We have been hearing parents and students of the CCD asking the following questions: “When are we going to receive the bread?”, “We will register our children for CCD. When is the graduation?” Many of the parents and students may not be aware of this particular sacrament that they are preparing themselves into.
The Eucharist or Holy Communion is the source and summit of the life of the Church because it contains the whole spiritual wealth of the Church- namely Christ himself. Thus, the single most important action in the life of the church. Thus, what we are receiving is not an ordinary bread, but the Body of Christ in its real presence. Jesus is present in a real and substantial way, with his body, soul, humanity and divinity. As Jesus said, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him” (John 6:56)
WHAT IS THE SACRAMENT CALLED?
EUCHARIST – from the Greek eucharistein meaning “thanksgiving,” to emphasize that the reason for the Sacrament is to give thanks to God for the beauty of creation and the wonder of redemption.
THE LORD’S SUPPER – to recall that the institution of the Sacrament was done on the eve of the Lord’s Passion, when he was at table in the Cenacle with his Apostles.
THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD– to underline the action through which Christ distributed the consecrated Bread during the last Supper. It signifies the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, and also our desire to offer our crosses in union with him.
THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS– to profess that the Sacrament is the memorial, or reenactment, of the Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection, which completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Testament. Mass, from the Latin mission meaning “sending forth,” refers to the missionary mandate of Christ: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature”
THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT– to remind that the real presence of Jesus in the Sacred Species does not end with the Final Blessing of the Mass, but continues when they are preserved in the Tabernacle for adoration, and for being brought to the sick
(The Sacrament of the Eucharist
Sons of Holy Mary Immaculate)
