The Holy Eucharist

Reflection on "The Holy Eucharist"

We Catholics go for mass every Sunday or some make it a point to go each and every day. But do we feel a "sense of celebration" in partaking in this Sacrament?

Does the mass come alive to us? 

Are we worthy to receive Christ while in mortal or venial sins?

From where do we know the authenticity of the set structure that we follow nowadays in the churches? 

Read to find out more in this wonderful revelations by the Holy Spirit in this article.

Like how we Goans (people who reside in Goa, India) love our fish, curry and rice; the middle East countries love their breads to the core. From ancient times people have been making breads and giving thanks to God for it. Even the first book of the Bible speaks of the "bread" in Genesis:

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 3:19 NRSV

And Jesus in the New testament says that He is the Bread of God:

I am the bread of life. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

John 6:48‭, ‬50‭-‬51 NRSV

Now, some people still have doubts on whether Christ is really present in that small piece of bread which the priest gives us during Holy Eucharist. There answer to this is presented in the Last Supper.

the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11:23‭-‬26 NRSV

The main symbols for the Holy Eucharist hence remains the bread and wine. The command of Jesus to " Do it in remembrance of me" is given only the to His Apostles and not the disciples. And hence it is the priest who now become the ministers of this Sacrament. Hence, the church till date continues to proclaim the dead and the Resurrection of Our Lord until the second coming of Jesus.

Even Abram was blessed by Melchizedek by bringing forth bread and wine:-

And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.  He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth;  and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him one tenth of everything.

Genesis 14:18‭-‬20 NRSV

St. Paul nicely presents the effects of the receiving the Body and Blood of Christ:

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing 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 Corinthians 10:16‭-‬17 NRSV

Therefore, after we all become one body of Christ and hence none of us should condemn brethren because now we all are one in Christ. And if you condemn, you condemn the Christ in him!

Often times we see almost 99% of the congregation receiving the Holy Eucharist, but we need to really introspect our lives first if we are in a state of mortal or venial sins. During the penitential rite, the venial sins are forgiven and the faithful can receive the Eucharist. But if the person receives in a state of mortal sin, he needs to do a confession as soon as possible. But we don't really see this in our life. Just read what St. Paul has to say about this:

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.  But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

1 Corinthians 11:27‭-‬32 NRSV

And therefore we see in the book of Revelations, the angel say to John these following words:

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”

Revelation 19:9 NRSV

Do you know that during the mass, it is not only us who are present for the celebration but also the Heavens, the Angels, the suffering church (dead faithful) and we need to pray for our dear ones that they may reach heaven. Similarly, after the "I confess" and the "Lord have mercy" the priests pauses for a moment. In that time frame, we need to put forth our petitions to God and through the transformation of the Bread and wine to body and blood of Christ, even our petitions get transformed. Sometimes we might not even know what to pray for, therefore we always need to be 5-10mins early for mass and prepare ourselves. 

Firstly, bring to your mind your sins and then your petitions.

If you see, our whole liturgy is filled only with the Word of God. While the other Christians denominations, take up one Bible scripture and give their own talks on it. That is the beauty of our Catholic Church! Even during the readings from the Old testament, Psalms and Letters and other books of the New testament we sit, but we stand as a mark of respect during the Gospel reading. 

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 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. 

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 present give 

voice to an acclamation by saying: 'Amen.' 

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.

(CCC 1345)

Finally the points to reflect on:-

1) The Eucharistic celebration starts with the start of the first entrance hymn, and not after the sign of the Cross. Do I reach on time for mass?

2) If we reach late for mass, you should never receive the Holy Eucharist. Do we do that or just take it for granted?

3) By going for mass, are we doing any favor on our parents, priests or spouses. Or is it the love of God that drives us?

4) Suppose tomorrow your favorite superstar comes to visit you. Will you make him/her sit in a garbage? Or clean and tidy your house? Similarly, when the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings comes and abides in you, have you kept your heart clean?

5) After receiving the Holy Eucharist, we become the living Tabernacles of Christ. Do we speak to Him at that moment and thank Him for all the things that He has done in your life or we spend time looking at people?

Praise God!❤

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