Reference: Chapter 26 CFC

The Eucharist: Christ, the Living Bread of Life.

“I am the living bread...anyone who eats this bread shall live forever;
the bread I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world. . . . He who
feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise
him up on the last day . . . [for] he remains in me and I in him.” (Jn
6:51, 54, 56) When the hour came, he took his place at table with the
apostles. He said to them, “I have greatly desired to eat this Passover
with you before I suffer. . . ” Then, taking bread and giving thanks, he
broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body to be given for
you. Do this as a remembrance of me.” He did the same with the cup
after eating, saying, as he did so: “This cup is the new covenant in my
blood, which will be shed for you.” (Lk 22:14f, 19f)

Celebrating the Eucharist is never just an activity of private, individualistic piety.

Rather, “the other sacraments as well as every ministry of the Church and every
work of the apostolate are linked with the Holy Eucharist and are directed towards
it . . . . all are thereby invited and led to offer themselves, their labor and every
created thing with Christ” (PO 5). Thus, the Eucharist is the unique Christ-given
means for gradually transforming our everyday activities and works into
meaningful service of God and our neighbor by uniting us with Christ.

I. BASIC DESCRIPTION OF THE EUCHARIST

The basics of the Catholic Faith in the Eucharist are presented in Vatican II’s
“Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.”

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 and 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; cf. CCC 1323)

The specific points of this descriptive definition of the Eucharist can be

summarized as follows.
1. The Eucharist was instituted by Christ. He prepared for it in the many fellowship
meals which he shared during his public life. He established the Eucharist at the
 Last Supper, the night before he died on the Cross. And he confirmed it as the Risen
Christ in his Easter meal appearances to his disciples.
2. The Eucharist is celebrated with Christ by the Christian community, the Church. It
is an essentially ecclesial act, carried out “by the Mystical Body of Christ, that is, by
the Head and his members” (SC 7).
3. The Eucharist is at once both sacrifice and sacred meal. It is the memorial
instituted by Christ so that the saving benefits of his Death and Resurrection can be
shared by the People of God through every age.
4. Christ himself is really present in the Eucharistic celebration in multiple ways, but
especially under the sacramental signs of bread and wine.
5. The Eucharist is the eschatological pledge and foretaste of our future glory.

Structure of the Mass. The whole Eucharistic celebration consists of: CONVERT TO
AN ACTIVITY
• Introductory Rites: Entrance Hymn, Greeting, Penitential Rite, the Gloria, and
Opening Prayer;
• Liturgy of the Word: Scripture Readings, Homily, Creed, and Prayer of the Faithful
(Intercessions);
• Liturgy of the Eucharist: Preparation of the Gifts, the Eucharistic Prayer, including:
__ Preface, Invocation (Epiclesis) of the Holy Spirit;
__ Last Supper’s Narrative of Institution, Acclamation;
__ Commemoration (Anamnesis), 2nd Invocation of Spirit;
__ Intercessions, great Doxology with Amen;
• Communion Rite: the Our Father, Prayer for Deliverance, Prayer for Peace,
Breaking of the Bread, Communion, Prayer after Communion;
• Concluding Rites: Final Blessing, Dismissal (cf. CCC 1346-55).

A. THANKSGIVING WORSHIP

The Christian community is never more “Church” than in its celebrating, here and
now, the memorial of Christ’s once-and-for-all sacrificial Death and Resurrection.
In the Eucharistic celebration the Church finds the source of its mission and the
pledge of its future destiny. “Just as the Church ‘makes the Eucharist,’ so ‘the
Eucharist builds up’ the Church” (DC 4).

The Eucharistic celebration brings us together as a community in Christ in whom

we have “received the means for giving worthy worship to God” (SC 5). This
community worship in and through the Risen Christ celebrates most perfectly all
the essential goals of prayer: thanksgiving, praise and adoration of God, contrition
for our sins, petition for His grace, and offering of all we have, do and are.

Recognizing “the Eucharist as the source and summit of the whole Christian life”
(LG 11), PCP II decreed that “the centrality of the Eucharist in Catholic piety shall
be given greater emphasis” (PCP II Decrees, Art. 8). This was developed by urging
Filipino Catholics to return the Eucharist to its rightful place __ at the center of our
private, ecclesial and societal lives, and not at its fringes where it is considered as a
 mere personal devotion or obligation or merely a means of gaining favor” (PCP II
181).

B. SACRIFICE-SACRAMENT

a) Sacrifice
Christ instituted the Eucharist at his Last Supper with his apostles, so that his
bloody sacrifice on the Cross could be perpetuated through all ages (cf. SC 47; CCC
1356-72). Pope Paul VI explained what this means: “through the mystery of the
Eucharist, the sacrifice of the Cross which was once offered on Calvary, is
remarkably reenacted and constantly recalled, and its saving power exerted for the
forgiveness of sins” (MF 27).

Christ instituted the Eucharist so that his once-and-for-all saving Death on the
Cross might be made present even to us __ 2,000 years later. The Eucharist is a
sacrifice because Christ is present precisely as “offering himself for us as a sacrifice
to the Father” (EM 3 b). Thus, the heart of the Eucharistic celebration is Christ, our
Lord’s perfect saving LOVE.

Our Savior himself is present in his total offering of himself to the Father. In the
Eucharist, the Death and Resurrection of Christ are not just remembered, but
effectively proclaimed and made present. Briefly then, the Eucharist is a sacrifice
because it:
• represents, makes present, the sacrifice of the Cross;
• is its memorial; and
• applies its fruit (cf. CCC 1341, 1366; cf. Trent, ND 1546-48).

Therefore the Mass is not a sacrifice separate from the Cross. Rather, the sacrifice
of the Cross and its sacramental renewal in the Mass are, apart from the difference
in the manner of offering, ONE and the SAME sacrifice. It is this sacramental
renewal which Christ the Lord instituted at the Last Supper and commanded his
apostles to celebrate in his memory. The Mass is therefore a sacrifice of praise, of
thanksgiving, of propitiation and of satisfaction (Instr. Rom. Missal 2).

b) Christ the Key

Again the key to this UNITY of the Eucharistic sacrifice and the Sacrifice of the
Cross is Christ himself. For Catholics, the Eucharist is more than just a “sign” of
Christ’s sacrifice without the reality of that sacrifice. Rather, the Eucharist is the
presence of Christ’s sacrifice, because Christ’s sacrifice IS Christ, and Christ is
really present in the Eucharist. Christ is both Priest and Victim of the Sacrifice of
the Cross, which is celebrated sacramentally in the Eucharistic sacrifice. Therefore
Christ is central to the Eucharist not just as SUPREME WORSHIPPER, but, more
importantly, as the PRIEST and VICTIM of the Eucharistic sacrifice.

1. Understanding Christ’s New Sacrifice

 But Christ’s sacrifice radically changed the sacrifices of the Old Covenant with their
slaughter of animals, sprinkling of blood, and the sacrificial meal. Instead of the
blood of animals, at the Last Supper Christ instituted the sacrifice of the NEW
Covenant in his own blood, telling his apostles; “This is my blood, the blood of the
Covenant, to be poured out in behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt
26:28).

But this was not to placate a wrathful Father . On the contrary, Christ’s sacrifice was
in perfect, loving obedience, revealing the Father’s own redeeming love for us.
Therefore,
• in the Father’s eyes, Christ’s sacrifice meant that His beloved Son was redeeming
the whole universe by offering all men and women the power to give glory to the
Father with himself, the “first-born of all creation” (Col 1:15);
• for Christ himself, his death meant the way “to pass from this world to the Father,”
by “loving his own to the end” (Jn 13:1). Through his dying in an act of perfect self-
giving love, Christ became the Risen Lord who sends the Holy Spirit on us all.

2. Death and Resurrection

The “newest” thing about Christ’s sacrifice, what makes it unique, is that it ended
not in death but in a new and glorious life. Christ’s Resurrection is both the
fulfillment of his sacrificial act and the sign of the Father’s acceptance of his
sacrifice. As Victim, Christ is the new Passover Lamb of the Last Supper and of
Calvary. He IS in his very being the one perfect sacrifice of love. Moreover, Christ,
the victim, has passed from death to life. Therefore he is the LIVING SACRIFICE,
really present in the Eucharist, eternally, pleasing to the Father. St. Paul writes:
“Christ Jesus. . . died, rather, was raised, . . . is at the right hand of God and. . .
intercedes for us” (Rom 8:34).

Actually, Christ’s whole life constituted a redeeming process, begun at the

Incarnation when he “was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of
the Virgin Mary.” It developed through his Hidden Life, his Public Ministry of
teaching, preaching and miracles, leading to the Last Supper, his Passion and
Death. The final moment and culmination of this whole process of redemption was
his glorious Resurrection.

Rather than simply as a “reward” from the Father for his sacrificial physical death
on Calvary, Christ’s Resurrection should be seen as the perfect fulfillment of his
whole life of redeeming LOVE. As such it is the first moment of his new, glorified
life in the Spirit, and his entry into eternal life as the Risen Lord, who sends his
Spirit upon us.

c) The Church Offers

Christ entrusted his Eucharist to the Church. It is the whole Christ, Jesus the Head
and all of us
 as members of His Body, that celebrates the Eucharist (cf. CCC 1368-69). The
Eucharist, then, is “the action not only of Christ, but also of the Church. The Church,
the spouse and minister of Christ, performs together with him the role of priest
and victim, offers him to the Father and at the same time makes a total offering of
herself together with him” (EM 3c). Here again we see the call to actively
participate in the Mass, sharing in Christ’s role both as Priest offering sacrifice, and
as Victim being offered, by joining all our own activities to Christ’s redeeming
work. PCP II explains how the lay faithful live Christ’s priesthood in three
dimensions:
 as a consecration to God;
 as mediating God’s plan to transform the world; and
 as a sacrifice of life together with Christ celebrated in the Eucharist (cf. PCP II 413).

Filipino Catholics used to be urged to “attend” Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of
Obligation.
But now this is changed to emphasize that the Church together with Christ actually
celebrates the Eucharist. In the Mass Jesus actually incorporates us into his very
own redeeming sacrifice. Therefore, in celebrating on the altar “the sacrifice of the
Cross by which ‘Christ our Passover [Paschal lamb] has been sacrificed’ (1 Cor
5:7), the work of our redemption is carried on” (LG 3). Thus in Eucharistic Prayer
III the priest celebrant prays:

We offer you, in thanksgiving,

this holy and living sacrifice.
Look with favor on your Church’s offering, and
see the Victim whose death has reconciled us to yourself.

d) Memorial
We know the Eucharist is a memorial of Christ’s Death and Resurrection. At the
Last Supper, Christ commanded his apostles: “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk
22:19; cf. 1 Cor 11:24).
So in Eucharistic Prayer IV the priest celebrant prays:
Father, we now celebrate this memorial of our redemption.
We recall Christ’s death, his descent among the dead,
his resurrection, and his ascension to your right hand;
and looking forward to his coming in glory,
we offer you his body and blood,
the acceptable sacrifice
which brings salvation to the whole world.

1. Biblical Sense of Remembrance

But when Christ commanded the apostles “Do this in memory of me,” he did not
mean what we today usually have in mind in celebrating various anniversaries,
birthday parties, and the like. In the biblical tradition, “remembrance” is not
 primarily a looking backward to recall a past event, but rather a making present
the great acts of the past which God had worked (cf. Ex 13:3). Thus the Old
Testament Passover ritual is described: “This day shall be a memorial feast for you,
which all generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord as a perpetual
institution” (Ex 12:14). The Jewish memorial meal of the Passover, then, was not
just a subjective remembering on the part of the Jews, of God’s past saving action.
Rather, it was primarily the action of God, making present to later generations His
saving power of the Exodus (cf. CCC 1363).

So the Eucharistic celebration makes present Christ’s “exodus”, by which he once-

for-all took away sin (cf. Heb 9:26, 28). In comparison with Israel’s thanksgiving
Passover remembrance, Christians have their remembrance of Jesus’ Passover - his
Death, Resurrection, Ascension, and sending the Spirit. So Christians celebrate
their memorial:
 for deliverance from Egypt, the land of slavery, but more for the Lord’s
Resurrection and Ascension to the Father;
• for crossing the Red Sea, but more for their own Baptism delivering them from sin
and death;
 for the pillar of fire illumining the desert at night, but more for Christ the true
guiding Light (cf. Jn 8:12);
 for the manna in the desert, but even more for the living Bread, given for the life of
the world (cf. Jn 6:51);
 for Moses, the “faithful servant,” but more for Jesus the faithful Son placed over us,
God’s house (cf. Heb 3:5-6);
 for the springs of living water in the wilderness, but more for the “spring welling
up to eternal life” (cf. Jn 4:14);
 for the Law of God (Torah) promulgated on Sinai, but more for the love of God
poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 5:5).

C. COMMUNION-SACRAMENT

A. Paschal Banquet
The Eucharist is also essentially the “sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of
charity, a Paschal Banquet” (SC 47; cf. CCC 1382). Instituted by Christ himself at
the Last Supper, the Eucharist was commonly known among the early Christian
communities as “the breaking of Bread.” Thus, the book of Acts describes the life of
the first Christian community: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’
instruction and the communal life, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts
2:42). This meant that all who ate the one blessed, broken Bread that is Christ,
were drawn into communion with him and with one another, to form one single
body with him. So St. Paul writes: Is not the cup of blessing that we bless, a sharing
in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread that we break, a sharing in the body of
Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, many though we are, are one body, for
we all partake of the one loaf” (1 Cor 10:16f).
1. Sacred Meal
The original setting of the Eucharist at the Last Supper brought out the meal
dimension very strongly. But this simply continued Christ’s “ meal ministry” that he
had carried on throughout his public life. From the start Jesus had scandalized the
scribes and Pharisees by sitting at table with sinners and tax collectors. One such
was Matthew, whom Christ called to be his apostle (cf. Mt 9:10-13). Another,
Zacchaeus, Christ called down from his perch in a tree, so that Jesus could eat with
him at his home (cf. Lk 19:5). Even when a Pharisee called Simon had invited Jesus
to dine with him, Jesus used the opportunity to contrast the great faith of the sinful
woman who had entered uninvited, with the lack of common hospitality shown by
the Pharisee (cf. Lk 7:36-50). After his Resurrection, Jesus “broke bread” with the
two disciples on the way to Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:30-31), and with seven of the
apostles on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias (cf. Jn 21:12f). In all these meals Christ
brought salvation to those who opened their hearts to him in loving communion.

2. Sign of unity and bond of charity

Christ instituted the Eucharist to signify and thus bring about the unity of the
Church (cf. UR 2). Even in our local parishes, the cele-bration of the Lord’s Supper
is the most effective way to “weld the whole Body together,” for it is the clearest
symbol of “that charity and unity of the Mystical Body without which there can be
no salvation” (cf. LG 26). For in celebrating the Eucharist together, the faithful are
drawn into the compelling love of Christ, to become one heart in love and practice
in deed what they profess by the Creed (cf. SC 10). Since Filipinos are both
naturally gregarious __ always accompanied by someone __ and fond of eating
together, this essential dimension of the Eucharist as fraternal meal in the Lord is
very attractive.

3. Elements of a meal
In sharing a meal together we satisfy much more than physical hunger. Equally
important is our deep hunger for understanding, love, companionship. A shared
meal involves three basic elements: a coming together, a dialogue, and a sharing of
food and drink.

First, like in a family meal or among people united by some common bond, the
Eucharist brings Catholics together, united by their Baptism, their common faith in
Jesus Christ, their Savior, and by their hope of deepening their union with Christ
and with one another.

Second, conversation provides the meal’s distinctive human quality. The whole
Eucharist is a dialogue between God and His faithful. For example, God speaks
through the Scriptural Readings (Liturgy of the Word), and the faithful respond by
their profession of faith (Creed) and the General Intercessions.

Finally, a meal involves preparing the food and drink, offering them to the
participants, and eating and drinking together. So likewise in the Liturgy of the
 Eucharist, there is the preparation of the Gifts, the invocation of the Holy Spirit,
and the Consecration by the priest celebrant, using the very words of Christ:

“Take this, all of you, and eat it:

This is MY BODY which will be given up for you. . . .
Take this, all of you, and drink from it:
This is the cup of MY BLOOD,
the blood of the new and everlasting Covenant.
It will be shed for you and for all, so that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in memory of me.”

Following the Eucharistic Prayer, the faithful receive holy Communion to be united
with Christ and with one another.

The reality of this Eucharistic meal rests squarely on Christ’s solemn promise:
“I myself am the living bread come down from heaven;
If anyone eats this bread he shall live forever.
The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world . . . .
He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal
and I will raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food, and my blood real drink.
The man who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him . . .
the man who feeds on me will have life because of me.”
(Jn 6:51, 54-57)

B. Human Hungers
Thus, in the Eucharistic meal, through the sign of physical nourishment in a meal,
Christ becomes the Bread of our spiritual lives, nourishing our faith, hope and love.
The Eucharist responds to the deepest hungers of our lives, both personal and
communal. Such are the basic human hungers for
b. love and acceptance,
c. understanding,
d. purpose in life, and
e. justice and peace.

As persons created in the image of God who IS LOVE, we hunger for acceptance
and love. In the Eucharist, Christ comes to each of us with his total acceptance and
self-giving love. Christ who “loved me and gave himself up for me” (Gal 2:20), calls
each of us into intimate communion with him, strengthening our own inner
security and personal self-acceptance.

We hunger for understanding, especially from our loved ones. Such understanding
we find ultimately only in Jesus Christ, who alone knows us perfectly from within.
In the Eucharist, Jesus becomes truly closer and more intimate to each of us than
we are to ourselves. Moreover, in the Eucharistic experience of “being understood,”
 we are challenged to reach out to others to understand them beyond our own
prejudices and limitations. Thus, the Christian community is inspired in
celebrating the Eucharist to respond to the basic human yearning of its members
for understanding.

To our basic hunger for a clear purpose in life, the Eucharist brings Christ precisely
in his redemptive mission of bringing us to the Father, and sending us the Holy
Spirit to renew our hearts and minds. The Eucharist, then, calls us to renew our
own commitment to share in Christ’s redemptive mission by promoting, in our
own small ways, the Kingdom of God on earth. But more, the Eucharist gives
meaning and value to all our actions, pains and sufferings, because we can offer
them together with Christ’s own Self-offering, as members of his own Body. Thus,
St. Paul wrote: “I find my joy in the suffering I endure for you. In my own flesh I fill
up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the Church”
(Col 1:24).

Finally, responding to the hunger for justice and peace, the Eucharist is the
sacrament of God’s Universal Love. There are no distinctions around the Table of
the Lord. Christ died and rose from the dead for ALL, with no exceptions! Sharing
the Bread of Life, then, relates each communicant to every other son/daughter of
the Father, even with __ following Christ’s example __ a “love of preference for the
poor” (cf. PCP II 312). Many Filipino Catholics are only now beginning to realize
the close connection between the Mass and social justice. The PCP II laid great
stress on our Church as “Church of the Poor” (cf. PCP II 122-36). It called Filipino
Catholics to a radical conversion, based on the formation of a social conscience (cf.
PCP II 283-89), inspiring a spirituality of social transformation (cf. PCP II 262-82),
which fosters social justice and peace (cf. PCP II 304-6), by means of active non-
violence (cf. PCP II 307-11).

D. PRESENCE-SACRAMENT
“To live forever” does not exclude physical death, but rather the death that
destroys “both soul and body in Gehenna” (Mt 10:28). As Christ explained to
Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he
should die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn
11:25f).

Besides being the sacrament of Christ’s sacrifice and of communion with him in the
Paschal Banquet, the Eucharist is also the sacrament of his Presence. Christ’s
Eucharistic presence must be seen against the many ways he is present in the
Church. Paul VI elaborates on the Vatican II doctrine by explaining that:
Christ is present in the Church:
f. when she prays, since Christ prays for us and with us;
g. as she performs her works of mercy (cf. Mt 25:40);
h. on her pilgrimage of struggle toward eternal life;
i. as she preaches the Word of God in the name of Christ, by the authority of Christ,
and with Christ’s help;
j. as she governs the People of God with power from Christ;
k. most effectively when she offers the Eucharist. (MF 35)

A. Christ’s Multiple Presences

Within the Eucharistic celebration itself, Christ “is really present in the assembly
itself, gathered in his name, in the person of the minister, in his Word [since he
speaks when the holy
Scriptures are read], and indeed substantially and unceasingly under the
Eucharistic species” (SC 7; cf. Instr. Rom. Missal 7). Christ’s presence in the
consecrated bread and wine is called ‘real’ “not to exclude all other types of
presence, but because it is presence in the fullest sense, a substantial presence by
which Christ, the God-Man, is wholly and entirely present” (MF 39; cf. CCC 1374).

1. Qualities of Christ’s Presence

In our daily experience, “presence” can refer to physical things close to one
another, like furniture in a sala, or people crowded together in a bus. Or it can refer
to the personal presence of persons to other persons through personal sharing of
knowledge, affection and love. This is done by communicating through cognitive or
affective signs. In the Eucharist, the Risen Christ is present not like one physical
thing to another. Rather, through the consecrated hosts and wine the Risen Christ
is personally present to us.

How then can we describe this personal presence of Christ in the Eucharist? In its
essentials,
Christ’s presence is:
a) sacramental: an objective presence, through the signs of bread and wine, seen
through the eyes of FAITH of the faithful;
b) personal: a real, substantial presence in order to enter into personal communion
with his Church and each member of his Body, “in spirit”;
c) in his glorified body: not in his earthly condition, but in his RISEN glorified body.
The one risen Body of Christ __ the “spiritual body” which St. Paul contrasts with
the “natural body” (cf.1 Cor 15:44) is sacramentally present at the same time in all
the tabernacles of the world.
d) dynamic and lasting: in the consecrated bread/wine, which are dynamic and
lasting “effective signs” of his love for us, and inviting us to respond in love.

2. Limitations
Yet there are obvious limitations to Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. We do not
encounter him bodily, as we do with our friends, but only through the sacramental
signs of bread and wine.
Contrary to what happens when we speak to a friend, we have difficulty at times
distinguishing between what Christ is saying to us from what we might be saying
to ourselves. Our dialogue is within a faith encounter, and we need to “test” what
we think we hear from Christ in the wider context of our personal and social
 responsibilities as Christians. Finally, these limitations of the Risen Christ’s
presence in the Eucharist lead us to pray for full, perfect communion with him:
“Maranatha __ come Lord Jesus!” (1 Cor 16:22).

B. Transformation of Bread and Wine

Christ’s real presence in the bread and wine has challenged belief from the time of
Christ’s
own promise to be the food and drink of his disciples. Many who heard him
reacted: “This sort of talk . . . how can anyone take it seriously” (Jn 6:60). Jesus
responded by referring to his Ascension and Glorification as the Son of Man (cf. Jn
6:62). The Gospel therefore stresses both the realism of Christ’s presence, and the
spiritual eating of Christ’s glorified body and blood. “It is the spirit that gives life . . .
the words I spoke to you are spirit and life” (Jn 6:63). Thus two extremes are
avoided:
l. a crude, materialistic understanding of the change of bread and wine into Christ’s
earthly “flesh and blood” that would make communicants equivalent to cannibals;
and
m. the opposite extreme of a merely symbolic interpretation of the change, which
would reject the real eating and drinking of the Lord.

1. The Eucharistic Change

In the Eucharist, then, the bread and wine as food and drink take on a new, deeply
personal
meaning and purpose: Christ’s personal self-giving presence for our salvation. Both
new meaning and purpose are based on a radical change in the reality of the bread
and wine, which is known in the Catholic tradition as trans-substantiation (Trent,
ND 1519,1527; cf. CCC 1376). This simply means that by the power of the Holy
Spirit, the earthly substance of bread and wine is changed into a reality of a
different level: the glorified Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen.

2. Eucharistic Change and the Risen Cosmic Christ

Thus, in the Eucharist ordinary bread and wine, products of nature and culture, are
transformed to make present to us the Risen Christ precisely in his redeeming
sacrifice. They take on an “eschatological form” since they are no longer “food that
perishes,” but “the food that remains unto life eternal” (Jn 6:27). This change of the
bread and wine must be seen in terms of the Risen Christ as Redeemer and
Unifying Center of all creation. “In him everything continues in being” (Col 1:17),
since in his own glorified body Christ sums up and recapitulates all things in
himself. The changed bread and wine, then, prefigure the glorification of all matter
in the new age, begun already in the Resurrection of Christ but taking place fully
only at his Second Coming.