Nzioka, Paul Muema 11054T
Holy
Eucharist as Triple Sacrament
Book:
J.
HARDON, S.J. With Us Today, On the Real
Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. (Chapter 22)
A sacrament is visible
rite instituted by Christ to confer the grace which is signified. Throughout
the centuries, catholic Christians have recognized the Eucharist as their
primary source of grace. The key to understanding how the Eucharist is a triple
sacrament is to understand that Jesus is the unique channel of grace for the
human race wherever he exists, in whatever way he is present, and whenever he
is offered.
Sacrifice
Sacrament; At the last supper, Christ changed bread and wine
into his own flesh and blood and did this by a double consecration. This double
consecration was the visible anticipation of his separation of body and blood
on the cross. From the earliest days of the church’s liturgy, it was understood
that, just as Christ did, the consecration of the bread and wine must be done
separately.
The external sign of
the Eucharist as sacrifice sacrament is the separate consecration, which
signifies the separation of Christ’s Body and blood on Calvary. Just as the
separation of Christ’s body and blood on the cross merited the treasury of
graces for our redemption, so the separate consecration at the Mass is the
sacrament by which the graces won for us on Calvary are distributed to the
world today. In other words, the double consecration is first of all a
sacrifice.
Communion
Sacrament; again at the Last Supper, Christ made his body and
blood present by his words of consecration and then gave his body and blood as
food and drink, first to his apostles. From the earliest days of the church’s
liturgy, it was further understood that the giving of Christ’s body and blood
in Holy Communion is a powerful source of grace to each communicant. In the
early third century, St. Cyprian in Africa said, “We who are one in Christ,
daily receive the Eucharist as food for our salvation”[1]
And again, St. Ambrose in the fourth century told his people, “you should
receive daily what is for your daily benefit, so live that you may deserve to
communicate every day”[2]
Presence Sacrament; after Christ’s
Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, the early Church continued
doing what Christ had done at the last supper through the apostles and the
bishops and priests whom they ordained. They reserved the consecrated species
and preserved them in sacred vessels. They did this from the very be beginning
of Christianity in the first century. The reason was to provide Holy Communion
for the sick and especially for the many Christians in prison awaiting
martyrdom. The apostolic church believed Jesus Christ remains really present in
the Holy Eucharist after the Sacrifice of the Mass has been offered and after
the faithful have received Holy Communion.
Nzioka,
Paul Muema. C.M (11054T)
Pope
Pius XII and the Sacrifice of the Mass.
Book:
J.
HARDON, S.J. With Us Today, On the Real
Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. (Chapter 7)
Why do I choose Pius
XII among all the pontiffs? This is because during his pontificate, he wrote
extensively on the sacrifice of the Mass, and he laid the groundwork for the
authentic teaching of Vatican II.
Pius XII declared to
the Catholics of twenty first century needed to deepen their understanding of
the Mass or very risk losing their faith in how indispensable the Mass or they
risk losing their faith in how indispensable the Mass is for their eternal
salvation. He warned that the modern western world must rediscover the
indispensability of the Sacrifice Sacrament of the Eucharist. Otherwise the
church will not survive in those cultures or even in the whole world.
In his document Mediator Dei, published on November 20,
1947, he explained how the Sacrifice of the Mass is absolutely necessary for
our salvation. It is the sacrament through which Christ dispenses the graces he
won for us on Calvary. He gained all the supernatural light and strength we
need to reach our heavenly destiny. But we must have access to this
super-natural treasury. The principal conduit for these divine blessings is the
Sacrifice Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Pope said, “Christ built on Calvary a
purifying and saving reservoir which he filled with the blood he poured forth.
But if men do not immerse themselves in its waves and do not therefore cleanse
themselves of the stains of their sins, they certainly cannot be saved” (77). This means that when we say the
Mass is a sacrament, it means graces are conferred just because Mass is being
offered. Thus, we should make sure that every priest we know offers Mass every
day.
These graces according
to Pius XII are especially those that have to do with sin and the remission of
both guilt( loss of grace) and punishment for sins. Because the Mass is a
Sacrament, it confers these graces infallibly. It confers these graces for the
whole human race, dependent on the degree of faith a person has and on the
moral disposition of the individual.
However, it is not
enough to believe intellectually in the Mass. It is not enough to attend Mass
or even participate in the Mass. The key to unlocking the treasures of Calvary
is to live the Mass. We benefit only as much from the graces of the Sacrament
of the Mass as we are living the images of Jesus Christ, whose life on earth
was one long sacrifice in the total surrender of his human will to the divine
will of His father.
****
Nzioka,
Paul Muema C.M
Ecclesia
De Eucharistia
i)
The Eucharist Builds the Church
The theme of the encyclical would
be well entitled as “the church from the Eucharist”. From the encyclical, the
church draws her life from the Eucharist. Our celebration of the Eucharist
therefore expresses the unity of the church. The unity of the church as well
comes from our celebration of the Eucharist. According to no.21 of the encyclical, Pope John Paul II writes, “the church is
built up through sacramental communion with the son of God”
Catholic Christians gather around
the Eucharist. We gather physically in the church building but that is only a
vague image of the time gathering that takes place. Upon reception of the body
and blood of Jesus Christ, we are united with Christ and in Christ, with one
another. This way, we are made the church upon partaking of the Holy Communion.
From the scriptures teaching, God’s plan of salvation is about unity, our unity
with one another, and our unity individually and collectively with God. God
calls us together and gathers us together in the celebration of the Holy
Communion. His gatherer is Christ the good shepherd who gathers his flock.
God’s momentous act of gathering is the crucifixion of Christ and the reality
of God’s people gathered by and in Christ is the church.
Gathering together as God’s
family around the altar and joining one another to partake of the body of
Christ expresses and creates the unity of the participants. All those who
receive the body and blood of Christ should be understood that they do not
receive lots of different bodies of Christ but ‘the body of Christ’. This
applies to all those who receive communion on that particular day or any other
day, at any time or place, since the Catholic Church is united together all
across the world. The reception of the Holy Communion is the source of our
oneness, our unity, and our being as the church.
ii)
Apostolicity of the Eucharist and
of the Church
Pope John Paul II makes a very
important and original point that because of the ‘profound relationship’
between the church and the Eucharist, the four marks of the church can be found
too in the Eucharist. “The Eucharist is one, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic” (26). Focusing on the apostolicity of
the Eucharist, and affirming it, the pope reaffirms that the priest offers Mass
acts in Persona Christi. The minister
is a gift which the assembly receives through Episcopal succession going back
to the apostles. This shows or underlines the apostolicity of the Eucharist
which is celebrated by the minister himself for the people.
The fact that the church is continually
taught, sanctified as well as guided by the apostles (through the office of the
Bishops) is a clear indication of the apostolicity of the church which really
forms the Eucharist. The successors of the apostles (Bishops and Priests)
receive a special sacramental character which configures them to Christ the
priest so that they can act in the name of Jesus. These successors of the
apostles celebrate the Eucharist for the faithful underlying the apostolicity
of the celebration. Worthy noting about the priests is that; their priesthood
exist for the Eucharist, they are called to the vocation to make Christ present
to the people and that is why the church encourages the priests to celebrate
the Eucharist every day.
***
THE CHRISTIAN EUCHARIST AS A SACRIFICE
Book: B. COOKE, Christian
Sacraments and Christian Personality, pp. 116-138.
By: Nzioka Paul Muema (11054T).
From the earlier days of
Christianity, Eucharist action has been center of the church’s life. It has
been the supreme prayer and act of worship, the most important occasion of
Christian instruction, the source of unity and love in the community. All other
sacraments point towards the Eucharist and find their own fulfillment in it.
The Eucharist is truly the center and the epitome of Christianity. Catholic
belief in the Mass as Christ’s continuing act of sacrifice is grounded in the
mystery of his resurrection. Because he is in this new state, to which he
passed in the mysteries of redemption, he is able to abide with his church and
continue his redeeming sacrificial action in her midst. Christ’s sacrificial
attitude as man involved the acceptance to be a victim, there is a common
misapprehension that victimhood is essentially something passive, which is
merely a state of having something done to one. “In Christ public life,
beginning with his baptism, continuing through the following three years and
terminating in his death and resurrection, there was never the slightest trace
of any reluctance on Christ’s part to face his own actual life situation”[1].
In being baptized, he gave public witness to his acceptance of the role of
Servant Messiah. The final statement of his acceptance of victimhood begins at
last supper when he solemnly and liturgically sets himself aside for
fulfillment of the role of suffering servant. Christ’s acceptance of victimhood
is essentially an acceptance of the fact that he is completely and thoroughly a
man.
The last supper for Christ marks
the beginning of a new stage in the redemption. “In the public setting of a
Passover feast, reminiscent of the covenant origins of the people of Israel,
Christ solemnly and sacrificially expresses his acceptance of the task his
father had given him to do. Christ’s actions at the last supper are meaningless
if they do not proceed from this inner sacrificial attitude.”[2]The
last supper does not stand by itself, discrete and separate from what follows.
Rather, it marks the first stage of that single event which continues in the
death and resurrection of Christ. This one inner attitude is translated into
external expression symbolically at the supper and nonsymbolically in the
actual suffering and death. There is only one action of Christ, that of
self-oblation. The three stages- last supper cross and resurrection- form one
integral redeeming action of Christ. In conclusion, the action of Mass is in
its externals and even more so in the underlying reality which these externals
express, is a genuine sacrifice. It is the sacrifice of Christ expressed in and
through the members of his church, it is the sacrifice of the church herself.
This sacrificial action both continues and fulfills the sacrificial ceremonies
of Old Testament times, but more important, it continues the redeeming act of
Christ initiated in the last supper. Because of the continuing presence of the
risen Christ in his church, the action of the Mass is not separated from the
redemptive achievement of the last supper, cross and resurrection. In the Mass,
then, this sacrifice, redemptive of the human race, continues throughout
history. Christ living in the midst of the church offers himself to the Father
as redemption for men. Moreover, Christ allows those who are members of the
faith-community to share in this action by offering him and themselves as a victim
for the salvation of the world.
Nzioka, Paul Muema C.M
Benedict XVI, Post- Synodal Apostolic Exhortation; Sacramentum Caritas.
The Eucharist, A mystery to be celebrated.
According Pope Benedict XVI in
his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum
Caritas, the subject of the Eucharistic celebration is Christ himself risen
and glorified in the Holy Spirit. The bread and wine(species) are sanctified by
the word of God to be the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the celebration of
the Eucharist. Upon reception of his body and blood we become Christ himself.
This mystically brings union between the recipient and Christ himself.
The people of God are called to Ars celebrandi, that is the art of
proper celebration. This calls for full active and fruitful participation of
the faithful which can be achieved through the proper celebration of the rite
itself. This proper celebration has continued to sustain the faith of the
believers. Despite the fact that the entire people of God is called to
participate in the Eucharistic liturgy. Bishop, priests and deacons must
consider the celebration of the liturgy as their principal duty. The bishop
acts as the celebrant par excellence of the liturgy in a particular diocese.
The bishop ensures unity and harmony in the celebration taking place in his
territory. He too must ensure that the deacons and the lay Christian faithful
grasp deeply the genuine meaning of the rites and liturgical texts.
Liturgical books and signs in the
celebration of the liturgy contain richness which preserve and express the
faith of the people. The sacred art – church
architecture- offers the church a fitting space for celebration of the
mysteries of faith. Liturgical music has as well an important role in the
proper celebration of the mysteries of faith and the songs must correspond to
the meaning of the mystery being celebrated and the liturgical seasons. In the
proper celebration of this mystery, all liturgical actions are united. The
liturgy of the word and Eucharistic liturgy, in addition to the rites of
introduction and conclusion are closely interconnected that they form but one
single act of worship (44). During
the liturgy of the word, God himself speaks to his people and Christ present in
his own word proclaims the gospel, this therefore calls for careful preparation
and celebration of the liturgy of the word.
During the celebration of the
liturgy, the Eucharistic prayer is the centre and summit of the entire
celebration (48). There is a great
need to emphasize on the importance of this prayer. Eucharist by its very
nature is a sacrament of peace and this is clearly expressed in the sign of
peace. In our present situation this gesture has really grown to be of great
importance as the church assumes the responsibility to preach peace and union
among humanity.
Therefore, as we seek to
celebrate this mystery of the Eucharist appropriately, we should realize that
reception of the Eucharist may seem a simple act but it is a very important act
since it is a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus in the sacrament. The
dismissal at the end of Eucharistic celebration is as well an essential part in
marking proper celebration of the mystery of the Eucharist. The dismissal words
help the people of God to grasp the relationship between the mass they have celebrated
and the mission of the Christians in the world.
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