223 SEEING YOU, OUR GOD, AS YOU ARE, WE SHALL BE LIKE YOU FOR ALL THE AGES

YOUCAT Lesson 223

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

223  In what way is the Holy Eucharist an anticipation of eternal life?

Jesus promised his disciples, and us with them, that we will one day sit at table with him.  Therefore every Holy Mass is a “memorial of the blessed Passion” (Eucharistic Prayer I, called the Roman Canon), the fullness of grace, and a pledge of future glory.  [1402-1405]

Statue: …... Saint John Gabriel Perboyre, priest and martyr. “So that I may truly say,with St. Paul, I live - now not I – but Christ lives in me," wrote Saint John Gabriel Perboyre, C.M.,, a French priest, who served as a missionary in China, where he became a martyr. He was canonized in 1996 by Pope John Paul II.

“We break the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live forever in Jesus Christ.”  St. Ignatius of Antioch (?-107/117)

“There (in your kingdom) we hope to enjoy forever the fullness of your glory, when you will wipe away every tear from our eyes.  For seeing you, our God, as you are, we shall be like you for all the ages and praise you without end.”  Eucharistic Prayer III

  

THE EUCHARIST - "PLEDGE OF THE GLORY TO COME"

…….1402   In an ancient prayer the Church acclaims the mystery of the Eucharist: "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace and a pledge of the life to come is given to us." If the Eucharist is the memorial of the Passover of the Lord Jesus, if by our communion at the altar we are filled "with every heavenly blessing and grace,"(Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 96: Supplices te rogamus.)²⁴²   then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1403   At the Last Supper the Lord himself directed his disciples' attention toward the fulfillment of the Passover in the kingdom of God: "I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."(Mt 26:29; compare Luke 22:18; Mark 14:25.)²⁴³    Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist she remembers this promise and turns her gaze "to him who is to come." In her prayer she calls for his coming: "Marana tha!" "Come, Lord Jesus!"(Revelation 22: 20; 1 Corinthians 16:22.)²⁴⁴    "May your grace come and this world pass away!"(Didache 10,6:Sources Chrẻtiennes 248,180.)²⁴⁵ –CCC

…….1404   The Church knows that the Lord comes even now in his Eucharist and that he is there in our midst. However, his presence is veiled. Therefore we celebrate the Eucharist "awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ,"(Roman Missal 126, embolism after the Our Father: expectantes beatam spem et adventum Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi; compare Titus 2:13.)²⁴⁶   asking "to share in your glory when every tear will be wiped away. On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are. We shall become like you and praise you for ever through Christ our Lord."(Eucharistic Prauer III 116: prayer for the dead.)²⁴⁷ –CCC

…….1405   There is no surer pledge or dearer sign of this great hope in the new heavens and new earth "in which righteousness dwells,"(2 Peter 3:13.)²⁴⁸   than the Eucharist. Every time this mystery is celebrated, "the work of our redemption is carried on" and we "break the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ."(Lumen Gentium 3; St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Eph. 20,2:Sources Chrẻtiennes 10,76.)²⁴⁹ --CCC