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Truly the Eucharist is a mysterium fidei, a mystery which surpasses our understanding and can only be received in
faith. |
he fourteenth Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II is intended to offer a deeper reflection on the mystery of the Eucharist in its relationship with the Church. The document is relatively brief, but significant for its theological, disciplinary and pastoral aspects. It will be signed on Holy Thursday, during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, within the liturgical setting of the beginning of the Paschal
Triduum.
The Eucharistic Sacrifice, "the source and summit of the Christian life", contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth: Jesus Christ, who offers himself to the Father for the redemption of the world. In celebrating this "mystery of faith", the Church makes the Paschal Triduum become "contemporaneous" with men and women in every age.
The Eucharist is a true banquet, in which Christ offers himself as our
nourishment.
(# 16).
The first chapter, "The Mystery of Faith", explains the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist which, through the ministry of the priest, makes sacramentally present at each Mass the body "given up" and the blood "poured out" by Christ for the world’s salvation. The celebration of the Eucharist is not a repetition of Christ’s passover, or its multiplication in time and in space; it is the one sacrifice of the Cross, which is re-presented until the end of time.
It is, in the words of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, "a medicine of immortality, an antidote to death". As a pledge of the future Kingdom, the Eucharist also reminds believers of their responsibility for the present earth, in which the weak, the most powerless and the poorest await help from those who, by their solidarity, can give them reason for hope.
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The Eucharist is a straining towards the goal, a foretaste of the fullness of joy promised by Christ. It is in some way the anticipation of heaven, the 'pledge of future
glory'. |
"The Eucharist Builds the Church" is the title of the second chapter. When the faithful approach the sacred banquet, not only do they receive Christ, but they in turn are received by him. The consecrated Bread and Wine are the force which generates the Church’s unity. The Church is united to her Lord who, veiled by the Eucharistic species, dwells within her and builds her up. She worships him not only at Holy Mass itself, but at all other times, cherishing him as her most precious "treasure".
The Eucharist is truly a glimpse of heaven appearing on earth. (# 19)
The third chapter is a reflection on "The Apostolicity of the Eucharist and of the Church". Just as the full reality of Church does not exist without apostolic succession, so there is no true Eucharist without the Bishop. The priest who celebrates the Eucharist acts in the person of Christ the Head; he does not possess the Eucharist as its master, but is its servant for the benefit of the community of the saved.
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It is a glorious ray of the heavenly Jerusalem which pierces the clouds of our history and lights up our journey. (# 19). |
It follows that the Christian community does not "possess" the Eucharist, but receives it as a gift. These reflections are developed in the fourth chapter, "The Eucharist and Ecclesial Communion". The Church, as the minister of Christ’s body and blood for the salvation of the world, abides by all that Christ himself established. Faithful to the teaching of the Apostles, united in the discipline of the sacraments, she must also manifest in a visible manner her invisible unity.
The Eucharist thus appears as both the source and the summit of all evangelization, since its goal is the communion of mankind with Christ and in him with the Father and the Holy
Spirit.
(# 22)
The Eucharist cannot be "used" as a means of communion; rather it presupposes communion as already existing and strengthens it. In this context emphasis needs to be given to the commitment to ecumenism which must mark all the Lord’s followers: the Eucharist creates communion and builds communion, when it is celebrated truthfully. It cannot be subject to the whim of individual or of particular communities.
"The Dignity of the Eucharistic Celebration" is the subject of the fifth chapter. The celebration of the "Mass" is marked by outward signs aimed at emphasizing the joy which assembles the community around the incomparable gift of the Eucharist. Architecture, sculpture, painting, music, literature and, more generally, every form of art demonstrate how the Church, down the centuries, has feared no extravagance in her witness to the love which unites her to her divine Spouse. A recovery of the sense of beauty is also needed in today’s celebrations.
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The Eucharist is a priceless treasure: by not only celebrating it but also by praying before it outside of Mass we are enabled to make contact with the very wellspring of grace. (# 25). |
The sixth chapter, "At the School of Mary, ‘Woman of the Eucharist’", is a timely and original reflection on the surprising analogy between the Mother of God, who by bearing the body of Jesus in her womb became the first "tabernacle", and the Church who in her heart preserves and offers to the world Christ’s body and blood. The Eucharist is given to believers so that their life may become a continuous Magnificat in honor of the Most Holy Trinity.
"If the Eucharist is a mystery of faith which so greatly transcends our understanding as to call for sheer abandonment to the word of God, then there can be no one like Mary to act as our support and guide in acquiring this disposition" (# 54).
The Conclusion is demanding: those who wish to pursue the path of holiness need no new "programs". The program already exists: it is Christ himself who calls out to be known, loved, imitated and proclaimed. The implementation of this process passes through the Eucharist. This is seen from the witness of the Saints, who at every moment of their lives slaked their thirst at the inexhaustible source of this mystery and drew from it the spiritual power needed to live fully their baptismal calling.
(From MISNA)
See Entire Text of the Encyclical "Ecclesia de Eucharistia" at Zenit