WORDS TO THE WHYS

The truth will make you odd. Flannery O’Connor

Being Eucharist

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Being Eucharist: Becoming the Body of Christ

The Eucharist is the "source and summit of the Christian life." Receiving the Eucharist transforms us into the Body and Blood of Christ. The Catechism states: "By the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's Body and Blood, Christ becomes present in this sacrament."

For the effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what we receive. St. Leo the Great, Office of Readings, Second Week of Easter

This transformation is not merely symbolic or metaphorical, but a genuine and substantial change. "The Eucharist makes the Church," as the Second Vatican Council taught. Our participation in the Eucharist unites us with Christ and with one another, constituting the mystical Body of Christ on earth.

I heard this Thy voice from on high: “I am the food of grown men, grow, and thou shalt feed upon Me; nor shalt thou convert Me, like the food of thy flesh into thee, but thou shalt be converted into Me. Confessions of Saint Augustine, Chapter X

Living as the Eucharist in the World

But this transformation does not end at the altar. Rather, the Eucharist compels us to "be what we have received" - to emerge from the Mass and live as Christ's Body in the world. The Bishops go on to say that "the Eucharist impels us to overcome divisions, to be reconciled with one another, and to work for justice and peace."

Just as Christ gave His Body for the life of the world, we are also invited to offer ourselves as a "living sacrifice" in service to others. Conforming our life to the Eucharist we receive transforms us into "a sacrament of unity" in a shattered society. In this sense, the Eucharist changes not only us, but the entire world.

(O)ur transformation into Christ is brought about not only by eating from the table of the altar, but also from “eating” of the table of God’s word. We should not consider the Liturgy of the Word merely the “menu” for the Liturgy of the Eucharist—for it too is a feast. While Ezekiel and John literally “eat the scroll” from God, we take in the Divine Word when we consciously hear, sing, say, and pray the prayers and readings at Mass. And as we become like Jesus by receiving the Eucharist, we are likewise transformed into him by hearing the words of the Mass. Christopher Carstens

Sources

  1. The Eucharist and the Transformation of the World, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (2022)
  2. Catechism of the Catholic Church (1993)
  3. Lumen Gentium: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Second Vatican Council (1964)
Additional References
  1. Vultum Dei quaerere 22
  2. Christopher Carstens, Adoremus 
  3. Compendium of the CCC 271
  4. Confessions of Saint Augustine, Chapter X
  5. St. Leo the Great
  6. Redemptor Hominis 20
  7. Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion under Both Kinds in the Dioceses of the United States of America
  8. CCC 1396

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