Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 210.

YOUCAT Question n. 210 - How did Christ institute the Eucharist?

(Youcat answer) “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the chalice, after supper, saying, ‘This chalice is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’ ” (1 Cor 11:23-25).

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 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" (Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 96: Supplices te rogamus), then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory.

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) This, the oldest account of the events in the Upper Room at the Last Supper, is by the apostle Paul, who was not an eyewitness himself, but rather wrote down what was being preserved as a holy mystery by the young Christian community and was being celebrated in the liturgy.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 864) "Christ, sent by the Father, is the source of the Church's whole apostolate"; thus the fruitfulness of apostolate for ordained ministers as well as for lay people clearly depends on their vital union with Christ (AA 4; cf. Jn 15:5). In keeping with their vocations, the demands of the times and the various gifts of the Holy Spirit, the apostolate assumes the most varied forms. But charity, drawn from the Eucharist above all, is always "as it were, the soul of the whole apostolate" (AA 3).  

(The next question is: How important is the Eucharist for the Church?)