WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST IN OUR LIFE AS CHRISTIANS?

By Rev. Fr. Stan William Ede

According to the Penny Catechism, the “Holy Eucharist”, which is one of the seven sacraments, “is the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, together with his Soul and Divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine”. The Holy Eucharist is the central Christian sacrament and is “the source and summit of the Christian life”.

The word, Eucharist is gotten from the Greek Eucharistein which means “Thanksgiving” and “Blessing”. In the first multiplication of loaves, Jesus pronounces a “blessing” (Matt. 14:19) and a thanksgiving (Jn. 6:11,23). In the second multiplication, Jesus pronounces “thanksgiving” over the bread and “blessing” over the fish (Mk. 8:6-7).

Correspondingly, at the Last Supper, Jesus pronounces “blessing” over the bread (Matt. 26:26; cf. Lk. 24:30) and “thanksgiving” over the cup of wine (Matt. 26:27). Paul, in any case, speaks of them inversely with the “thanksgiving” over the bread (1 Cor. 11:24) and the “blessing” over the cup (1 Cor. 10:16).

In fact, it is the word Eucharist that has prevailed to designate the ACT which Jesus, the Bread of Life, instituted on the eve of His death, to enable us partake directly in the events of his death and resurrection. This term expresses praise for the wonders of God and thanks for the good which humankind has drawn from them. The Eucharist then is both our expression of thanks to God and opening up ourselves to receive more of his superabundant blessings.

Participation in the Holy Eucharist bears a lot of gifts and benefits for us. And as the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, the principal effect or fruit of receiving the Holy Eucharist or participating in the Eucharistic mystery is an intimate union with Jesus Christ (cf. C.C.C. 1391). That is to say, the Eucharist increases our union with Christ who says: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (Jn. 6:56).

The Eucharist also delivers us from sin, As a matter of fact, the body of Christ which we receive in Holy Communion is “given up for us”, and the blood we drink is “shed for the forgiveness of sins”. For this reason, the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins. Wonderfully too, the Eucharist strengthens our charity, renews us in our spiritual life, and makes the Church.

a.) The Eucharist: Pledge of Eternal Life

White bread, cake bread, wheat bread, sliced bread, native bread, brown bread and fresh toast! Perhaps no food comes in as many varieties as bread, known as the staff of life. Because bread is so basic to our life, God was wise to nourish us with divine life in the form of bread, the Eucharist.

Jesus proclaims this marvel where he says, “I am the bread of life….I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (John 6:48, 51). This was not just a figure of speech. Jesus meant the words literally. At the Last Supper the night before he died, he held bread in his hands and said to his friends, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24). Ever since then Christians have been celebrating the breaking of the bread. We come together to share a meal and be fed with the bread and wine that is Jesus. The Eucharist is a gift of Jesus' love through which we remember his death and resurrection and share in them.

From the Upper Room in Jerusalem, from the Last Supper, in a certain sense, the Eucharist writes the history of human hearts and of human communities. Let us reflect on all those who, being nourished on the Body and Blood of the Lord, have lived and died with noble faith, bearing in themselves, because of the Eucharist, the pledge of eternal life. Let us think of so many generations of people, even in our country and diocese who have dedicated their lives to the Eucharist and died for it. All of us now living and partaking in the Eucharistic meal form a spiritual union with all the generations who have done God's will throughout the ages and now share his glory above, and we must be ever dedicated to worshipping God in spirit and in truth, so that in sharing the life of Jesus, the bread of life, the promise of eternal life will be fulfilled in us.

b.) The Eucharist: The Truth of Christ

And so, it becomes all the more urgent to steep ourselves in the truth that comes from Christ “who is the way, the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6), and in the strength that he himself offers us through his Spirit. It is especially in the Eucharist that the power and the love of the Lord are given to us.

The Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ offered up for us is an act of supreme love on the part of the Savior. It is his great victory over sin and death - a victory that he communicates to us. The Eucharist is a promise of eternal life, since Jesus himself tells us: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn 6:54).

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is meant to be the festive celebration of our salvation. In the Mass we give thanks and praise to God our Father for having given us Redemption through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is also the center of the Church's unity as well as her greatest treasure. In the words of the Second Vatican Council, the Eucharist contains “the Church's entire spiritual wealth” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, 5).

c.) The Eucharist: Source of Christian Spirit

Yes, it is from the Eucharist that all of us receive the grace and strength for daily living - to live real Christian lives, in the joy of knowing that God loves us, that Christ died for us, and that the Holy Spirit lives in us.

Our full participation in the Eucharist is the real source of the Christian spirit that we wish to feel in our personal lives and in all aspects of society. Whether we serve in politics, in the economic, cultural, social or scientific field - no matter what our occupation is - the Eucharist is a challenge to our daily lives.

There must always be consistency between what we believe and what we do. We cannot live on the glories of our past Christian history. Our union with Christ in the Eucharist must be expressed in the truth of our lives today - in our actions, in our behavior, in our life-style, and in our relationships with others. For each one of us the Eucharist is a call to ever greater effort, so that we may live as true followers of Jesus: truthful in our speech, generous in our deeds, concerned, respectful of the dignity and rights of all persons, whatever their rank or income, self-sacrificing, fair and just, kind, considerate, compassionate and self-controlled, looking to the well-being of our families, our young people, our country, Africa and the world.

The truth of our union with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is tested by whether or not we really love our fellow men and women; it is tested by how we treat others; especially our families, husbands and wives, children and parents, brothers and sisters. It is tested by whether or not we try to be reconciled with our enemies, on whether or not we forgive those who hurt us or offend us. It is tested by whether we practice in life what our faith teaches us. We must always remember what Jesus said: "You are my friends if you do what I command you" (Jn 15:14).

d.) The Eucharist: Call to Conversion

The Eucharist is also a great call to conversion. We know that it is an invitation to the Banquet; that, by nourishing ourselves on the Eucharist, we receive in it the Body and Blood of Christ, under the appearances of bread and wine. Precisely because of this invitation, the Eucharist is and remains the call to conversion. If we receive it as such a call, such an invitation, it brings forth in us its proper fruits. It transforms our lives. It makes us a 'new man', a 'new creature' (cf. Gal 6:15; Eph 2:15; 2 Cor. 5:17). It helps us not to be "overcome by evil, but to overcome evil by good" (cf. Rom 12:21). The Eucharist helps love to triumph in us - love over hatred, zeal over indifference.

The call to conversion in the Eucharist links the Eucharist with that other great Sacrament of God's love, which is Penance. Every time that we receive the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation, we receive the forgiveness of Christ, and we know that this forgiveness comes to us through the merits of his death-the very death that we celebrate in the Eucharist. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we are all invited to meet Christ personally in this way, and to do so frequently.

This encounter with Jesus is so very important that Pope John Paul II wrote in his first Encyclical Letter these words: “In faithfully observing the centuries-old practice of the Sacrament of Penance - the practice of individual confession with a personal act of sorrow and the intention to amend and make satisfaction - the Church is therefore defending the human soul's individual right: man's right to a more personal encounter with the crucified forgiving Christ, with Christ saying, through the minister of the sacrament of Reconciliation: 'Your sins are forgiven'; 'Go, and do not sin again'. Because of Christ's love and mercy there is no sin that is too great to be forgiven; there is no sinner who will be rejected. Every person who repents will be received by Jesus Christ with forgiveness and immense love.

And if today there is someone who is still hesitating to participate in penance and the Holy Eucharist for one reason or another, please remember this: the person who knows how to acknowledge the truth of guilt, and asks Christ for forgiveness, enhances his own human dignity and manifests spiritual greatness.

Christians ought therefore to continue to hold this Sacrament of Penance in special honour, forever. Let all of us remember the words of Pius XII in regard to frequent Confession: “Not without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was this practice introduced into the Church”. Note therefore that the call to conversion and repentance comes from Christ, and always leads us back to Christ in the Eucharist.

e.) Exercises of Devotion

It is pertinent at this point to recall an important truth affirmed by the Second Vatican Council, namely that: “The spiritual life, nevertheless, is not confined to participation in the liturgy” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 12). Christians must therefore engage in the other exercises of devotion that have been lovingly preserved for centuries, especially those in regard to the Blessed Sacrament. These acts of piety honor God and are useful for our Christian lives; they give joy to our hearts, and help us to appreciate more the liturgical worship of the Church.

f.) Jesus' Real Presence

Having said this much, it is also my joy to reaffirm the wonderful teaching of the Catholic Church regarding Christ's consoling presence in the Blessed Sacrament: his real presence in the fullest sense: the substantial presence by which the whole and complete Christ, God and man, is present. The Eucharist, in the Mass and outside of the Mass, is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and is therefore deserving of the worship that is given to the living God, and to him alone

For this reason therefore, note that every act of reverence, every genuflection that we make before the Blessed Sacrament, is important because it is an act of faith in Christ, an act of love for Christ. And every sign of the Cross and gesture of respect made each time we pass by church is also an act of faith.

Subsequently on TRUTHLINE, we shall undertake a comprehensive exposé of the doctrine of the “Real presence of Christ” in the Holy Eucharist, which also includes the “Miracle and Reality of Transubstantiation”.