Q&A about the Eucharist (2)

Are those who take part of the Eucharist committed to anything?

Proclaiming the death of the Lord “until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26) entails that all who take part in the Eucharist be committed to changing their lives and making them in a certain way completely “Eucharistic”. It is this fruit of a transfigured existence and a commitment to transforming the world in accordance with the Gospel which splendidly illustrates the eschatological tension inherent in the celebration of the Eucharist and in the Christian life as a whole: “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20).

Is receiving communion a solely personal event?

“The bread which we break, is it not a communion 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). Saint John Chrysostom's commentary on these words is profound and perceptive: “For what is the bread? It is the body of Christ. And what do those who receive it become? The Body of Christ – not many bodies but one body. For as bread is completely one, though made of up many grains of wheat, and these, albeit unseen, remain nonetheless present, in such a way that their difference is not apparent since they have been made a perfect whole, so too are we mutually joined to one another and together united with Christ”.

Which one is prior our union to the Church or our union to Christ?

"our union with Christ, which is a gift and grace for each of us, makes it possible for us, in him, to share in the unity of his body which is the Church... The Eucharist, precisely by building up the Church, creates human community."

What is the value of Eucharistic adoration?

"The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable value for the life of the Church.

If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the “art of prayer”, how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament?"


Answers from Pope John Paul II's Ecclesia de Eucharistia

Posted by Carlos J. Medina

The source of life for the Church

By the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the Church was born and set out upon the pathways of the world, yet a decisive moment in her taking shape was certainly the institution of the Eucharist in the Upper Room. Her foundation and wellspring is the whole Triduum paschale, but this is as it were gathered up, foreshadowed and “concentrated' for ever in the gift of the Eucharist. In this gift Jesus Christ entrusted to his Church the perennial making present of the paschal mystery. With it he brought about a mysterious “oneness in time” between that Triduum and the passage of the centuries.

The Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist; by him she is fed and by him she is enlightened.

Even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven and earth. It embraces and permeates all creation. The Son of God became man in order to restore all creation, in one supreme act of praise, to the One who made it from nothing. He, the Eternal High Priest who by the blood of his Cross entered the eternal sanctuary, thus gives back to the Creator and Father all creation redeemed. He does so through the priestly ministry of the Church, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity.

By John Paul II from Ecclesia de Eucharistia 5, 6, 8

Posted by Carlos J. Medina

Eucharistic Prayer

Have you ever walked by a house where you could tell there was a party going on? Perhaps you could hear the laughter, and music, and smell the barbecue… St. Augustine tells us that there is a joyful, eternal party going on in Heaven, and when we pray, we may hear the overflowing joy.



The paradigmatic prayer for us Catholics is the celebration of the Eucharist. Our catechism tells us that, “by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life” (CCC 1326). This Sacrament “makes present the one sacrifice of Christ,” and through our common union to Him, He “makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body” (CCC 1330, 1331).

How wonderful is God’s love for us that He allows us a glimpse of the heavenly party on earth!

Carlos J. Medina
Pre-Novice