The Source and Summit of our Catholic Faith
By Paige Kohlman
As a convert to the Catholic faith, the teaching of Jesus being truly present in the Holy Eucharist is a difficult, fascinating and yet beautiful teaching of Christ’s deep love - a teaching that would take me some pondering and searching to uncover the deep truths of Christ’s love for His Beloved Bride the Church and the whole world at large. In Holy Eucharist, Christ is truly present with us until the end of the age, this is the source and summit of our Catholic faith. Everything that we believe in as Catholics is rooted in the love of Jesus as the Holy Eucharist. Without it, our Catholic Faith means nothing. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read:
“The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch." (CCC.1124)
As we read in the Gospel of John 6, Jesus tells His followers that His flesh is true food and His blood is true drink. However, this was a very hard teaching for them to believe in. And still Jesus goes on to say, that whoever eats of His flesh and drinks of His blood will have eternal life. Because of these words from Jesus, many of His followers left and went their own way. Yet, Jesus did not change what He said in order to win them back. No he clearly stated that He is the only way to receive eternal life, through partaking of his body and blood.
In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus shows us how deep His love goes. In this most holy sacrifice, Jesus constantly lays down His life for His Beloved Bride the Church, for each one of us and teaches us to do the same for each other. Yes, brothers and sisters we too are called to be Eucharistic. Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we witness the greatest love, where Jesus lays down His life for us; and He invites us to share in this deep Eucharistic love. When we receive Jesus in this most intimate way of Holy Communion, we enter into the Paschal mysteries of Christ’s death and resurrection. At every Mass we participate in, we are invited to unite our sufferings and prayers to Jesus on the cross, allowing Him to bring new life to every circumstance we are going through. Think about it, when we receive Holy Communion, we are receiving the God of all creation fully into our hearts. Through receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, He is constantly healing our wounds, transforming our hearts, and giving us new life. We become a new creation through the power of the Eucharist, as we offer our whole selves to Him.
Not only do we become a new creation, but we are called to become one with Jesus, uniting our hearts and minds to His. When reflecting on the Holy Eucharist, I think of it like a marriage, where the two become one and from there bear much fruit, in the case of a marriage having children. Through receiving the Eucharist we are invited to partake in the marriage of the Lord bearing much fruit through the love we offering in our prayers and sacrifices offered, at each Mass. We are called to not only unite with Him at Mass, but remain with Him - becoming one with Him. Jesus says, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) What a beautiful gift of Himself God gives by laying down His life for His Beloved Bride, the Church, at every altar around the world; and how beautiful it is, bringing joy to our dear Jesus’ heart when we respond to this gift of love by giving Him our whole heart!
During the Feast of Corpus Christi, we have a Eucharistic Procession, celebrating the great gift of the Eucharist. Many parishes literally take Jesus to the streets of their town or city, where people of every background get to witness the love of Jesus. What a great act of evangelism this is; however, we are called to take Jesus to the streets every day. We are called to be His hands and feet and so we are celebrating the power and love of Jesus in the Eucharist. As we love our neighbor in acts of charity and deep prayer, we are living out a Eucharistic life, where Christ’s light can shine within us. The Eucharist is truly the source and summit of our Catholic faith and to be Catholic is to become a Eucharistic People, offering our lives as a living sacrifice.
For these reasons the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith. It is in the Eucharist we find our strength to follow God and let our light shine bright in a world that lives in darkness. As it says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God the Father gave us Jesus to bring us new life and set us free from our captivity. Jesus does this work of mercy through offering Himself at every Mass around the world in the Holy Eucharist, offering us His body, blood, soul and divinity. We too are sent out to be a living sacrifice offering ourselves in deep love and prayer for those around us. St. Paul tells us,
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)
“The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch." (CCC.1124)
As we read in the Gospel of John 6, Jesus tells His followers that His flesh is true food and His blood is true drink. However, this was a very hard teaching for them to believe in. And still Jesus goes on to say, that whoever eats of His flesh and drinks of His blood will have eternal life. Because of these words from Jesus, many of His followers left and went their own way. Yet, Jesus did not change what He said in order to win them back. No he clearly stated that He is the only way to receive eternal life, through partaking of his body and blood.
In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus shows us how deep His love goes. In this most holy sacrifice, Jesus constantly lays down His life for His Beloved Bride the Church, for each one of us and teaches us to do the same for each other. Yes, brothers and sisters we too are called to be Eucharistic. Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass we witness the greatest love, where Jesus lays down His life for us; and He invites us to share in this deep Eucharistic love. When we receive Jesus in this most intimate way of Holy Communion, we enter into the Paschal mysteries of Christ’s death and resurrection. At every Mass we participate in, we are invited to unite our sufferings and prayers to Jesus on the cross, allowing Him to bring new life to every circumstance we are going through. Think about it, when we receive Holy Communion, we are receiving the God of all creation fully into our hearts. Through receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, He is constantly healing our wounds, transforming our hearts, and giving us new life. We become a new creation through the power of the Eucharist, as we offer our whole selves to Him.
Not only do we become a new creation, but we are called to become one with Jesus, uniting our hearts and minds to His. When reflecting on the Holy Eucharist, I think of it like a marriage, where the two become one and from there bear much fruit, in the case of a marriage having children. Through receiving the Eucharist we are invited to partake in the marriage of the Lord bearing much fruit through the love we offering in our prayers and sacrifices offered, at each Mass. We are called to not only unite with Him at Mass, but remain with Him - becoming one with Him. Jesus says, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) What a beautiful gift of Himself God gives by laying down His life for His Beloved Bride, the Church, at every altar around the world; and how beautiful it is, bringing joy to our dear Jesus’ heart when we respond to this gift of love by giving Him our whole heart!
During the Feast of Corpus Christi, we have a Eucharistic Procession, celebrating the great gift of the Eucharist. Many parishes literally take Jesus to the streets of their town or city, where people of every background get to witness the love of Jesus. What a great act of evangelism this is; however, we are called to take Jesus to the streets every day. We are called to be His hands and feet and so we are celebrating the power and love of Jesus in the Eucharist. As we love our neighbor in acts of charity and deep prayer, we are living out a Eucharistic life, where Christ’s light can shine within us. The Eucharist is truly the source and summit of our Catholic faith and to be Catholic is to become a Eucharistic People, offering our lives as a living sacrifice.
For these reasons the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith. It is in the Eucharist we find our strength to follow God and let our light shine bright in a world that lives in darkness. As it says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God the Father gave us Jesus to bring us new life and set us free from our captivity. Jesus does this work of mercy through offering Himself at every Mass around the world in the Holy Eucharist, offering us His body, blood, soul and divinity. We too are sent out to be a living sacrifice offering ourselves in deep love and prayer for those around us. St. Paul tells us,
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)