216 CHRIST'S REAL BUT INVISIBLE PRESENCE IN THE EUCHARIST

YOUCAT Lesson 216

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

216  In what way is Christ there when the Eucharist is celebrated?

Christ is mysteriously but really present in the sacrament of the Eucharist.  As often as the Church fulfills Jesus’ command, “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24), breaks the bread and offers the chalice, the same thing takes place today that happened then: Christ truly gives himself for us, and we truly gain a share in him.  The unique and unrepeatable sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is made present on the altar; the work of our redemption is accomplished.  [1362-1367]

Painting: ….The Crucifixion (1622) by Simon Vouet; Church of Jesus, Genoa. …..216

TRANSSUBSTANTIATION (from Latin trans=through, and substantia=essence, substance): the theological term used to explain theologically how Jesus can be present under the appearance of the gifts of bread and wine in the Eucharist.  Whereas the “substances” (meaning the “essences”) of bread and wine are changed by the working of the Holy Spirit at the words of consecration into the Body and Blood of Christ, their outward “species” or forms remain the same.  Jesus Christ is really but invisibly present in what looks like the bread and wine as long as the appearances of bread and wine are preserved.

The sacrificial memorial of Christ and of his Body, the Church

…….1362   The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the making present and the sacramental offering of his unique sacrifice, in the liturgy of the Church which is his Body. In all the Eucharistic Prayers we find after the words of institution a prayer called the anamnesis or memorial. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1363   In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God for men. (compare Exodus 13:3)¹⁸⁴    In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way present and real. This is how Israel understands its liberation from Egypt: every time Passover is celebrated, the Exodus events are made present to the memory of believers so that they may conform their lives to them. –CCC

…….1364   In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new meaning. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ's Passover, and it is made present the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present.(compare Hebrews 7:25-27)¹⁸⁵    "As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which 'Christ our Pasch has been sacrificed' is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out."(Lumen Gentium 3; compare 1 Corinthians 5:7)¹⁸⁶ –CCC

…….1365   Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: "This is my body which is given for you" and "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood."(Luke 22:19-20)¹⁸⁷    In the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."(Matthew 26:28)¹⁸⁸ –CCC

…….1366   The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit:

[Christ], our Lord and God, was once and for all to offer himself to God the Father by his death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish there an everlasting redemption. But because his priesthood was not to end with his death, at the Last Supper "on the night when he was betrayed," [he wanted] to leave to his beloved spouse the Church a visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to accomplish once for all on the cross would be re-presented, its memory perpetuated until the end of the world, and its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit.(Council of Trent (1562): Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1740; compare 1 Corinthians 11:23; Hebrews 7:24, 27)¹⁸⁹ –CCC

…….1367   The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." "And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner. . . this sacrifice is truly propitiatory."(Council of Trent (1562) Doctrina de ss. Missae sacrificio, c. 2: Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1743; compare Hebrews 9:14,27)¹⁹⁰ –CCC

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