287. Why is the Holy Eucharist the paschal banquet? (part 3 continuation)
(Comp 287 repetition) The Holy Eucharist
is the paschal banquet in as much as Christ sacramentally makes present his
Passover and gives us his Body and Blood, offered as food and drink, uniting us
to himself and to one another in his sacrifice.
“In
brief”
(CCC 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). (CCC 1409) The Eucharist is the
memorial of Christ's 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.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 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 (Cf. Council of
Trent (1551): DS 1638). 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 (St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, Contra Fab. 28, 16-19: CCL 19A, 813-814). (CCC 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.
On
reflection
(CCC 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 (Cf. 1 Cor 12:13). 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" (1 Cor 10:16-17): 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 (St. Augustine, Sermo 272: PL 38, 1247). [END]
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