Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 209 - Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 209 - Part II. When did Christ institute the Eucharist?

(Youcat answer - repeated) Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist on the evening before his death, “on the night when he was betrayed” (1 Cor 11:23), when he gathered the Apostles around him in the Upper Room in Jerusalem and celebrated the Last Supper with them.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1339) Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood: 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 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" (Lk 22:7-20; cf. Mt 26:17-29; Mk 14:12-25; 1 Cor 11:23-26).

Reflecting and meditating 

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 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.

(The next question is:  How did Christ institute the Eucharist?)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 209 - Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 209 - Part I. When did Christ institute the Eucharist?

(Youcat answer) Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist on the evening before his death, “on the night when he was betrayed” (1 Cor 11:23), when he gathered the Apostles around him in the Upper Room in Jerusalem and celebrated the Last Supper with them.   

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 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’" (SC 47). (CCC 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 (Cf. Jn 6).

Reflecting and meditating 

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 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 (Cf. Jn 13:1-17; 34-35). 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"  (Council of Trent (1562): DS 1740).  

(This question: When did Christ institute the Eucharist? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 208.

YOUCAT Question n. 208 - What is Holy Eucharist?

(Youcat answer) Holy Eucharist is the sacrament in which Jesus Christ gives his Body and Blood—himself— for us, so that we too might give ourselves to him in love and be united with him in Holy Communion. In this way we are joined with the one Body of Christ, the Church.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 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 Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist. (CCC 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’" (SC 47).   

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) After Baptism and Confirmation, the Eucharist is the third sacrament of initiation of the Catholic Church. The Eucharist is the mysterious center of all these sacraments, because the historic sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross is made present during the words of consecration in a hidden, unbloody manner. Thus the celebration of the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Second Vatican Council, Lumen gentium [LG], 11). Everything aims at this; besides this there is nothing greater that one could attain. When we eat the broken Bread, we unite ourselves with the love of Jesus, who gave his body for us on the wood of the Cross; when we drink from the chalice, we unite ourselves with him who even poured out his blood out of love for us. We did not invent this ritual. Jesus himself celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples and therein anticipated his death; he gave himself to his disciples under the signs of bread and wine and commanded them from then on, even after his death, to celebrate the Eucharist. “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24).

 (CCC Comment)

(CCC 1324) The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life" (LG 11). "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" (PO 5). (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.

(The next question is: When did Christ institute the Eucharist?)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 207

YOUCAT Question n. 207 - Who may confirm?

(Youcat answer) The sacrament of Confirmation is normally administered by the Bishop. For weighty reasons when necessary, the bishop can also delegate a priest to do it. In danger of death, any priest can administer Confirmation.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1312) The original minister of Confirmation is the bishop (Cf. LG 26). In the East, ordinarily the priest who baptizes also immediately confers Confirmation in one and the same celebration. But he does so with sacred chrism consecrated by the patriarch or the bishop, thus expressing the apostolic unity of the Church whose bonds are strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation. In the Latin Church, the same discipline applies to the Baptism of adults or to the reception into full communion with the Church of a person baptized in another Christian community that does not have valid Confirmation (Cf. CIC, Can. 883 § 2).

Reflecting and meditating 

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1313) In the Latin Rite, the ordinary minister of Confirmation is the bishop (Cf. CIC, Can. 882). If the need arises, the bishop may grant the faculty of administering Confirmation (Cf. CIC, Can. 884 § 2) to priests, although it is fitting that he confer it himself, mindful that the celebration of Confirmation has been temporally separated from Baptism for this reason. Bishops are the successors of the apostles. They have received the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The administration of this sacrament by them demonstrates clearly that its effect is to unite those who receive it more closely to the Church, to her apostolic origins, and to her mission of bearing witness to Christ. (CCC 1314) If a Christian is in danger of death, any priest should give him Confirmation (Cf. CIC, Can. 883 § 3). Indeed the Church desires that none of her children, even the youngest, should depart this world without having been perfected by the Holy Spirit with the gift of Christ's fullness.  

(The next question is: What is Holy Eucharist?)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 206 – Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 206 - Part III. Who can be confirmed, and what is required of a candidate for Confirmation?

(Youcat answer - repeated) Any Catholic Christian who has received the sacrament of Baptism and is in the “state of grace” can be admitted to Confirmation.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1311) Candidates for Confirmation, as for Baptism, fittingly seek the spiritual help of a sponsor. To emphasize the unity of the two sacraments, it is appropriate that this be one of the baptismal godparents (Cf. OC Introduction 5; 6; CIC, Can. 893 §§ 1- 2). (CCC 1319) A candidate for Confirmation who has attained the age of reason must profess the faith, be in the state of grace, have the intention of receiving the sacrament, and be prepared to assume the role of disciple and witness to Christ, both within the ecclesial community and in temporal affairs.

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) To be “in the state of grace” means not to have committed any serious sin (mortal sin). By a serious sin a person separates himself from God and can be reconciled with God only by making a good confession. A (young) Christian who is preparing for Confirmation finds himself in one of the most important phases of his life. He will do everything possible to grasp the faith with his heart and his understanding; he will pray alone and with others for the Holy Spirit; he will reconcile himself in every way with himself, with the people around him, and with God. Confession is part of this, since it brings one closer to God even if one has not committed a mortal sin.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1310) To receive Confirmation one must be in a state of grace. One should receive the sacrament of Penance in order to be cleansed for the gift of the Holy Spirit. More intense prayer should prepare one to receive the strength and graces of the Holy Spirit with docility and readiness to act  (Cf. Acts 1:14).  1310  

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