The Eucharist

By Father Janusz

      After breaking the bread, when their hearts were warmed and enlightened the signs started to appear. Through the signs a very rich message was discovered in the mystery. The Holy Eucharist is too great a gift. We shouldn’t tolerate any different meanings and we shouldn’t ignore this great gift. The definition of the Holy Eucharist is a banquet. The Holy Eucharist was started on Holy Thursday in the context of the paschal supper. Therefore this sense of a banquet is written in it. “Take it and eat it”. After, he took the chalice and He gave it to them saying “drink it “. This is the aspect of Communion between God and His people, and we should imitate this same level of communication between each other.

      The Eucharist has a sacrificial dimension. The sacrifice fulfilled at Golgatha. He is risen but he holds the signs of his suffering-”we proclaim his death and resurrection”. The Eucharist has two aspects, the past time and the future time. This last aspect, when Christ will come at the end of the world, gives us an opportunity to walk and use the way of Christian hope. Both these aspects bring us to the point of the real presence of Jesus Christ. We believe with the whole Catholic Church that in the species of bread and wine is the real body and blood of Jesus Christ.

      To understand the mystery of the Holy Eucharist, we need to learn how to celebrate it. What does this mean? The Holy Eucharist must become the center of our Christian lives. All communities should celebrate the Holy Eucharist with respect, according to the norms, to the faithful one. When we discover the signs and the liturgies we understand our lives better. We need to keep the picture of the real presence of Jesus Christ in our minds.

      Jesus’ presence in the tabernacle should become the “magnet” of attraction. Taste and see, here we are touched in a very special way through adoration of the blessed sacrament. Behind the Holy Eucharist Jesus rewards our faith and makes our love stronger. During adoration we deepen our own contemplation and also our communities. To contemplate has a very wide meaning. One way is to use the rosary which is leading us to the center of Christ, with Mary we learn to know Jesus better. Also it is very important to use the explanations included in the bible and books written by the mystics.

      The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist stays with us, like Jesus said. This is a gift. The Eucharist is the entrance to a very deep communion with Jesus. God has made the heart of human beings feel the hunger of the word of God. This hunger can be satisfied by full union with Him. Communion is given to us so that we can be fed by God on this earth while waiting for fulfillment and satisfaction in heaven. The Church is the body of Christ. This one Eucharistic bread makes us one body. We all take from this one bread, and we become one body.

      The Holy Eucharist is the foundation of unity. To celebrate the Eucharist we can find some restrictions, but they are there for a reason, to help us realize what Jesus expects from us. This is the brotherhood of communion. We are open for each other, to understand, love, and to forgive.

     (Luke: 24-33) “So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them”. They recognized the Lord in the breaking of the bread. They set out to share what they had seen and what they had heard. When we meet the risen One it is not possible to keep this to ourselves. The joy from this meeting should be passed on to others. This meeting with Jesus gives us an urgent need to give testimony. We can identify a connection between the Holy Eucharist and preaching. The Holy Eucharist brings a lesson on how to evangelize our own lives and others. The Eucharist arouses our life plan and gives us a chance of a lifetime.

      To give thanks…This very important element from this lesson is included in the meaning of the word Eucharist, which means thanksgiving. To this sacrifice we can notice Jesus’ “yes” to the will of His Father, thanks and amen. We have to adopt this lesson into our daily time where we work and live-in school, home, factory, family. This program is about the testimony that human existence can’t be justified without creation. Creation without a creator is lost. We should give stronger testimony about the presence of God in the world.

      The Eucharist is also a way of solidarity for all people in the world. The Church teaches us about unity not only by a sign of internal unity with God but also solidarity among all people. Every Eucharist when it is said holds a universal meaning of unity. Those who participate during the Eucharist become spokesmen of communion of peace and solidarity. The Eucharist becomes the school of peace, which shapes men and women. People who are involved in community life, culturally  and politically, are working for the development of dialog and communion.