294. Why is the Eucharist a “pledge of future glory”?
(Comp 294) The Eucharist is a pledge of
future glory because it fills us with every grace and heavenly blessing. It
fortifies us for our pilgrimage in this life and makes us long for eternal
life. It unites us already to Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, to
the Church in heaven and to the Blessed Virgin and all the saints. In the Eucharist,
we “break the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote
for death and the food that makes us live forever in Jesus Christ.” (Saint
Ignatius of Antioch)
“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 1407) The Eucharist is the heart
and the summit of the Church's 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.
To deepen and
explain
(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.
(CCC 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 Father's kingdom" (Mt 26:29; cf. Lk 22:18;
Mk 14 25). 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!" (Rev 1:4; 22 20; 1 Cor 16 22). "May your
grace come and this world pass away!" (Didaché
10, 6: SCh 248, 180).
On
reflection
(CCC 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" (Roman Missal 126,
embolism after the Our Father: expectantes
beatam spem et adventum Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi; cf. Titus 2:13),
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" (EP III 116: prayer for the dead). (CCC
1405) There is no surer pledge or dearer sign of this great hope in the new
heavens and new earth "in which righteousness dwells" (2 Pet 3:13),
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" (LG 3; St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Eph. 20, 2: SCh 10, 76).
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