Religion Chapter 3 - The Eucharist
What are some of the devotions to the Blessed Sacrament outside the Mass?
Devotion to the Eucharist outside of Mass such as the Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction, manifest love for the Real Presence of Christ.
How does one keep a good balance between going to Communion unworthiness and being overly scrupulous about one's worthiness?
Frequent confession and regular spiritual direction.
From God's point of view, all things are eternally present. For God, what we perceive as past, present, and future, is eternally and completely in front of him. So when the priest says the words, "This is my Body; this is my Blood,"
God hears these words simultaneously with them coming from the mouth of Jesus for the first time.
What did Jesus' "Bread from Heaven" discourse do to his popularity?
He went from being followed by huge crowds to being accompanied by only the Twelve Apostles.
How is the celebration of the Eucharist a memorial?
It is a reminder of Christ's Passion and Death on the Cross.
How is the unity of the faithful as the Body of Christ created?
It is established in Baptism and fully expressed in the Eucharist.
Why is Christ's sacrifice perfect?
It is eternal, it has infinite value, its benefits encompass all human history, it repairs the damage caused by all the sins of the world, and it contains enough grace for every person until the end of time.
What should we do before Mass?
It is important to personally prepare for Mass.
How did the early Church understand Jesus' "Bread from Heaven" discourse and the Last Supper?
It is the Faith of the Church from the very beginning that in the Eucharist, the bread and wine are transformed into the Body of Blood of Christ, who is really and truly present sacramentally.
What is the Passover?
It is the great Jewish Feast commemorating the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
What limits the infinite graces of each Communion?
Our capacity to receive these graces.
What time do the day did Pilate order Jesus crucified and what is significant about that time?
Pilate ordered Jesus crucified at the sixth hour, the hour that the Passover lambs were sacrificed.
Therefore, when Christ said, do this in anemnesis of me, he meant something more like,
Relive this moment or Return to this moment. By extension, Christ was saying something like, When you repeat what I have done you will be connecting to this moment and the moment of my Passion.
How did the soldiers' actions relate back to the Passover?
The soldiers offered Jesus sour wine to drink soaked in a sponge on a branch of hyssop. In the original Passover, the Israelites were instructed to sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial lamb with a branch of hyssop.
How to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament:
- Enter silently out of respect for the Eucharist; - Use Holy water; - Genuflect; - Spend a few moments in silent or public prayer while kneeling; and - Genuflect and leave silently.
What are the four requirements of a sacrifice in the Old Testament and how is each fulfilled in the Eucharist?
1) In the Old Testament, a sacrifice is offered by a priest. In the Mass, Christ the eternal High Priest, offers the sacrifice through the ministry of the human priest. 2) In the Old Testament, the victim is an unblemished male. The victim of the Eucharistic sacrifice is Christ himself. 3) In the Old Testament, the sacrifice is offered in remission for sin. In the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary for our sins is re-presented. 4) In the Old Testament, the sacrifice is destroyed in some manner to signify that the offering is not for our own use but is intended for God. On Calvary, Christ's body was broken. Though Christ is now in his Resurrected form, this same visit, is present on our altar at Mass. He is the offering we make to the Father.
Who is the minister of the Sacrament of the Eucharist?
A bishop or priest.
Why are arriving a little early, making the Sign of the Cross with Holy Water, genuflecting, and praying for a few minutes good ways to prepare for Mass?
Arriving early gives one time to become recollected and to pray. Making the Sign of the Cross with Holy Water is a way of honoring the Blessed Trinity, recalling our Baptism, and asking for purity. Genuflecting in the direction of the Tabernacle silently acknowledges the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Praying helps us focus on what is to come.
How often does the Church require her members to receive Communion?
At least once per year, during the period from Ash Wednesday to Trinity Sunday.
Why should we receive Communion at every Mass we attend, assuming we are sufficiently prepare and in a state of grace?
Because it fulfills the call to become one body in Christ. Extension: Prior to the 1900s, there were times when people infrequently received the Eucharist out of a misguided sense of unworthiness related to the Jansenist heresy.
When the first Christians met, why did they tell stories about Christ instead of read the gospels aloud?
Because none of the New Testament books had been written. Only oral tradition about Christ existed.
How grave a sin is sacrilege against the Eucharist?
Because of the value of the Eucharist, any act of sacrilege or disrespect against the Eucharist is a very grave sin.
Why does it make sense to receive the Eucharist every day if possible? In the Mass, how do we participate with both our bodies and our souls?
Because the Eucharist is the summit of the Christian life and each reception brings us closer to Christ. Extension: We take part in physical signs, for example, consuming a Communion, and perform physical actions, such as standing and kneeling. We use our intellects in listening to the readings and the homily, trying to understand them. We use our wills, trying to keep distractions to a minimum, and making acts of faith, hope, and love.
Why is it good to receive the Eucharist often, even daily?
Because the Eucharist offers us infinite graces.
Why did Saturday worship end for the early Christians?
Because the Jewish Christians were eventually expelled from the Temple and synagogues and because of the large influx of Gentile Christians who had no association with Jewish worship. The two parts of Christian worship became united in one act on Sunday, the day of Christ's Resurrection. Extension: The destruction of the Temple and of the nation of Israel by the Romans also contributed to the separation of Christians from their Jewish roots.
Why was the Liturgy of the Word once also known as the Mass of the Catechumens?
Because those who were not baptized, i.e. Catechumens, were dismissed (L. Mittere, the source of the word mass before the Liturgy of the Eucharist began.
Why is it possible for every a Catholic to become a saint?
Because we receive enough grace to become a saint in every Communion.
How did the first Christians worship?
Being Jews who believed Christ was the promised Messiah, they went to the Temple or local synagogue on the Sabbath (Saturday) and then met privately on the first day of the week (Sunday) for the "breaking of the bread," or the Eucharist.
Who are the ordinary ministers of distributing Holy Communion?
Bishops, priests, and deacons.
How do we become united to the sacrifice of Christ in the Cross?
By consuming the Eucharist in the reception of Holy Communion. Extension: This is a mark of the common priesthood of the faithful: we are priests because we consume the sacrifice.
How can we increase our disposition to receive the graces of the Eucharist?
By following the minimum requirements the Church sets, preparing internally and externally for each Mass, and cooperating with the graces God gives us by conforming our will to his.
What does CCC 1376 say about the word "substance"?
By the consecration, a change of substance occurs. The substance of the bread is changed into the substance of Christ's body and the substance of the wine is changed into the substance of Christ's Blood.
How is the institution of the Eucharist related to the Old Testament?
Christ gave a new meaning to the Passover meal, the Paschal Lamb, the cup of consummation, and the blood of the Mosaic Covenant in the Last Supper and in his Passion.
What two dimensions exist for the shared owner of an undertaking?
Each owner has a personal stake in an enterprise and a relationship and shared interest with the other owners.
What is the vertical dimension of koinonia?
Each person has a personal, or vertical, relationship with Christ and is responsible for responding to Christ's will for him or her. Extension: The relationship is vertical because one member is above the other in a hierarchical relationship, i.e., Christ is our head.
What is the horizontal dimension of koinonia?
Every Christian has a shared, or horizontal, relationship with the other members of the Christian community with whom they share a common goal: love for others. Extension: This relationship is horizontal, because all of the members are essentially equal.
How is the Eucharist related to the Cross?
Every Mass is a participation in the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. In his Passion, Christ offered himself in a physical, bloody manner. In the Eucharist, he offers his Body and Blood in a sacramental, unbloody manner under the appearances of bread and wine.
What did Christ do with the tradition of the Jewish Passover?
He embraced it and transformed it into something new as part of his perfecting of the Old Law.
How did Jesus feed the vast crowds that came to hear him?
He fed them with a miraculous multiplication of loaves and fishes.
How did God feed the Israelites when they wandered in the desert for forty years?
He fed them with manna, bread from Heaven.
How did Jesus break custom during his last Passover meal?
He gave the unleavened bread to his disciples to eat, declaring it was his Body, and then the wine to drink, saying it was his Blood.
What does St. Paul mean by "discern"?
He means we must see the difference between the bread and wine of the Eucharist and ordinary bread and wine.
How did Jesus compare himself to the manna?
He said he was the Bread of Life who would permanently take away hunger and thirst.
What did St. Paul say about those who receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin?
He said they profane the Body and Blood of the Lord and bring judgement upon themselves.
How does Jesus refer to the "cup of consummation" on the Cross?
He said, "I thirst."
How does St. Paul speak of the Eucharist in 1 Corinthians 10:16?
He says the Eucharist is a cup of blessing, which is a participation in the Blood of Christ and bread that is broken, which is a participation in the body of Christ.
How does St. Paul speak of the Eucharist in 1 Corinthians 11:23:32?
He says the bread and cup are the Body and Blood of Christ, which the Corinthians must not consume in an unworthy manner.
Who are extraordinary ministers of distributing Holy Communion?
If need exists, lay persons may be appointed to distribute communion to those present at the Mass or to those who cannot attend Mass because of infirmity or old age.
What does St. Paul mean by the word "participate"?
In both the Old Testament and in pagan sacrifices, when one eats some of the thing sacrificed, he participates in the sacrifice.
How is Christ the Bread of Life?
In his "Bread from Heaven" discourse recorded in the Gospel of John (Chapter 6), after he miraculously fed 5000 and associated himself with the manna from Heaven, Jesus declared he was the Bread of Life whose Flesh men must eat and whose Blood men must drink in order for them to have eternal life.
What is the difference between a Mass—including the Mass of the Last Supper—and the Cross?
In his Passion, Christ offered his Body in a physical, bloody manner. In the Eucharist, he offers his Body and Blood in a sacramental, unbloody manner, under the appearances of bread and wine.
Where was the Eucharist celebrated in the Early Church?
In people's homes.
How does the Eucharist strengthen both dimensions of koinonia?
In the Eucharist, a person receives individual graces from Christ, which strengthen his or her relationship with God. He or she is also more firmly united to the other members of the Church.
How would the author of the Didache recognize the Penitential Rite of today's Mass?
In the Penitential Rite we ask God to forgive our sins and failures, just as the author of the Didache advised the early Christians to "confess your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure."
What is the mystery of the Real Presence?
In the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the bread and wine really become the Body and Blood of Our Lord with only the appearance of bread and wine remaining.
How did the practice of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament outside the Mass develop?
In the early Church, some of the Eucharist was reserved to bring to those who could not attend Mass, such as the sick. Because Christians recognized Christ was really present in the reserved species, a number of Eucharistic devotions developed.
What does transubstantiation mean?
It is the technical term the Catholic Church uses to explain what happens to the bread and wine at the moment of the consecration. The whole and entire substance of the bread and the wine are changed into the entire substance of Christ's Body and Blood. By an act of God, there is no longer bread or wine present. Every single piece of bread and every single drop of wine have been changed. Though the appearances of bread and wine remain, they have truly become the Body and Blood of Christ.
What does it mean to say that the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one and the same?
It means that each mass, including the Last Supper, renews, represents, or reenacts Christ's offering of himself to the Father on Calvary.
What did the Greek word koinonia mean at the time of Christ?
It meant a joint venture, such as a business partnership, in which the owners worked together for a common good.
How important was the Eucharist in the Faith life of early Church?
It was central. The early Church understood that the Eucharist Jesus established at the Last Supper fulfilled what he said in John's discourse. The Eucharist was the foundation of the early Church's prayer, community, and religious practice.
Why did the priests in the Old Testament consume the burnt offering?
It was required by the Mosaic Law and united the priests to the Sacrifice.
What further claims about himself did Jesus make as recorded in John 6:51?
Jesus said he was the living bread come down from Heaven, which would give eternal life to those who consumed this bread. He said his flesh was this bread that he would give for the life of the world.
How did Jesus refer to the cup of consummation when Peter fought against Jesus' arrest by cutting off the high priest's slave ear?
Jesus told Peter to stop fighting because Jesus intended to "drink the cup which the Father had given" him — in other words, the "cup of consummation" left untouched at the Passover meal.
What is koinonia?
Koinonia, or Communion, is our deep relationship with Christ and the Church.
What are the two interrelated truths of the Bread from Heaven discourse?
The Eucharist is spiritual food that gives graces for eternal life and the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Christ.
What is the last of the Sacraments of Christian Initiation?
The Eucharist.
What is the "Blood of the Covenant" and what did Jesus' words imply?
The "Blood of the Covenant is the sacrificial blood that established the Mosaic covenant between God and Israel. Jesus was implying that his Blood would establish a New Covenant.
What part of the Passover meal did Jesus omit at the Last Supper?
The "cup of consummation", or the final cup of wine, the most important part of the meal.
What is the Eastern rite Liturgy like?
The Eastern rite Divine Liturgy and Latin rite Liturgy of the Mass are in essentials the same.
How is the Eucharist related to the sacrifices of the Old Covenant?
The Eucharist fulfills and transforms the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.
What are the major divisions of the Mass?
The Mass consists of two parts, the Liturgy of the Word (the Mass of the Catechumens) and the Liturgy of the Eucharist (the Mass of the Faithful).
Why might it be a good idea to look over the readings for the day before Mass?
The Mass readings are specifically chosen so they relate to the Mass of the day and to each other.
How is the Mass related to the New Covenant?
The New Covenant, the saving and redemptive action of Christ, is proclaimed at each Mass.
What do these two events correspond to in today's Mass?
The Sabbath worship conforms to the Liturgy of the word and the Sunday worship conforms to the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
How are the readings different for Sunday and weekday Masses?
The Sunday Masses are on a three-year cycle and daily Masses are on a two-year cycle. Extension: One of the reforms of the Liturgy from the Second Vatican Council was to greatly expand the variety of Biblical readings used in the !ass, so the faithful would have a much wider contact with the Scriptures.
How is the celebration of the Eucharist more than an ordinary memorial?
The actual sacrifice is re-presented in the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
How did the Didache in the first century understand the Mass as a sacrifice?
The author of the Didache exhorted Christians to confess their sins and reconcile with their neighbors before coming together so that their "sacrifice may be pure."
What is transubstantiation?
The change, or transformation, from bread and wine to the Body and a Blood of Christ, is best termed transubstantiation, in which the entire substance of the bread and the entire substance of the wine are changed into the substance of the Body and Blood of Christ, with only the appearances of bread and wine remaining.
How did Jesus' hearers understand Jesus' words in John 6:53-58 and how did the word "eat" reinforce this understanding?
The crowd understood Jesus to mean cannibalism, reinforced by a word that is better translated as "munch" rather than eat. Extension: the Israelites had, by God's command, a total aversion to blood, either touching it or ingesting it.
How did the early Church celebrate the Eucharist?
The early Church celebrated the Eucharist in essentially the same manner that we do today, with a Liturgy of the Word and a Liturgy of the Eucharist.
How did Melchizedek foreshadow the Mass?
The mysterious priest-king Melchizedek offered a sacrifice of bread and wine with Abram in thanksgiving for Abram's defeat of four kings.
How is the Eucharist different from the other Sacraments?
The other Sacraments give us the grace of God but the Eucharist gives us Christ (God) himself.
Why does the priest kiss the altar after he enters the sanctuary?
The priest kisses the altar because this is where the Sacrifice of Christ will be renewed. Extension: It is, in a sense, kissing the Cross of Christ or kissing Christ himself.
Who is the proper minister of the Eucharist?
The proper minister of the Eucharist is the bishop or priest.
What did the New Testament writers use koinonia to refer to?
The relationship between the members of the Church.
What are the sources of the readings in the Mass?
They are taken from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the New Testament Epistles, and finally from one of the Gospels.
How did the crowds react to this?
They didn't like what he said.
Why were the sacrifices of the Old Testament imperfect?
They had to be offered again and again.
What did the Early Church mean by the term, the "Breaking of the Bread"?
They meant the celebration of the Eucharist.
How do we share in Christ's priesthood in the Eucharist?
We can offer up in the Mass our joys, sufferings, work, anxieties, relationships, and ourselves, which are transformed and found acceptable to God the Father.
Why should we prepare well for and have the proper dispositions toward the Eucharist?
We should internally and externally prepare for Mass and have the proper dispositions in approaching in order to benefit from its infinite graces.
What is perhaps the most important moment to receive the Eucharist?
When death is imminent.
Where does the bishop or priest get the power to change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ?
When the bishop or priest says the words of consecration, it is Christ the eternal high priest who changes the substances of the bread and wine into his substance.
Why didn't the Apostles leave Jesus over this teaching?
While they didn't understand Jesus' teaching, nevertheless, as Peter put it, Jesus "had the words of eternal life."
How did Jesus refer to the cup of consummation as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane?
he asked his father to "remove this cup from me," but he declared he would nevertheless drink it if it was his Father's will.
Sadly also when we sin, God
sees this simultaneously with his Son being nailed to the Cross.