Congress, as, in obedience to Christs command, we do
The Eucharist
again in his memory what he did in the Upper Room on the eve of
his Passion.
Take; this is my body... This is my blood of the covenant, which is
poured out for many (Mk 2: 22, 24). From this square we want to
repeat to the men and women of the third millennium the extraordi-
78 nary message: the Son of God became man for us and offered him-
self in sacrifice for our salvation. He gives us his body and blood as
the food of a new life, of a divine life that is no longer subject to
death.
With deep feeling we once again receive from Christs hands this
gift, so that through us it may reach every family and every city,
places of suffering and the workshops of hope in our time. The
Eucharist is the infinite gift of love: under the signs of bread and wine
we acknowledge and adore the one perfect sacrifice of Christ offered
for our salvation and that of all humanity. The Eucharist is really the
mystery that sums up all the marvels wrought by God for our salva-
tion (cf. St Thomas Aquinas, De sacr. Euch., chap. I).
Christ feeds his people
and strengthens them in holiness
In the Upper Room the Churchs Eucharistic faith was born and is
continually reborn. As the Eucharistic Congress now draws to a close,
we want to return spiritually to these origins, to the moment of the
Upper Room and of Golgotha, to give thanks for the gift of the Eucha-
rist, the priceless gift that Christ left us, the gift by which the Church
lives.
5. Our liturgical assembly will soon disperse, enriched by the
presence of faithful from every part of the world and made even
more attractive by this extraordinary floral display. I greet you all
with affection and cordially thank everyone!
Let us leave this gathering reinvigorated in our apostolic and
missionary commitment. May participation in the Eucharist make you,
The Eucharist
the sick, more patient in your trials; you, married couples, more faithful
in your love; you, consecrated persons, more persevering in your holy
intentions; you, First Communion children, and especially you, dear
young people, who are preparing to take personal responsibility for
the future, stronger and more generous. From this Statio Orbis my
thoughts are already looking ahead to the solemn Eucharistic
celebration that will close the World Youth Day. I say to you, young
people of Rome, Italy and the world: carefully prepare yourselves for
this international youth gathering, in which you will be called to take
up the challenges of the new millennium.
6. And you, Christ our Lord, who in this great sacrament feed
your people and strengthen them in holiness, so that the family of
mankind may come to walk in the light of one faith, in one communion
of love (Preface of the Holy Eucharist II), always make your Church
more steadfast and united, as she celebrates the mystery of your
saving presence.
Pour out your Spirit upon all who approach your sacred Table and
make them bolder in bearing witness to the commandment of your
love, so that the world may believe in you, who one day said: I myself
am the living bread come down from heaven. If anyone eats this
bread, he shall live (Jn 6: 51).
You, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Virgin Mary, are mans only
Saviour, yesterday, today and forever!
(47th International Eucharistic Congress, 2000)
The Eucharist
6
79 80
Eucharist, source of all vocations
Eucharist is the theme of Pope John Paul IIs message for
37th World Day of Prayer for Vocations
The theme that I intend to propose to you this year is one in har-
mony with the event of the Great Jubilee. I would like to meditate
with you on: The Eucharist, source of all vocations and ministries
in the Church, the Holy Father wrote in his Message for the 37th
World Day of Prayer for Vocations, to be celebrated on 14 May
2000, the Fourth Sunday of Easter.
The Pope appealed to young people in particular: Dear young
people, go to meet Jesus the Saviour! Love him and adore him in
the Eucharist! ... You are able to draw from him the courage to be
his apostles in this particular period of time: the 21st century will
be how you young people will want it to be and will make it.
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear Brothers and Sisters all over the world!
The World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which will be celebrated
in the joyful atmosphere of the Easter festivities, especially joyful
because of the Jubilee celebrations, gives me the opportunity to re-
flect, together with you, on the gift of the divine call, sharing your
The Eucharist
care for vocations to the ordained ministry and to the consecrated
life. The theme that I intend to propose to you this year is one in
harmony with the event of the Great Jubilee. I would like to meditate
with you on: The Eucharist, source of all vocations and ministries
in the Church. Is not perhaps the Eucharist the mystery of Christ,
living and working in history? From the Eucharist, Jesus continues to
call people to follow him, and to offer everyone the fullness of time.
1. In the fullness of time, God sent his Son, born of a woman
(Gal 4: 4).
The fullness of time coincides with the mystery of the Incarnation
of the Word ... and with the mystery of the Redemption of the world
(Tertio millennio adveniente, n. 1): in the Son, who is of one being
with the Father and was made man in the womb of the Virgin, the
awaited time has its beginning and end, the time of grace and mercy,
the time of salvation and reconciliation.
Christ reveals the plan of God for all of creation and, in particular,
for man. He fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme
calling clear (Gaudium et spes, n. 22), a calling which is hidden in
the heart of him who is Eternal. The mystery of the incarnate Word
will be fully revealed only when every man and every woman will be
fulfilled in him, sons in the Son, members of his Mystical Body, which
is the Church.
The Jubilee, and this one in particular, celebrating 2,000 years of
the coming in time of the Son of God and the mystery of redemption,
enjoins all believers to consider their own personal vocation, to com-
plete in their lives what is lacking in the passion of the Son, for the
sake of his body, which is the Church (cf. Col 1: 24).
2. 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. They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within
The Eucharist
us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the
Scriptures? (Lk 24: 30-32).
The Eucharist constitutes the culminating moment in which Jesus,
in his Body given for us and in his Blood poured out for our salvation,
reveals the mystery of his identity and indicates the sense of the vo-
81 82 cation of every believer. In fact, the meaning of human life is totally
contained in that Body and in that Blood, since from them life and
salvation have come to us. In some ways, the very existence of the
human person must be identified with them, so that this existence is
fulfilled in so far as it can, in its turn, make of itself a gift for others.
In the Eucharist all this is mysteriously signified in the signs of
bread and wine, the memorial of the Passover of the Lord: the believer
who is nourished by that Body given for him and with that Blood
poured out for him, receives the power to transform himself, in turn,
into gift. As St Augustine says, Be what you receive and receive
what you are (Discourse 272, 1: On Pentecost).
In their encounter with the Eucharist, some men discover that
they are called to become ministers of the Altar, other people, that
they are called to contemplate the beauty and depth of this mystery,
others that they are called to pour out again its impelling force of love
on the poor and weak, and others again that they are called to grasp
its transforming power in the realities and gestures of everyday life.
Each believer finds in the Eucharist not only the interpretative key of
his or her own existence, but the courage to actualize it, indeed to
build up, in the diversity of charisms and vocations, the one Body of
Christ in history.
In the account of the disciples of Emmaus (Lk 24: 13-35), St Luke
lets us glimpse what happens in the life of the person who lives the
Eucharist. When in the breaking of bread, done by the stranger,
the eyes of the disciples are opened, they realize that their hearts
were burning in their breasts while they were listening to him explaining
the Scriptures. In those hearts that burn we can see the history and
The Eucharist
the discovery of every vocation, which is not a transient emotion, but
an ever more certain and strong recognition that the Eucharist and
Passover of the Son must become ever more the Eucharist and
Passover of his disciples.
3. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the
83
evil one (1 Jn 2: 14).
The mystery of the love of God, hidden for ages and generations
(Col 1: 26), is now revealed to us in the word of the Cross (1 Cor 1:
18), which, abiding in you, dear young people, will be your strength
and your light, and will unveil to you the mystery of your personal call.
I know your doubts and your efforts, I see you lost at times, I under-
stand the fear that assails you about the future. But yet, I have in my
mind and in my heart the joyous image of the many encounters with
you on my apostolic journeys, in the course of which I have been able
to verify the sincere search for truth and love that abides in each one
of you.
The Lord Jesus has pitched his tent among us and, from this his
Eucharistic dwelling, he repeats to each man and each woman, Come
to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and
I shall give you rest (Mt 11:28).
Dear young people, go to meet Jesus the Saviour! Love him and
adore him in the Eucharist! He is present in the Holy Mass, that
makes sacramentally present the sacrifice of the Cross. He comes
into us in Holy Communion and remains in the tabernacles of our
churches, because he is our friend, the friend of all, especially of you
young people, who are so much in need of confidence and love. You
are able to draw from him the courage to be his apostles in this
particular period of time: the 21st century will be how you young
people will want it to be and will make it. After so much violence and
oppression, the world needs young people capable of building bridges
to unite and reconcile; after the culture of man without vocation,
The Eucharist
men and women are needed who believe in life and accept it as a call
that comes from Above, from the God who calls, since he loves; after
the atmosphere of suspicion and distrust, which poisons human rela-
tionships, only courageous young people, with minds and hearts open
to high and generous ideals, will be able to restore beauty and truth to
life and to human relationships. Then this Jubilee time will truly be for
84
all a year of the Lords grace, a Jubilee of vocation.
4. I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known him
who is from the beginning (1 Jn 2: 13).
Every vocation is a gift of the Father and, like all gifts which come
from God, arrives through many human mediations: that of parents or
teachers, of pastors of the Church, of people who are directly engaged
in a ministry of vocations animation, or that of the simple believer. I
would like, with this Message, to address myself to all these categories
of persons, to whom the discovery and support of the divine call is
linked. I am aware that the pastoral care of vocations constitutes a
less than easy ministry, but how can one not remember that there is
nothing more uplifting than an enthusiastic witnessing to ones own
vocation? He who lives this gift joyfully and nourishes it daily in his
encounter with the Eucharist will know how to sow in the hearts of
many young people the good seed of faithful adherence to the divine
call. It is in the Eucharistic presence that Jesus reaches us, places us
within the dynamism of ecclesial communion and makes us prophetic
signs for the world.
I would like, here, to direct an affectionate and grateful thought to
all those animators of vocations, priests, religious brothers and sisters,
and lay people who give of themselves generously and with enthusi-
asm in this arduous ministry. Do not let yourselves be discouraged by
the difficulties - have trust! The seed of the divine call, when it is
planted with generosity, will yield abundant fruit. Faced with the grave
crisis of vocations to the ordained ministry and to the consecrated life
that pervades some regions of the world, it is necessary, above all in
this Jubilee of the Year 2000, to labour so that every priest, every
The Eucharist
consecrated person, rediscovers the beauty of their own vocation
and witnesses it to others. Let every believer become an educator of
vocations, without fearing to propose radical choices; let every
community understand the centrality of the Eucharist and the necessity
for ministers of the Eucharistic Sacrifice; let the whole People of God
7
raise an ever more intense and impassioned prayer to the Lord of the
harvest to send labourers into his harvest. And let them entrust this
85 86 Do this in Memory of Me
prayer to the intercession of her who is the Mother of the eternal
Priest.

5. Prayer Virgin Mary, humble daughter of the Most High, in you

the mystery of the divine call was fulfilled in a marvellous way.
You are the image of what God accomplishe sin those who entrust
themselves to him; in you the freedom of the Creator raised up the
freedom of the creature. He who was born in your womb has joined
in one single will the salvific freedom of God and the obedient assent
of man. Thanks to you, the call of God is definitively joined with the
response of the man-God. First-fruits of a new life, you keep for us
all the generous Yes of joy and love.
Holy Mary, Mother of all who are called, make all believers have
the strength to answer the divine call with generous courage, and let
them be joyful witnesses of love toward God and toward their neigh-
bour. Young daughter of Sion, Star of the morning, who guide the
steps of humanity through the Great Jubilee toward the future, direct
the young people of the new millennium toward him who is the true
light which enlightens all men (Jn 1:9). Amen!
(Message for the 37th World Day
of Prayer for Vocations, 2000).
1. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to
the end (Jn 13:1).These words from the Gospel text just proclaimed
clearly underline the climate of Holy Thursday, 28 March, 2002. They
give us an insight into what Christ felt on the night when he was
betrayed (1 Cor 11:23), and they inspire us to take part with intense
and personal gratitude in the solemn rite we are celebrating.
This evening we begin Christs Passover, constituting the tragic
and concluding moment, long prepared and awaited, of the earthly
existence of the Word of God. Jesus came among us not to be served
but to serve, and he took upon himself the vicissitudes and hopes of
the people of all time. Mystically anticipating the sacrifice of the Cross,
in the Upper Room it was his wish to stay with us under the
appearances of bread and wine, and he entrusted to the Apostles and
their successors the mission and power to perpetuate the living and
efficacious memory of that event in the Eucharist.
This celebration thus mystically involves all of us and introduces
us into the Sacred Triduum, during which we too shall learn from the
one Master and Lord to stretch out our hands and go to wherever
we are called to fulfil the will of our heavenly Father.

2. Do this in memory of me (1 Cor 11:24,25). With this

command, which commits us to repeating his gesture, Jesus concludes
the institution of the Sacrament of the Altar. As he finishes the washing

The Eucharist The Eucharist

of the feet, he again invites us to imitate him: For I have given you
an example, that you also should do as I have done to you (Jn
13:15). In this way he establishes an intimate connection between the
Eucharist, the sacrament of his sacrificial gift, and the commandment
of love which commits us to welcoming and serving our brothers and
sisters.
Partaking of the Lords table cannot be separated from the duty
of loving our neighbour. Each time we partake in the Eucharist, we
too say our Amen before the Body and Blood of the Lord. In doing
so we commit ourselves to doing what Christ has done, to washing
the feet of our brothers and sisters, becoming a real and visible image
of the One who emptied himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil
2:7).
Love is the most precious legacy which Christ leaves to those
whom he calls to follow him. It is his love, shared by his disciples,
which this evening is offered to all humanity.
3. Any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body
eats and drinks judgment upon himself (1 Cor 11:29). The
Eucharist is a great gift, but also a great responsibility for those who
receive it. Before Peter, who is reluctant to have his feet washed,
Jesus insists on the need to be unsullied in order to take part in the
sacrificial banquet of the Eucharist.
The Churchs tradition has always stressed the link between the
Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I too have wished to
reaffirm this in my Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday this year, by
inviting priests above all to consider with renewed wonder the beauty
of the Sacrament of forgiveness. Only in this way will they be able to
help the faithful entrusted to their pastoral care to rediscover the
Sacrament.
The Sacrament of Penance restores to the baptized the divine
grace lost by mortal sin, and disposes them to receive the Eucharist
worthily. Furthermore, in the direct conversation which its ordinary
The Eucharist
celebration involves, the Sacrament can meet the need for personal
communication, which has become more and more difficult nowa-
days as a result of the frenetic pace of our technological society.
Through his enlightened and patient action, the confessor can bring
the penitent into that profound communion with Christ which the Sac-
87 88 rament restores and which the Eucharist brings to full fruition.
May the rediscovery of the Sacrament of Reconciliation help all
the faithful to draw near with respect and devotion to the Table of the
Lords Body and Blood.
4. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved
them to the end (Jn 13:1).
Let us return in spirit to the Upper Room! Here we recollect our-
selves in faith around the Altar of the Lord, as we commemorate the
Last Supper. Repeat the gestures of Christ, we proclaim that his death
has redeemed humanity from sin and continues to reveal the hope of
a future of salvation for the men and women of every time and place.
Priests are called to perpetuate the rite which, under the appear-
ances of bread and wine, makes present the sacrifice of Christ, truly,
really and substantially, until the end of time. All Christians are called
to become humble and attentive servants of their brothers and sisters,
in order to cooperate in their salvation. It is the task of every believer
to proclaim through his or her life that the Son of God loved his own
to the end. This evening, in a silence charged with mystery, our
faith is nourished.
In union with the whole Church, we proclaim your death, O Lord.
Filled with gratitude, we taste already the joy of your resurrection.
Full of trust, we commit ourselves to living in expectation of your
return in glory. Today and for ever, O Christ, our Redeemer. Amen!
(Mass of the Lords Supper, Holy Thursday, 28 March, 2002)
The Eucharist

8 Supper. With a public and solemn act, we glorify and adore the Bread
Eucharist, lifegiving Bread
makes the Church
The holy act in which Jesus condensed his Gospel of love
does not pass away
On Thursday evening, 30 May 2002, on the esplanade in front of
the Cathedral of Rome, St John Lateran, the Holy Father presided
at the Mass for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi celebrated by
Cardinal Ruini and preached the homily on the gift of the
Eucharist. Then the Holy Father took part in the Eucharistic
procession to St Mary Major where at 9: 00 p.m. in front of the
Basilica from the altar in the form of a motorized float, he gave
Eucharistic Benediction to the faithful. In his homily the Pope
recalled the great gift of love that is the Eucharist and the great
need of priests to bring the Eucharist to the people. This people
has need of the Eucharist. Indeed, it is the Eucharist that makes
the People a missionary Church. But is it possible without priests,
who renew the Eucharistic mystery? This is why, on this solemn
day I invite you to pray for the success of the diocesan ecclesial
convocation to be held in the Basilica of St John starting on
Monday (3 June) that will give special attention to the theme of
vocations to the priesthood and to consecrated life. The Holy
Father asked young people to respond confidently to Christs
special call to follow him with undivided heart. Here is a transla-
tion of the Holy Fathers homily.
1. Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem, lauda ducem et pastorem in hymnis
et canticis: Praise your Saviour, Zion, praise with hymns and can-
ticles, Christ, your king and shepherd.
The Eucharist
With faith and devotion we have sung these words of the tradi-
tional Sequence that forms part of the liturgy of Corpus Christi.
Today is a solemn feast, a feast on which we relive the first Sacred
and the Wine become the true Body and true Blood of the Redeemer.
89 90 Signs not things are all we see, the Sequence stresses, but here
beneath these signs lie hidden priceless things.
Feast expresses wondering amazement
for this great gift
2. Special theme for glad thanksgiving is the lifegiving Bread set
before you today.
Today we are celebrating a solemn feast that expresses the
awesome wonder of the People of God: a wonder filled with gratitude
for the gift of the Eucharist. In the Sacrament of the Altar, Jesus
wanted to perpetuate his living presence in our midst in the same
form in which he gave himself to the Apostles in the Upper Room.
He left to us what he did at the Last Supper and we faithfully renew
his action.
According to established custom, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi
consists of two moments: the Mass, in which the offering of the
Sacrifice takes place and the procession, that manifests the public
adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Eucharist is living Memorial of Lamb slain
for the salvation of the world
3. Obedient to his command, we consecrate the Bread and wine,
our sacrifice of salvation. Above all, we renew the memorial of
Christs Passover.
Days, years and centuries go by, but this most holy act in which
Jesus condensed his entire Gospel of love does not pass away. He
The Eucharist
never ceases to offer himself, the Lamb immolated and risen, for the
salvation of the world. With this memorial the Church responds to the
command of Gods Word, which we heard in the First Reading: Re-
member ... Do not forget (Dt 8,2.14).
The Eucharist is our living Memorial. In the Eucharist, as the
Council recalls, is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church,
namely Christ himself our Pasch and the living bread which gives life
to men through his flesh - that flesh which is given life and gives life
through the Holy Spirit. Thus men are invited and led to offer
themselves, their works and all creation with Christ ...
(Presbyterorum ordinis, n. 5).
From the Eucharist, the source and the summit of all preaching
of the Gospel (ibid.), even our Church of Rome must daily draw the
strength and enthusiasm for her missionary action and for every form
of Christian witness in the world.
People of God need the Eucharist, need priests
to renew the Eucharistic mystery
4. Good shepherd, True Bread, have mercy on us, nourish and
defend us.
Good Shepherd, you will shortly pass through the streets of our
city. On this feast, every city, metropolis or small village, becomes
spiritually Zion, the Jerusalem who praises the Saviour: they are the
new People of God, gathered from every nation and nourished with
the one Bread of life.
This People has need of the Eucharist. Indeed, it is the Eucharist
that makes the People a missionary Church. But is it possible without
priests, who renew the Eucharistic mystery?
This is why, on this solemn day, I invite you to pray for the success
of the diocesan ecclesial convocation to be held in the Basilica of St
John starting on Monday (June 3), that will give special attention to
The Eucharist
the theme of vocations to the priesthood and to consecrated life.
Young Romans! I repeat to you the words I addressed to the young
people gathered at Tor Vergata during the World Youth Day 2000. If
any of you, dear young men and women hear the Lords inner call to
give yourselves completely to him in order to love him with an
91 92 undivided heart (cf. I Cor 7,34) do not be held back by doubts or
fears. Say yes with courage and without reserve, trusting him who
is faithful to his promises (cf. Homily, n. 6).
Procession shows gratitude for Incarnation
and Passion re-presented in the Eucharist
5. Ave verum Corpus, natum de Maria Virgine (Hail true Body,
born of the Virgin Mary).
We adore you, our Redeemer who became incarnate in the pure
womb of the Virgin Mary. To the most important Marian church of
the West, the Basilica of St Mary Major, we will move in solemn
procession.
We give you thanks, Lord, for your Eucharistic presence in the
world. For us you accepted suffering and on the cross you manifested
your love for all humanity to the very end. We adore you, daily viati-
cum for us, all pilgrims on earth.
You who know and can do all things, who nourish us on earth,
lead your brothers and sisters to the table of heaven to be fellow heirs
and guests with your saints forever. Amen.
The Eucharist

9 Dear Brothers and Sisters,
God draws close to his creatures
To explore the fascinating depths of Christs presence under
the signs of the bread and the wine, faith is necessary, or
rather faith animated by love.
On Sunday, 2 June 2002, the day on which many countries celebrate
the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Holy Father said the Angelus
with several thousand pilgrims in St Peters Square. The Pope gave
a short summary of the Churchs faith in the Eucharist and reminded
the faithful that from the days of the early Church the Eucharist is at
the heart of the celebration of the Resurrection on Sunday. To
explore the fascinating depths of Christs presence under the signs
of the bread and the wine, faith is necessary, or rather faith ani-
mated by love. Only those who believe and love can understand
something of this ineffable mystery through which God comes close
to our littleness, seeks to save our weakness, and reveals himself for
what he is: infinite, saving love. For this very reason the Eucharist
is the beating heart of the community. From the very outset, ever
since the primitive community of Jerusalem, Christians have gath-
ered on the Lords Day to renew at Mass the memorial of Christs
Death and Resurrection. Sunday is the day of rest and praise, but
The Eucharist
without the Eucharist it loses its real meaning. Here is a transla-
tion of the Popes reflection in Italian.
1. Today in Italy and in some other countries the Solemnity of
93 94 Corpus Christi is being celebrated. The Christian community gathers
round the Eucharist and in it adores its most precious treasure: Christ
really present under the appearances of bread and wine.
Eucharistic procession
The whole People of God comes out of the churches and car-
ries the Blessed Sacrament through the streets and squares of the
city. The Risen Christ walks the highways of humanity and continues
to offer his flesh to human beings as the true Bread of Life (cf.
Jn 6,48.51). Just as was the case 2,000 years ago, this is a hard
saying (Jn 6,60) for human intelligence which is overwhelmed by
the mystery.
Faith allows us to understand something
To explore the fascinating depths of Christs presence under the
signs of the bread and the wine, faith is necessary, or rather faith
animated by love. Only those who believe and love can understand
something of this ineffable mystery through which God draws close
to our littleness, seeks to save our weakness, and reveals himself for
what he is: infinite, saving love.
Eucharist, heart of the community
and reason for Sunday rest
2. For this reason the Eucharist is the beating heart of the
community. From the very outset, ever since the primitive community
of Jerusalem, Christians have gathered on the Lords Day to renew
at Mass the memorial of Christs Death and Resurrection. Sunday
is the day of rest and praise, but without the Eucharist it loses its real
The Eucharist
meaning. Therefore, in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte,
I again proposed as a primary pastoral commitment the recovery of
the value of Sunday and, of the Eucharistic celebration on the day:
it is a fundamental duty, to be fulfilled not just in order to observe a
precept but as something felt as essential to a truly informed and
consistent Christian life (n. 36).
95
Mary can obtain firm faith for us
3. In adoring the Eucharist we can only think with gratitude of
the Virgin Mary. The famous Eucharistic hymn that we often sing
suggests this: Ave verum corpus / natum de Maria Virgine (Hail
true Body, born of the Virgin Mary). Today, let us ask the Mother of
the Lord to obtain that everyone may taste the sweetness of communion
with Jesus and, thanks to the Bread of eternal life, receive a share in
his mystery of salvation and holiness.
The Eucharist
10
96 In Eucharist Christ comes
as light, life of the world
On the evening of Tuesday, 5 November 2002, the Holy Father
met with the sixty persons who make up the Plenary Assembly of
the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Con-
gresses, including the two Cardinals Tomko and Sandoval
iquez. The coming International Eucharistic Congress will be
held from 10-17 October 2004, in Guadalajara, Mexico. The
theme of the Congress will be "The Eucharist, Light and Life of
the New Millennium". The Pope stressed how appropriate a
theme the Committee had chosen for a millennium that is already
marked by lights and shadows. "The millennium has just begun
but already everyone clearly sees how necessary for humanity
and for the Church is the light of Jesus Christ and the life he
offers in the Eucharist. The beginning is not without threatening
shadows. For this reason, it is necessary to re-present to human-
ity "the true light that enlightens every man who comes into the
world' (Jn 1,9), the Word Incarnate who wished to remain with
us in such a wonderful way as he does in the Eucharist. In this
sacrament, Jesus Christ is present with the gift of himself "for the
life of the world' - pro mundi vita - for the life of our world as it is,
with its lights and shadows. The Eucharist is the sublime expres-
sion of the love of God incarnate, a permanent and effective love".
The Holy Father also stressed the Eucharist as the sacrament of
unity and communion in the Church. "The Eucharist is the source
of unity in the Church. The Eucharistic Body of the Lord nour-
ishes and sustains his Mystical Body. The International Eucha-
The Eucharist
 ristic Congresses contribute to this explicitly ecclesial finality.
The fact that the faithful coming from so many places can partici-
pate in the Eucharistic event symbolizes the unity and commun-
ion of the Church". The Pope asked the delegates to be zealous
in their promotion of devotion to the Eucharist. "Persevere in it
with dedication and passion, inspiring and spreading Eucharis-
tic devotion in all its forms". Here is a translation of the Pope's
address to the Plenary Assembly.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. I am happy today to welcome, along with the members of the
Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, the
national delegates designated by the respective ecclesial authorities
to take part in the Plenary Assembly going on these days in Rome. I
cordially greet each of you, and especially Cardinal Jozef Tomko,
President of the Committee, whom I thank for his kind words on your
behalf. I also greet Cardinal Juan Sandoval iguez, Archbishop of
Guadalajara, the place where the next International Eucharistic Con-
gress will take place.
Theme: "Eucharist, Light and Life
of the New Millennium'
Your Assembly has given special attention to the Congress, whose
theme will be: "The Eucharist, Light and Life of the New Millen-
nium". The millennium has just begun but already everyone clearly
sees how necessary for humanity and for the Church is the light of
Jesus Christ and the life he offers in the Eucharist.
The beginning is not without threatening shadows. For this reason,
it is necessary to re-present to humanity "the true light that enlightens
every man who comes into the world" (Jn 1,9), the Word Incarnate
who wished to remain with us in such a wonderful way as he does in
the Eucharist. In this sacrament, Jesus Christ is present with the gift
of himself "for the life of the world" - pro mundi vita - for the life of
our world as it is, with its lights and shadows. The Eucharist is the
sublime expression of the love of God incarnate, a permanent and
effective love.
The Eucharist
Congress focuses the Church
for a few days on her central mystery,
Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist
2. The principal goal of the Pontifical Committee for International
97 98 Eucharistic Congresses is that of "making ever better known and
loved the Lord Jesus in his Eucharistic Mystery, centre of the life of
the Church and of her mission for the salvation of the world" (Stat-
utes). One is dealing with a very elevated goal for which the Commit-
tee provides, on the one hand, promoting the regular celebration of
International Eucharistic Congresses, and, on the other, fostering the
initiatives that contribute to increase devotion to the Eucharistic Mys-
tery. With your apostolic endeavour, you fulfill the teaching of the
Second Vatican Council, that presented the Eucharist as "the source
and summit of the entire Christian life" (Lumen gentium, n. 11).
The International Eucharistic Congresses have a long history in
the Church and have assumed ever more obviously the characteristic
of the "Statio Orbis", that highlights the universal dimension of such a
celebration. In fact, the Congress is always a feast around Christ in
the Eucharist, in which the faithful, not just of a particular church or
of one nation participate, but as far as possible those coming from
many parts of the globe. It is the Church who is gathered around her
Lord and her God.
In this regard, how much more important is the zeal of the national
delegates, appointed by the authorities of the Churches of the West
and of the East. They are called to sensitize their churches to the
theme of the International Congress, above all in the period of prepa-
ration so that it may become an event that for the particular churches
may be the source of rich gifts of life and communion.
The Eucharistic Congress fosters the Sacrament
as the source of unity and communion among all
the particular churches
3. The Eucharist has the central place in the Church because it
The Eucharist
"makes the Church" come into being. As the Second Vatican Council
affirmed, with the words of the great Augustine, it is "the sacrament
of love, sign of unity, bond of charity" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n.
47). St Paul says, "Because there is one bread, we who are many, are
one body: for we all partake of the one bread" (I Cor 10,17). The 11
Eucharist is the source of unity in the Church. The Eucharistic Body
of the Lord nourishes and sustains his Mystical Body.
99 100 The Holy Eucharist expresses the fullness
The International Eucharistic Congresses contribute to this ex- of the mystery of Christs love
plicitly ecclesial finality. The fact that the faithful coming from so
many places can participate in the Eucharistic event symbolizes the
unity and communion of the Church. The national delegates can take
back to their communities the spirit of Eucharistic fervour and com-
munion that is lived in these periods of concentration on adoration,
contemplation, reflection, and sharing. The Congress, when it is lived On Holy Thursday,evening 17 April 2003 , in St Peters Basilica,
in depth, is a fire for renewing the zeal of those who animate living the Holy Father celebrated the Mass of the Lords supper. During
Eucharistic communities and of the evangelizers of those who do not Mass the Holy Father signed his new Encyclical on the Eucha-
know very well the great love that is contained in the Eucharist. rist, Ecclesia de Eucharistia. The Pope also informed the faithful
that the collection which was taken up at the Mass would be sent
Promote devotion to the Eucharist to help those suffering the consequences of war in Iraq. Here is a
translation of the Popes homily, which was given in Italian.
4. Dearly beloved Brothers and Sisters, the Eucharistic apostolate
to which you dedicate your diligent activities is certainly a reply to the 1. "He loved them to the end" (Jn 13: 1).
Lord's invitation "to put out into the deep". Persevere in it with dedi-
cation and passion, inspiring and spreading Eucharistic devotion in all On the eve of his passion and death, the Lord Jesus wanted to
its forms. In your ecclesial service, may a genuine spirit of commun- gather his Apostles around him once again to entrust his last instruc-
ion always guide you, as you foster an effective collaboration be- tions to them and to give them the supreme witness of his love.
tween the Pontifical Eucharistic Committee and the National Com-
mittees. Let us also enter the "large upper room furnished and ready" (Mk
14: 15), and dispose ourselves to listen to the most intimate thoughts
I accompany these wishes with the assurance of my prayer and that he wants to confide to us; in particular, let us be ready to receive
with the Apostolic Blessing that I wholeheartedly impart to you and the act and the gift that he has prepared in view of this final meeting.
your loved ones.
Washing to feet and institution
of Eucharist express Christs love
2. So, while they are eating, Jesus rises from the table and begins
to wash the disciples' feet. At first Peter resists, then he understands

The Eucharist The Eucharist

and accepts. We too are asked to understand: the first thing the dis-
ciple must do is to prepare himself to listen to the Lord, opening his
heart to accept the initiative of his love. Only then will he be invited, in
turn, to do what the Teacher did. He too must be committed to "washing
the feet" of his brothers and sisters, expressing in gestures of mutual
service that love which is the synthesis of the whole Gospel (cf. Jn
13: 1-20).
Also during the Supper, knowing that his "hour" had now come,
Jesus blesses and breaks the bread, then gives it to the Apostles say-
ing: "This is my body"; he does the same with the cup: "This is my
blood". And he commands them: "Do this in remembrance of me" (I
Cor 11: 24.25). Truly this is the witness of love taken "to the end" (Jn
13: 1). Jesus gives himself as food to his disciples to become one with
them. Once again the "lesson" emerges that we must learn: the first
thing to do is to open our hearts to welcoming the love of Christ. It is
his initiative: it is his love that enables us, in turn, to love our brethren.
Therefore, the washing of the feet and the sacrament of the Eu-
charist: two expressions of one and the same mystery of love en-
trusted to the disciples, so that, Jesus says, "as I have done... so also
must you do" (Jn 13: 15).
Those who participate in Mass
cannot be impervious to the poor
3. "Do this in remembrance of me" (I Cor 11: 24) The "remem-
brance" the Lord left us that evening encompasses the crowning
moment of his earthly existence, the moment of his sacrifical offering
to the Father out of love for humanity. It is the "remembrance" that is
placed in the context of a supper, the paschal meal, in which Jesus
gives himself to his Apostles under the appearances of bread and
wine, as their nourishment on the journey to the heavenly homeland.
Mysterium fidei! This is what the celebrant proclaims after saying
the words of the consecration. And the liturgical assembly responds,
The Eucharist
joyfully expressing its faith and adherence filled with hope. The Eu-
charist is a truly great mystery! A mystery "incomprehensible" to the
human mind, but so full of light to the eyes of faith! The Table of the
Lord in the simplicity of the Eucharistic symbols - the shared bread
and wine - are also revealed as the table of concrete brotherhood.
101 102 The message that radiates from them is too clear to be missed: those
who take part in the Eucharistic Celebration cannot remain impervi-
ous to the expectations of the poor and needy.
New Encyclical on Eucharist
for greater attention to this sacrament
4. It is precisely in this prospective that I would like the collection
taken during this Celebration to go to alleviate the urgent needs of all
those in Iraq who are suffering the consequences of the war. A heart
that has known the love of the Lord opens spontaneously to charity
for his brethren.
"O sacrum convivium, in quo Christus sumitur".
We are all invited this evening, until well on into the night, to cel-
ebrate and adore the Lord who made himself food for us pilgrims in
time, offering to us his flesh and his blood.
The Eucharist is a great gift for the Church and for the world. To
ensure that ever deeper attention be paid to the Sacrament of the
Eucharist, I wanted to offer the entire Community of believers an
Encyclical, whose central theme is the Eucharistic Mystery: Ecclesia
de Eucharistia. I will shortly have the joy of signing it during this
Celebration that commemorates the Last Supper, when Jesus gave
himself to us as the supreme testimony of love. From this moment I
entrust it in the first place to priests, so that, in turn, they may dissemi-
nate it for the benefit of the entire Christian people.
The Eucharist
Our Lady, help us live the Eucharist
in the sporot of the Magnificat
5. Adoro te devote, latens Deitas! We adore you, O wonderful
Sacrament of the presence of the One who loved his own "to the
end". We thank you, O Lord, who edifies, gathers together and gives
life to the Church.
O divine Eucharist, flame of Christ's love that burns on the altar of
the world, make the Church, comforted by you, ever more caring in
wiping away the tears of the suffering and in sustaining the efforts of
all who yearn for justice and peace.
And you, Mary, "Eucharistic" Woman who offered your virginal
womb for the incarnation of the Word of God, help us to live the
Eucharistic Mystery in the spirit of the "Magnificat". May our lives be
a never-ending praise of the Almighty who concealed himself be-
neath the humility of the Eucharistic signs.
Adoro te devote, latens Deitas...
Adoro te... adiuva me!
(Mass of the Lords Supper, Holy Thursday, 17 April 2003)
The Eucharist
12
103 104
Do this in remembrance of me
The power of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist makes true love
possible
On Holy Thursday evening,8April 2004, the Holy Father presided
at the concelebration of the Mass of the Lords Supper in St Peters
Basilica. The Pope focused in his Homily on Christs love for
humanity, the fundamental loving service that he rendered with
his passion and his death, by which he freed all people from sin and
revealed the profound meaning of the new commandment that he
entrusted to the Apostles: to love one another as he loved them.
1. "He loved them to the end" (Jn 13: 1).
Before celebrating the last Passover with his disciples, Jesus
washed their feet. With an act that was normally done by a servant,
he wanted to impress upon the Apostles' minds a sense of what was
about to take place.
Indeed, his passion and death constitute the fundamental loving
service through which the Son of God set humanity free from sin. At
the same time, Christ's passion and death reveal the profound meaning
of the new commandment that he entrusted to the Apostles: "even as
I have loved you, that you also love one another" (Jn 13: 34).
The Eucharist
Remember Christ
by charitable service to others
2. "Do this in remembrance of me" (I Cor 11: 24, 25), he said
twice as he distributed the bread that had become his Body and the
wine that had become his Blood. "I have given you an example, that
you also should do as I have done to you (Jn 13: 15), he had said a
little earlier after washing the Apostles' feet. Christians, therefore,
know that they must "remember" their Teacher by the reciprocal
charitable service of "washing one another's feet". In particular, they
know that they should remember Jesus by reliving the "memorial" of
the Supper with the bread and wine consecrated by the minister who
repeats over them the words which Christ spoke on that occasion.
This is what began to shape the Christian community from the
outset, as we have heard Paul testify: "As often as you eat this bread
and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (I
Cor 11: 26).
To abide in Christs love,
we must be nourished with his Body
3. The Eucharist is therefore the memorial in the full sense: the
bread and the wine, through the action of the Holy Spirit, truly become
the Body and Blood of Christ, who gives himself to be the food of
men and women on their earthly pilgrimage.
The same logic of love presides at the Incarnation of the Word in
Mary's womb, and at his becoming present in the Eucharist. It is
"agape", charity, love in its beautiful, pure sense. Jesus insistently asked
his disciples to abide in this love of his (cf. Jn 15: 9).
To stay faithful to this mandate, to abide in him like branches joined
to the vine and to love as he loved, it is necessary to be nourished with
his Body and his Blood. In telling the Apostles: "Do this in memory of
me", the Lord bound the Church to the living memorial of his Passover.
Although he was the only Priest of the New Covenant, he wanted
The Eucharist
and needed to have human beings who, consecrated by the Holy
Spirit, would act in intimate union with him by distributing the food of
life.
Priesthood and Eucharist are
born together from Christs Heart
105 106
4. Therefore, while we fix our gaze on Christ who institutes the
Eucharist, we become newly aware of the importance of priests in
the Church and of their bond with the sacrament of the Eucharist. In
the Letter I wrote to Priests for this Holy Thursday, I wanted to
repeat that the gift and mystery is the Sacrament of the Altar, the gift
and mystery is the Priesthood, and that both sprang from the Heart of
Christ during the Last Supper.
Only a Church in love with the Eucharist brings forth, in turn,
many holy priestly vocations. And she does so through prayer and the
witness of holiness, offered especially for the new generations.
Rediscover that Christian life is
bound to the mystery of the faith
5. At the school of Mary, "the woman of the Eucharist", let us
adore Jesus truly present in the humble signs of the bread and the
wine. Let us implore him never to cease calling priests after his own
Heart to the service of the Altar.
Let us ask the Lord never to let the People of God lack the Bread
that sustains them throughout the earthly pilgrimage. May the Blessed
Virgin help us rediscover with wonder that the whole of Christian life
is linked to the mysterium fidei which we are celebrating solemnly
this evening.
The Eucharist
Part - IV
The Sacrament of the Eucharist
1322 The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those
who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism
and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate
with the whole community in the Lords own sacrifice by means of
the Eucharist.
1323 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, a 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.133
1 creation, redemption, and sanctification.
The Eucharist - source
and summit of ecclesial life
1324 The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian
134
life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries
The Eucharist
and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are
oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole
spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.135
1325 The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause
of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of
107 108 God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both
of Gods action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship
men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit.136
1326 Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite
ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when
God will be all in all.137
1327 In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our
faith: Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist
in turn confirms our way of thinking.138
2
What is this sacrament called ?
1328 The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed
in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects
of it. It is called:
Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The
Greek words eucharistein 139 and eulogein 140 recall the Jewish
blessings that proclaim - especially during a meal - Gods works:
1329 The Lords Supper, because of its connection with the
supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion
and because it anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the
heavenly Jerusalem.141 Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this
rite, part of a Jewish meat when as master of the table he blessed
The Eucharist
and distributed the bread,142 above all at the Last Supper.143 It is by
this action that his disciples will recognize him after his Resurrection,144
and it is this expression that the first Christians will use to designate
their Eucharistic assemblies;145 by doing so they signified that all who
eat the one broken bread, Christ, enter into communion with him and
form but one body in him.146
The Eucharistic assembly (synaxis), because the Eucharist is
celebrated amid the assembly of the faithful, the visible expression of
the Church.147
1330 The memorial of the Lords Passion and Resurrection.
The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice
of Christ the Savior and includes the Churchs offering. The terms
holy sacrifice of the Mass, sacrifice of praise, spiritual
sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used,148 since it completes
and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.
The Holy and Divine Liturgy, because the Churchs whole
liturgy finds its center and most intense expression in the celebration
of this sacrament; in the same sense we also call its celebration the
Sacred Mysteries. We speak of the Most Blessed Sacrament
because it is the Sacrament of sacraments. The Eucharistic species
reserved in the tabernacle are designated by this same name.
1331 Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite
ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to
form a single body.149 We also call it: the holy things (ta hagia;
sancta)150 - the first meaning of the phrase communion of saints in
the Apostles Creed - the bread of angels, bread from heaven,
medicine of immortality,151 viaticum. . . .
1332 Holy Mass (Missa), because the liturgy in which the
mystery of salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth
(missio) of the faithful, so that they may fulfill Gods will in their daily
lives.
The Eucharist
3
The Eucharist
in the economy of salvation
109 110 The signs of bread and wine
1333 At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread
and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy
Spirit, become Christs Body and Blood. Faithful to the Lords
command the Church continues to do, in his memory and until his
glorious return, what he did on the eve of his Passion: He took bread.
. . . He took the cup filled with wine. . . . The signs of bread and
wine become, in a way surpassing understanding, the Body and Blood
of Christ; they continue also to signify the goodness of creation. Thus
in the Offertory we give thanks to the Creator for bread and wine,152
fruit of the work of human hands, but above all as fruit of the
earth and of the vine - gifts of the Creator. The Church sees in
the gesture of the king-priest Melchizedek, who brought out bread
and wine, a prefiguring of her own offering.153
1334 In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in
sacrifice among the first fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful
acknowledgment to the Creator. But they also received a new
significance in the context of the Exodus: the unleavened bread that
Israel eats every year at Passover commemorates the haste of the
departure that liberated them from Egypt; the remembrance of the
manna in the desert will always recall to Israel that it lives by the
bread of the Word of God;154 their daily bread is the fruit of the
promised land, the pledge of Gods faithfulness to his promises. The
cup of blessing155 at the end of the Jewish Passover meal adds to
the festive joy of wine an eschatological dimension: the messianic
expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. When Jesus instituted the
Eucharist, he gave a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of
the bread and the cup.
The Eucharist
 1335 The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the
Lord says the blessing, breaks and distributes the loaves through his
disciples to feed the multitude, prefigure the superabundance of this
unique bread of his Eucharist.156 The sign of water turned into wine
at Cana already announces the Hour of Jesus glorification. It makes
manifest the fulfillment of the wedding feast in the Fathers kingdom,
where the faithful will drink the new wine that has become the Blood
of Christ.157
1336 The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the
disciples, just as the announcement of the Passion scandalized them:
This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?158 The Eucharist and the
Cross are stumbling blocks. It is the same mystery and it never ceases
to be an occasion of division. Will you also go away?:159 the Lords
question echoes through the ages, as a loving invitation to discover
that only he has the words of eternal life160 and that to receive in
faith the gift of his Eucharist is to receive the Lord himself.
The institution of the Eucharist
1337 The Lord, having loved those who were his own, loved
them to the end. Knowing that the hour had come to leave this world
and return to the Father, in the course of a meal he washed their feet
and gave them the commandment of love.161 In order to leave them
a pledge of this love, in order never to depart from his own and to
make them sharers in his Passover, he instituted the Eucharist as the
memorial of his death and Resurrection, and commanded his apostles
to celebrate it until his return; thereby he constituted them priests of
the New Testament.162
1338 The three synoptic Gospels and St. Paul have handed on
to us the account of the institution of the Eucharist; St. John, for his
part, reports the words of Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum that
prepare for the institution of the Eucharist: Christ calls himself the
bread of life, come down from heaven.163
1339 Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had
announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:
The Eucharist
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover
lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go
and prepare the passover meal for us, that we may eat it. . . . They
went . . . and prepared the passover. And when the hour came, he
sat at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, I have
111 112 earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; for I
tell you I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of
God.. . . . And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he
broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given
for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise the cup after
supper, saying, This cup which is poured out for you is the New
Covenant in my blood.164
1340 By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the
course of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its
definitive meaning. Jesus passing over to his father by his death and
Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Supper and
celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and
anticipates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the
kingdom.
Do this in memory of me
1341 The command of Jesus to repeat his actions and words
until he comes does not only ask us to remember Jesus and what
he did. It is directed at the liturgical celebration, by the apostles and
their successors, of the memorial of Christ, of his life, of his death, of
his Resurrection, and of his intercession in the presence of the
Father.165
1342 From the beginning the Church has been faithful to the
Lords command. Of the Church of Jerusalem it is written:
They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. . . . Day by day,
attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they
partook of food with glad and generous hearts.166
1343 It was above all on the first day of the week, Sunday,
The Eucharist
the day of Jesus resurrection, that the Christians met to break
bread.167 From that time on down to our own day the celebration of
the Eucharist has been continued so that today we encounter it
everywhere in the Church with the same fundamental structure. It
remains the center of the Churchs life.
1344 Thus from celebration to celebration, as they proclaim the
Paschal mystery of Jesus until he comes, the pilgrim People of
God advances, following the narrow way of the cross,168 toward
the heavenly banquet, when all the elect will be seated at the table of
the kingdom.
4 present give voice to an acclamation by saying: Amen.
The liturgical celebration
of the Eucharist
The Mass of all ages
1345 As early as the second century we have the witness of St.
Justin Martyr for the basic lines of the order of the Eucharistic
celebration. They have stayed the same until our own day for all the
great liturgical families. St. Justin wrote to the pagan emperor
Antoninus Pius (138-161) around the year 155, explaining what
Christians did:
On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city
or country gather in the same place.
The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets
are read, as much as time permits.
When the reader has finished, he who presides over those
gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful
things.
Then we all rise together and offer prayers* for ourselves . .
.and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found
The Eucharist
righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments,
so as to obtain eternal salvation.
When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.
Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed
together to him who presides over the brethren.
113 114
He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the
universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for
a considerable time he gives thanks (in Greek: eucharistian) that
we have been judged worthy of these gifts.
When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all
When he who presides has given thanks and the people have
responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the
eucharisted bread, wine and water and take them to those who are
absent. 169
1346 The liturgy of the Eucharist unfolds according to a
fundamental structure which has been preserved throughout the
centuries down to our own day. It displays two great parts that form
a fundamental unity: - the gathering, the liturgy of the Word, with
readings, homily and general intercessions; - the liturgy of the
Eucharist, with the presentation of the bread and wine, the
consecratory thanksgiving, and communion.
The liturgy of the Word and liturgy of the Eucharist together
form one single act of worship;170 the Eucharistic table set for us is
the table both of the Word of God and of the Body of the Lord.171
1347 Is this not the same movement as the Paschal meal of the
risen Jesus with his disciples? Walking with them he explained the
Scriptures to them; sitting with them at table he took bread, blessed
and broke it, and gave it to them.172
The movement of the celebration
1348 All gather together. Christians come together in one place
The Eucharist
for the Eucharistic assembly. At its head is Christ himself, the principal
agent of the Eucharist. He is high priest of the New Covenant; it is
he himself who presides invisibly over every Eucharistic celebration.
It is in representing him that the bishop or priest acting in the person
of Christ the head (in persona Christi capitis) presides over the
assembly, speaks after the readings, receives the offerings, and says
the Eucharistic Prayer. All have their own active parts to play in the
celebration, each in his own way: readers, those who bring up the
offerings, those who give communion, and the whole people whose
Amen manifests their participation.
1349 The Liturgy of the Word includes the writings of the
prophets, that is, the Old Testament, and the memoirs of the
apostles (their letters and the Gospels). After the homily, which is
an exhortation to accept this Word as what it truly is, the Word of
God,173 and to put it into practice, come the intercessions for all men,
according to the Apostles words: I urge that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings, and
all who are in high positions.174
1350 The presentation of the offerings (the Offertory). Then,
sometimes in procession, the bread and wine are brought to the altar;
they will be offered by the priest in the name of Christ in the
Eucharistic sacrifice in which they will become his body and blood. It
is the very action of Christ at the Last Supper - taking the bread and
a cup. The Church alone offers this pure oblation to the Creator,
when she offers what comes forth from his creation with
thanksgiving.175 The presentation of the offerings at the altar takes
up the gesture of Melchizedek and commits the Creators gifts into
the hands of Christ who, in his sacrifice, brings to perfection all human
attempts to offer sacrifices.
1351 From the very beginning Christians have brought, along
with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in
need. This custom of the collection, ever appropriate, is inspired by
the example of Christ who became poor to make us rich:76
Those who are well off, and who are also willing, give as each
The Eucharist
chooses. What is gathered is given to him who presides to assist
orphans and widows, those whom illness or any other cause has
deprived of resources, prisoners, immigrants and, in a word, all who
are in need.177
1352 The anaphora: with the Eucharistic Prayer - the prayer
115 116 of thanksgiving and consecration - we come to the heart and summit
of the celebration:
In the preface, the Church gives thanks to the Father, through
Christ, in the Holy Spirit, for all his works: creation, redemption, and
sanctification. The whole community thus joins in the unending praise
that the Church in heaven, the angels and all the saints, sing to the
thrice-holy God.
1353 In the epiclesis, the Church asks the Father to send his
Holy Spirit (or the power of his blessing178) on the bread and wine, so
that by his power they may become the body and blood of Jesus
Christ and so that those who take part in the Eucharist may be one
body and one spirit (some liturgical traditions put the epiclesis after
the anamnesis).
In the institution narrative, the power of the words and the
action of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally
present under the species of bread and wine Christs body and blood,
his sacrifice offered on the cross once for all.
1354 In the anamnesis that follows, the Church calls to mind
the Passion, resurrection, and glorious return of Christ Jesus; she
presents to the Father the offering of his Son which reconciles us
with him.
In the intercessions, the Church indicates that the Eucharist is
celebrated in communion with the whole Church in heaven and on
earth, the living and the dead, and in communion with the pastors of
the Church, the Pope, the diocesan bishop, his presbyterium and his
deacons, and all the bishops of the whole world together with their
Churches.
The Eucharist
 1355 In the communion, preceded by the Lords prayer and the
breaking of the bread, the faithful receive the bread of heaven and
the cup of salvation, the body and blood of Christ who offered
himself for the life of the world:179
Because this bread and wine have been made Eucharist
(eucharisted, according to an ancient expression), we call this 117
food Eucharist, and no one may take part in it unless he believes that
what we teach is true, has received baptism for the forgiveness of
sins and new birth, and lives in keeping with what Christ taught.180
5 redemption, and sanctification. Eucharist means first of all
The sacramental sacrifice
thanksgiving, memorial, presence
1356 If from the beginning Christians have celebrated the
Eucharist and in a form whose substance has not changed despite
the great diversity of times and liturgies, it is because we know
ourselves to be bound by the command the Lord gave on the eve of
his Passion: Do this in remembrance of me.181
1357 We carry out this command of the Lord by celebrating the
memorial of his sacrifice. In so doing, we offer to the Father what
he has himself given us: the gifts of his creation, bread and wine
which, by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the words of Christ,
have become the body and blood of Christ. Christ is thus really and
mysteriously made present.
1358 We must therefore consider the Eucharist as: - thanksgiving
and praise to the Father;
- the sacrificial memorial of Christ and his Body;
- the presence of Christ by the power of his word and of his
Spirit.
The Eucharist
Thanksgiving and praise to the Father
1359 The Eucharist, the sacrament of our salvation accomplished
by Christ on the cross, is also a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for
the work of creation. In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of creation
loved by God is presented to the Father through the death and the
118 Resurrection of Christ. Through Christ the Church can offer the
sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for all that God has made good,
beautiful, and just in creation and in humanity.
1360 The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father,
a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all
his benefits, for all that he has accomplished through creation,
thanksgiving.
1361 The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of praise by which the
Church sings the glory of God in the name of all creation. This sacrifice
of praise is possible only through Christ: he unites the faithful to his
person, to his praise, and to his intercession, so that the sacrifice of
praise to the Father is offered through Christ and with him, to be
accepted in him.
The sacrificial memorial of Christ
and of his Body, the Church
1362 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christs Passover, the
making present and the sacramental offering of his unique sacrifice,
in the liturgy of the Church which is his Body. In all the Eucharistic
Prayers we find after the words of institution a prayer called the
anamnesis or memorial.
1363 In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely
the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty
works wrought by God for men.182 In the liturgical celebration of
these events, they become in a certain way present and real. This is
how Israel understands its liberation from Egypt: every time Passover
is celebrated, the Exodus events are made present to the memory of
believers so that they may conform their lives to them.
The Eucharist
 1364 In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new
meaning. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she
commemorates Christs Passover, and it is made present the sacrifice
Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present.183 As
often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which Christ our Pasch has
been sacrificed is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption
is carried out.184
1365 Because it is the memorial of Christs Passover, the
Eucharist is also a sacrifice. The sacrificial character of the Eucharist
is manifested in the very words of institution: This is my body which
is given for you and This cup which is poured out for you is the
New Covenant in my blood.185 In the Eucharist Christ gives us the
very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which
he poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.186
1366 The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents
(makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial
and because it applies its fruit:
[Christ], our Lord and God, was once and for all to offer himself
to God the Father by his death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish
there an everlasting redemption. But because his priesthood was not
to end with his death, at the Last Supper on the night when he was
betrayed, [he wanted] to leave to his beloved spouse the Church a
visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody
sacrifice which he was to accomplish once for all on the cross would
be re-presented, its memory perpetuated until the end of the world,
and its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we
daily commit.187
1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist
are one single sacrifice: The victim is one and the same: the same
now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself
on the cross; only the manner of offering is different. And since in
this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ
who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the
The Eucharist
cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner. . . this sacrifice
is truly propitiatory.188
1368 The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of the Church. The
Church which is the Body of Christ participates in the offering of her
Head. With him, she herself is offered whole and entire. She unites
119 120 herself to his intercession with the Father for all men. In the Eucharist
the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of
his Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and
work, are united with those of Christ and with his total offering, and
so acquire a new value. Christs sacrifice present on the altar makes
it possible for all generations of Christians to be united with his offering.
In the catacombs the Church is often represented as a woman
in prayer, arms outstretched in the praying position. Like Christ who
stretched out his arms on the cross, through him, with him, and in
him, she offers herself and intercedes for all men.
1369 The whole Church is united with the offering and
intercession of Christ. Since he has the ministry of Peter in the
Church, the Pope is associated with every celebration of the Eucharist,
wherein he is named as the sign and servant of the unity of the universal
Church. The bishop of the place is always responsible for the
Eucharist, even when a priest presides; the bishops name is
mentioned to signify his presidency over the particular Church, in the
midst of his presbyterium and with the assistance of deacons. The
community intercedes also for all ministers who, for it and with it,
offer the Eucharistic sacrifice:
Let only that Eucharist be regarded as legitimate, which is
celebrated under [the presidency of] the bishop or him to whom he
has entrusted it.189
Through the ministry of priests the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful
is completed in union with the sacrifice of Christ the only Mediator,
which in the Eucharist is offered through the priests hands in the
name of the whole Church in an unbloody and sacramental manner
until the Lord himself comes.190
The Eucharist
 1370 To the offering of Christ are united not only the members
still here on earth, but also those already in the glory of heaven. In
communion with and commemorating the Blessed Virgin Mary and
all the saints, the Church offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. In the
Eucharist the Church is as it were at the foot of the cross with Mary,
united with the offering and intercession of Christ.
1371 The Eucharistic sacrifice is also offered for the faithful
departed who have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified,191
so that they may be able to enter into the light and peace of Christ:
Put this body anywhere! Dont trouble yourselves about it! I
simply ask you to remember me at the Lords altar wherever you
are. 192
Then, we pray [in the anaphora] for the holy fathers and bishops
who have fallen asleep, and in general for all who have fallen asleep
before us, in the belief that it is a great benefit to the souls on whose
behalf the supplication is offered, while the holy and tremendous Victim
is present. . . . By offering to God our supplications for those who
have fallen asleep, if they have sinned, we . . . offer Christ sacrificed
for the sins of all, and so render favorable, for them and for us, the
God who loves man.193
1372 St. Augustine admirably summed up this doctrine that moves
us to an ever more complete participation in our Redeemers sacrifice
which we celebrate in the Eucharist:
This wholly redeemed city, the assembly and society of the saints,
is offered to God as a universal sacrifice by the high priest who in the
form of a slave went so far as to offer himself for us in his Passion,
to make us the Body of so great a head. . . . Such is the sacrifice of
Christians: we who are many are one Body in Christ The Church
continues to reproduce this sacrifice in the sacrament of the altar so
well-known to believers wherein it is evident to them that in what she
offers she herself is offered.194
The Eucharist
The presence of Christ by the power
of his word and the Holy Spirit
1373 Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the
dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us,
is present in many ways to his Church:195 in his word, in his Churchs
121 122 prayer, where two or three are gathered in my name,196 in the
poor, the sick, and the imprisoned,197 in the sacraments of which he is
the author, in the sacrifice of the Mass, and in the person of the
minister. But he is present . . . most especially in the Eucharistic
species. 198
1374 The mode of Christs 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 the
sacraments tend.199 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.200 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.201
1375 It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christs
body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The
Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the
efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to
bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares:
It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body
and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself.
The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their
power and grace are Gods. This is my body, he says. This word
transforms the things offered.202
And St. Ambrose says about this conversion:
Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed, but what
The Eucharist
the blessing has consecrated. The power of the blessing prevails
over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed.
. . . Could not Christs word, which can make from nothing what did
not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is
no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their
nature.203
1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by
declaring: Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his
body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always
been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now
declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there
takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the
substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance
of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy
Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.204
1377 The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment
of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species
subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and
whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking
of the bread does not divide Christ.205
1378 Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we
express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of
bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply
as a sign of adoration of the Lord. The Catholic Church has always
offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of
adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the
consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn
veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession.206
1379 The tabernacle was first intended for the reservation of
the Eucharist in a worthy place so that it could be brought to the sick
and those absent outside of Mass. As faith in the real presence of
Christ in his Eucharist deepened, the Church became conscious of
the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the
The Eucharist
Eucharistic species. It is for this reason that the tabernacle should be
located in an especially worthy place in the church and should be
constructed in such a way that it emphasizes and manifests the truth
of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
1380 It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain
123 124 present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to
take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give
us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on
the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the love
with which he loved us to the end,207 even to the giving of his life.
In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as
the one who loved us and gave himself up for us,208 and he remains
under signs that express and communicate this love:
The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic
worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse
the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith,
and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of
the world. Let our adoration never cease.209
1381 That in this sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his
true Blood is something that cannot be apprehended by the senses,
says St. Thomas, but only by faith, which relies on divine authority.
For this reason, in a commentary on Luke 22:19 (This is my body
which is given for you.), St. Cyril says: Do not doubt whether this is
true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since he
is the truth, he cannot lie.210
Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.
Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived;
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What Gods Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth himself speaks truly or theres nothing true.211
The Eucharist
 6 eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life
The Paschal Banquet
1382 The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial
memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the
sacred banquet of communion with the Lords body and blood. But
the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward
the intimate union of the faithful with Christ through communion. To
receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has offered
himself for us.
1383 The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the
celebration of the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same
mystery: the altar of the sacrifice and the table of the Lord. This is all
the more so since the Christian altar is the symbol of Christ himself,
present in the midst of the assembly of his faithful, both as the victim
offered for our reconciliation and as food from heaven who is giving
himself to us. For what is the altar of Christ if not the image of the
Body of Christ?212 asks St. Ambrose. He says elsewhere, The
altar represents the body [of Christ] and the Body of Christ is on the
altar.213 The liturgy expresses this unity of sacrifice and communion
in many prayers. Thus the Roman Church prays in its anaphora:
We entreat you, almighty God,
that by the hands of your holy Angel
this offering may be borne to your altar in heaven
in the sight of your divine majesty,
so that as we receive in communion at this altar
the most holy Body and Blood of your Son,
we may be filled with every heavenly blessing and grace.214
Take this and eat it, all of you: communion
1384 The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive
him in the sacrament of the Eucharist: Truly, I say to you, unless you
The Eucharist
in you.215
1385 To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves
for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our
conscience: Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of
125 126 the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body
and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the
bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without
discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.216 Anyone
conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation
before coming to communion.
1386 Before so great a sacrament, the faithful can only echo
humbly and with ardent faith the words of the Centurion: Domine,
non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum, sed tantum dic verbo,
et sanabitur anima mea (Lord, I am not worthy that you should
enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul will be
healed.).217 And in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom the
faithful pray in the same spirit:
O Son of God, bring me into communion today with your mystical
supper. I shall not tell your enemies the secret, nor kiss you with
Judas kiss. But like the good thief I cry, Jesus, remember me when
you come into your kingdom.
1387 To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament, the
faithful should observe the fast required in their Church.218 Bodily
demeanor (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the respect, solemnity,
and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest.
1388 It is in keeping with the very meaning of the Eucharist that
the faithful, if they have the required dispositions, NT receive
communion when they participate in the Mass.219 As the Second
Vatican Council says: That more perfect form of participation in the
Mass whereby the faithful, after the priests communion, receive the
Lords Body from the same sacrifice, is warmly recommended.220
The Eucharist
 1389 The Church obliges the faithful to take part in the Divine
Liturgy on Sundays and feast days and, prepared by the sacrament
of Reconciliation, to receive the Eucharist at least once a year, if
possible during the Easter season. 221 But the Church strongly
encourages the faithful to receive the holy Eucharist on Sundays and
feast days, or more often still, even daily.
1390 Since Christ is sacramentally present under each of the
species, communion under the species of bread alone makes it possible
to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace. For pastoral reasons this
manner of receiving communion has been legitimately established as
the most common form in the Latin rite. But the sign of communion
is more complete when given under both kinds, since in that form the
sign of the Eucharistic meal appears more clearly.222 This is the
usual form of receiving communion in the Eastern rites.
The fruits of Holy Communion
1391 Holy Communion augments our union with Christ. The
principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an
intimate union with Christ Jesus. Indeed, the Lord said: He who
eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.223 Life
in Christ has its foundation in the Eucharistic banquet: As the living
Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me
will live because of me.224
On the feasts of the Lord, when the faithful receive the Body of
the Son, they proclaim to one another the Good News that the first
fruits of life have been given, as when the angel said to Mary
Magdalene, Christ is risen! Now too are life and resurrection
conferred on whoever receives Christ.225
1392 What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy
Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion
with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh given life and giving life
through the Holy Spirit,226 preserves, increases, and renews the life
of grace received at Baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the
nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage
until the moment of death, when it will be given to us as viaticum.
The Eucharist
1393 Holy Communion separates us from sin. The body of
Christ we receive in Holy Communion is given up for us, and the
blood we drink shed for the many for the forgiveness of sins. For
this reason the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the
same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future
127 128 sins:
For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim
the death of the Lord. If we proclaim the Lords death, we proclaim
the forgiveness of sins. If, as often as his blood is poured out, it is
poured for the forgiveness of sins, I should always receive it, so that
it may always forgive my sins. Because I always sin, I should always
have a remedy.227
1394 As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the
Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in
daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins.228 By giving
himself to us Christ revives our love and enables us to break our
disordered attachments to creatures and root ourselves in him:
Since Christ died for us out of love, when we celebrate the
memorial of his death at the moment of sacrifice we ask that love
may be granted to us by the coming of the Holy Spirit. We humbly
pray that in the strength of this love by which Christ willed to die for
us, we, by receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, may be able to consider
the world as crucified for us, and to be ourselves as crucified to the
world. . . . Having received the gift of love, let us die to sin and live
for God.229
1395 By the same charity that it enkindles in us, the Eucharist
preserves us from future mortal sins. The more we share the life of
Christ and progress in his friendship, the more difficult it is to break
away from him by mortal sin. The Eucharist is not ordered to the
forgiveness of mortal sins - that is proper to the sacrament of
Reconciliation. The Eucharist is properly the sacrament of those who
are in full communion with the Church.
The Eucharist
 1396 The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes
the Church. Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely
to Christ. Through it Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body
- the Church. Communion renews, strengthens, and deepens this
incorporation into the Church, already achieved by Baptism. In
Baptism we have been called to form but one body.230 The Eucharist
fulfills this call: 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? Because there is one bread,
we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread:231
If you are the body and members of Christ, then it is your
sacrament that is placed on the table of the Lord; it is your sacrament
that you receive. To that which you are you respond Amen (yes,
it is true!) and by responding to it you assent to it. For you hear the
words, the Body of Christ and respond Amen. Be then a member
of the Body of Christ that your Amen may be true.232
1397 The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in
truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize
Christ in the poorest, his brethren:
You have tasted the Blood of the Lord, yet you do not recognize
your brother,. . . . You dishonor this table when you do not judge
worthy of sharing your food someone judged worthy to take part in
this meal. . . . God freed you from all your sins and invited you here,
but you have not become more merciful.233
1398 The Eucharist and the unity of Christians. Before the
greatness of this mystery St. Augustine exclaims, O sacrament of
devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!234 The more painful
the experience of the divisions in the Church which break the common
participation in the table of the Lord, the more urgent are our prayers
to the Lord that the time of complete unity among all who believe in
him may return.
1399 The Eastern churches that are not in full communion with
the Catholic Church celebrate the Eucharist with great love. These
The Eucharist
Churches, although separated from us, yet possess true sacraments,
above all - by apostolic succession - the priesthood and the Eucharist,
whereby they are still joined to us in closest intimacy. A certain
communion in sacris, and so in the Eucharist, given suitable
circumstances and the approval of Church authority, is not merely
129 130 possible but is encouraged.235
1400 Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and
separated from the Catholic Church, have not preserved the proper
reality of the Eucharistic mystery in its fullness, especially because
of the absence of the sacrament of Holy Orders.236 It is for this
reason that, for the Catholic Church, Eucharistic intercommunion with
these communities is not possible. However these ecclesial
communities, when they commemorate the Lords death and
resurrection in the Holy Supper . . . profess that it signifies life in
communion with Christ and await his coming in glory.237
1401 When, in the Ordinarys judgment, a grave necessity arises,
Catholic ministers may give the sacraments of Eucharist, Penance,
and Anointing of the Sick to other Christians not in full communion
with the Catholic Church, who ask for them of their own will, provided
they give evidence of holding the Catholic faith regarding these
sacraments and possess the required dispositions.238
7
The Eucharist -
Pledge of the glory to come
1402 In an ancient prayer the Church acclaims the mystery of
the Eucharist: O sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food,
the memory of his Passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace
and a pledge of the life to come is given to us. If the Eucharist is the
memorial of the Passover of the Lord Jesus, if by our communion at
the altar we are filled with every heavenly blessing and grace,239
then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory.
The Eucharist
 1403 At the Last Supper the Lord himself directed his disciples
attention toward the fulfillment of the Passover in the kingdom of
God: I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that
day when I drink it new with you in my Fathers kingdom.240
Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist she remembers this
promise and turns her gaze to him who is to come. In her prayer
she calls for his coming: Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!241
May your grace come and this world pass away!242
1404 The Church knows that the Lord comes even now in his
Eucharist and that he is there in our midst. However, his presence is
veiled. Therefore we celebrate the Eucharist awaiting the blessed
hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ,243 asking to share
in your glory when every tear will be wiped away. On that day we
shall see you, our God, as you are. We shall become like you and
praise you for ever through Christ our Lord.244
1405 There is no surer pledge or dearer sign of this great hope
in the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells,245
than the Eucharist. Every time this mystery is celebrated, the work
of our redemption is carried on and we break the one bread that
provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the
food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ.246
In brief
1406 Jesus said: I am the living bread that came down from
heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who
eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in
me, and I in him (Jn 6:51, 54, 56).
1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Churchs
life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with
his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the
cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation
on his Body which is the Church.
The Eucharist
1408 The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the
proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for
all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the consecration of bread
and wine; and participation in the liturgical banquet by receiving the
Lords body and blood. These elements constitute one single act of
131 132 worship.
1409 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christs Passover, that
is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and
resurrection of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action.
1410 It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New
Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the
Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, really present under
the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic
sacrifice.
1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist
and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body
and Blood of the Lord.
1412 The essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat
bread and grape wine, on which the blessing of the Holy Spirit is
invoked and the priest pronounces the words of consecration spoken
by Jesus during the Last Supper: This is my body which will be
given up for you. . . . This is the cup of my blood. . . .
1413 By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread
and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under
the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and
glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body
and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (cf. Council of Trent: DS
1640; 1651).
1414 As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for
the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal
benefits from God.
1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic
The Eucharist
communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having 140 Cf. Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22.
sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received 141 Cf. 1 Cor 11:20; Rev 19:9.
142 Cf. Mt 14:19; 15:36; Mk 8:6, 19.
absolution in the sacrament of penance. 143 Cf. Mt 26:26; 1 Cor 11:24.
1416 Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases 144 Cf. Lk 24:13-35.
the communicants union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and 145 Cf. Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7, 11.
146 Cf. 1 Cor 10:16-17.
preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament 133 134 147 Cf. 1 Cor 11:17-34.
strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, 148 Heb 13:15; cf. 1 Pet 25; Ps 116:13, 17; Mal 1:11.
it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of 149 Cf. 1 Cor 1016-17.
Christ. 150 Apostolic Constitutions 8, 13,12 PG 1,1108; Didache 9, 5; 10:6: SCh:
248,176- 178.
1417 The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive 151 St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Eph. 20, 2 SCh 10, 76.
Holy Communion when they participate in the celebration of the 152 Cf. Ps 104:13-15.
Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year. 153 Gen 14:18; cf. Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 95.
154 Cf. Deut 8:3.
1418 Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the 155 1 Cor 10:16.
altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. To visit the 156 Cf. Mt 14:13-21; 15:32-39.
Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, 157 Cf. Jn 2:11; Mk 14:25.
158 Jn 6:60.
and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord (Paul VI, MF 66). 159 Jn 6:67.
1419 Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives 160 In 6:68.
161 Cf. Jn 13:1-17; 34-35.
us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the
162 Council of Trent (1562): DS 1740.
Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along 163 Cf. Jn 6.
the pilgrimage of this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us 164 Lk 22:7-20; Cf. Mt 26:17-29; Mk 14:12-25; 1 Cor 11:23-26.
even now to the Church in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all 165 Cf. 2 Cor 11:26.
the saints. 166 Acts 2:42, 46.
167 Acts 20:7.
The relevant catecheses on the Eucharist 168 AG 1; cf. 1 Cor 11:26.
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church from Vatican Website 169 St. Justin, Apol. 1, 65-67: PG 6, 428-429; the text before the asterisk (*)
is from chap. 67.
170 SC 56.
Notes 171 Cf. DV 21.
172 Cf. Lk 24:13-35.
133 SC 47. 173 Cf. 1 Thess 2:13.
134 LG 11. 174 1 Tim 2:1-2.
135 PO 5. 175 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4, 18, 4: PG 7/1, 1027; cf. Mal 1:11.
136 Congregation of Rites, instruction, Eucharisticum mysterium, 6. 176 Cf. 1 Cor 16:1; 2 Cor 8:9.
137 Cf. 1 Cor 15:28. 177 St. Justin, Apol. 1, 67: PG 6, 429.
138 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4, 18, 5: PG 7/l, 1028. 178 Cf. Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 90.
139 Cf. Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24.

The Eucharist The Eucharist

179 Jn 6:51. omnipotens Deus: iube haec perferri per manus sancti Angeli tui in
180 St. Justin, Apol. 1, 66,1-2: PG 6, 428. sublime altare tuum, in conspectu divinae maiestatis tuae: ut, quotquot ex
181 1 Cor 11:24-25. hac altaris participatione sacrosanctum Filii Corpus et Sanguinem
182 Cf. Ex 13:3. sumpserimus, omni benedictione caelesti et gratia repleamur.
183 Cf. Heb 7:25-27. 215 Jn 6:53.
184 LG 3; cf. 1 Cor 5:7. 216 1 Cor 11:27-29.
185 Lk 22:19-20. 217 Roman Missal, response to the invitation to communion; cf. Mt 8:8.
135 136 218 Cf. CIC, can. 919.
186 Mt 26:28.
187 Council of Trent (1562): DS 1740; cf. 1 Cor 11:23; Heb 7:24, 27. 219 Cf. CIC, can. 917; The faithful may recieve the Holy Eucharist only a
188 Council of Trent (1562) Doctrina de ss. Missae sacrificio, c. 2: DS 1743; second time on the same day [CF. Pontificia Commissio Codici luris
cf. Heb 9:14, 27. Canonici Authentice Intrepretando, Responsa ad proposita dubia, 1:AAS
189 St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Smyrn. 8:1; SCh 10, 138. 76 (1984) 7461.
190 PO 2 # 4. 220 SC 55.
191 Council of Trent (1562) DS 1743. 221 Cf. OE 15; CIC, can. 920.
192 St. Monica, before her death, to her sons, St. Augustine and his 222 GIRM 240.
brother; Conf. 9, 11, 27: PL 32, 775. 223 Jn 6:56.
193 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. myst. 5, 9. 10 PG 33, 1116-1117. 224 Jn 6:57.
194 St. Augustine, De civ Dei, 10, 6: PL 41, 283; cf. Rom 12:5. 225 Fanqith, Syriac Office of Antioch, Vol. 1, Commun., 237 a-b.
195 Rom 8:34; cf. LG 48. 226 PO 5.
196 Mt 18:20. 227 St. Ambrose, De Sacr. 4, 6, 28: PL 16, 446; cf. 1 Cor 11:26.
197 Cf. Mt 25:31-46. 228 Cf. Council of Trent (1551): DS 1638.
198 SC 7. 229 St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, Contra Fab. 28, 16-19: CCL 19A, 813-814.
199 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 73, 3c. 230 Cf. 1 Cor 12:13.
200 Council of Trent (1551): DS 1651. 231 1 Cor 10:16-17.
201 Paul VI, MF 39. 232 St. Augustine, Sermo 272: PL 38, 1247.
202 St. John Chrysostom, prod. Jud. 1:6: PG 49, 380. 233 St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in 1 Cor. 27, 4: PG 61, 229-230; cf. Mt 25:40.
203 St. Ambrose, De myst. 9, 50; 52: PL 16, 405-407. 234 St. Augustine, In Jo. ev. 26, 13: PL 35, 1613; cf. SC 47.
204 Council of Trent (1551): DS 1642; cf. Mt 26:26 ff.; Mk 14:22 ff.; Lk 22:19 235 UR 15 # 2; cf. CIC, can. 844 # 3.
ff.; 1 Cor 11:24 ff. 236 UR 22 # 3.
205 Cf. Council of Trent: DS 1641. 237 UR 22 # 3.
206 Paul VI, MF 56. 238 Cf. CIC, can. 844 # 4.
207 Jn 13:1. 239 Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 96: Supplices te rogamus.
208 Cf. Gal 2:20. 240 Mt 26:29; cf. Lk 22:18; Mk 14 25.
209 John Paul II, Dominicae cenae, 3. 241 Rev 1:4; 22 20; 1 Cor 16 22.
210 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 75, 1; cf. Paul VI, MF 18; St. Cyril of 242 Didache 10, 6: SCh 248,180.
Hopkins. 243 Roman Missal 126, embolism after the Our Father: expectantes beatam
spem et adventum Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi; cf. Titus 2:13.
211 St. Thomas Aquinas (attr.), Adoro te devote; tr. Gerard Manley 244 EP III 116: prayer for the dead.
Hopkins. 245 2 Pet 3:13.
212 St. Ambrose, De Sacr. 5, 2, 7: PL 16, 447C. 246 LG 3; St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Eph. 20, 2: SCh 10, 76.
213 St. Ambrose, De Sacr. 4, 2, 7: PL 16, 437D. NT Cf. CIC, can. 916.
214 Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 96: Supplices te rogamus,

The Eucharist The Eucharist