THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST AND THE PASCHAL MYSTERY

 

THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST AND THE PASCHAL MYSTERY

            On December 4, 1963 Pope Saint Paul VI promulgated the first and most important document of the Second Vatican Council, known in Latin as Sacrosanctum Concilium and in English as “The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy”.  It launched the reform of the ancient Mass to the Mass which we experience in most of our churches today.  While we suffer from some effects of the poor manner in which the reforms it called for were implemented, which often deviated from the intention and teaching of the document, it remains a sure, certain, authoritative, and infallible source for learning what the Church believes about the Eucharist. 

The Constitution highlights the intimate link between the Paschal Mystery and the Eucharist, as we see in the following quote: “At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood.  This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and Resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet, in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us” (SC 47).  The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to the Eucharist as “the sum and summary of our faith” and quotes the second century Father of the Church, St. Irenaeus: “Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking” (CCC 1327).  This is why the Church requires all baptized Catholics who have reached the age of reason to receive Holy Communion at least once a year, during Lent or Easter, after having confessed all mortal sins, in order to remain in communion with the Church.  One must receive Communion to be in communion.

The Paschal Mystery is the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ, which is not only a one-time historical event but a perpetual reality which is re-presented in every celebration of the Mass.  It is a true sacrifice because it makes present the sacrifice of the Cross.  It is its memorial celebration and it applies its graces to the faithful.  In the Mass Christ is not sacrificed again; rather, his sacrifice on Calvary is made actual.  “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…the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the Cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner” on the altar of the church (Council of Trent, quoted in CCC 1367).  You cannot come any nearer to the Paschal Mystery in this life than to participate in the celebration of Mass and adore Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist.

The Eucharist is also the Church’s sacrifice.  When the Mass is celebrated, she is united to the intercession of the Son with the Father for the salvation of the world.  In the Church, which is the Body of Christ, the faithful join themselves to the sacrifice of Christ by their participation in the Mass.  It becomes their sacrifice since they are one with Christ in a mystical union.  There is one Body; he is the head and they are the members, as taught by St. Paul (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-27; Rom 12:4-8, Eph 1:22-23; Col 1:18). “The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value.  Christ’s sacrifice present on the altar makes it possible for all generations of Christians to be united with his offering” (CCC 1368). 

Since this is true, how could anyone ever consider missing Mass on Sunday?