Day 181: The Sacrament of the Eucharist (1328-1332)

• It’s Day 181!!

• WHAT IS THIS SACRAMENT CALLED?

• This sacrament has a BUNCH of different names

• We call it the Mass

• We call it the Eucharist

• BUT…

• There are so many things

• Every one of the names that we call the Eucharist reveals something DISTINCT about it

• Each name evokes certain aspects of what the Eucharist REALLY IS and what the Eucharist REALLY DOES

• When it comes to God, names are never merely names

• NAMES ALWAYS MEAN SOMETHING

• Your name means something

• What we call the Eucharist…

• The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass…

• The Breaking of the Bread…

• THEY MEAN SOMETHING!!

• They invite us into a deeper aspect of what it is to participate more and more fully and enter more and more deeply into the reality of the Eucharist

• Let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, thank you Father. You have revealed your name to us. You have revealed the name of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord to us, and you have revealed the different ways in which we are called to consider the Eucharist. Lord God, when we begin to think that we know you, it is pretty clear that we only know something of you. Help us to know your heart in the depths, help us to know your heart, as well as we know anyone’s heart. Help us to know you even better than we know anyone. As you continue to reveal yourself to us in your sacraments and your Scripture, here in the Eucharist, we ask that you please deepen our love for you, not just our knowledge. Broaden our love for you, not just what we know. And help us to allow you and your grace to transform our lives into living reflections of you, so that we can be walking Tabernacles, so that we can be walking witnesses. Apostles sent forth because you have made us your children in Baptism. You have strengthened us with Confirmation. And you feed us, and you make us into yourself in this unique and mysterious way in the Holy Eucharist. Lod God, may you be praised and glorified. Hear our prayer, now and forever. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• These names may all be familiar to you

• The first one is EUCHARIST

• What is Eucharist?

• It comes from the Greek word “eucharistein”

• So it is thanksgiving

• The Hebrew word “toda” is “thanksgiving”

• If you are in Israel and speaking Hebrew and you want to say “thank you” say “toda”

• Back in the Old Testament there were many different kinds of sacrifices

• Sacrifices of atonement

• Sacrifices of petition

• Sacrifices of thanksgiving

• The rabbis said that in the age of the Messiah, all sacrifices will cease EXCEPT FOR ONE

• The only sacrifice that would remain in the age of the Messiah, according to the rabbis, was the toda sacrifice, the Eucharistic sacrifice

• THIS IS REMARKABLE!!

• The rabbis spoke in a prophetic way

• All of the sacrifices have ended

• The Temple was destroyed in 70 AD

• Since then, there has been no temple

• Since then, there has been no sacrifice except for the ONE GREAT SACRIFICE of the Son to the Father in the Power of the Holy Spirit

• The sacrifice of the Eucharist

• JUST LIKE THE RABBIS TAUGHT

• The one sacrifice that remains in the age of the Messiah is the toda, the Eucharistic sacrifice

• So we call it THE EUCHARIST

• We also call it THE LORD’S SUPPER

• This makes sense because Jesus established this at the Lord’s Supper, the Breaking of the Bread

• During the Easter season you will hear this a lot because we read a lot from Acts of the Apostles

• When Jesus is Resurrected He meets the two disciples on the road to Emmaus

• Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas although the second disciple’s name is up for debate

• They are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus

• Jesus shows up, talks with them, and gives them a good Bible Study

• And then it says, “They recognized him in the breaking of the bread.”

• The Church has ALWAYS interpreted that as Eucharist because even Acts 2:24 says, “The Disciples devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the communal life, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.”

• Breaking of bread doesn’t just mean they ate meals together

• IT IS CODE FOR THE EUCHARIST!!

• IT IS CODE FOR THE MASS!!

• That is going to be there, the Eucharistic assembly, because we do not just do this on our own

• It is called THE EUCHARISTIC ASSEMBLY because we gather together and it is the WHOLE CHURCH that offers up the Eucharist

• It is the MEMORIAL OF THE LORD’S PASSION AND RESURRECTION

• Do you remember the word “ANAMNESIS”?

• That when we remember what Jesus has done, we are not simply recalling something

• BUT…

• We are actually THERE once again

• Paragraph 1332 says, “Holy Mass (Missa), because the liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the faithful, so that they may fulfill God’s will in their daily lives.”

• So it is called the Mass because it was where you would be sent forth

• We get filled with the Holy Spirit

• We get filled with Jesus Christ’s body, blood, soul, and divinity

• And then we are SENT OUT INTO THE WORLD 

• To do what?

• To bring that body, blood, soul, and divinity, and bring that Holy Spirit TO THE WORLD

• Paragraph 1330 says, “The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church’s offering. The terms holy sacrifice of the Mass, ‘sacrifice of praise,’ spiritual sacrifice, pure and holy sacrifice are also used, since it completes and surpasses all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant.”

• At the heart of EVERYTHING the Eucharist is the sacrifice of the Son to the Father in the Power of the Holy Spirit

• Out of all the sacraments, the Eucharist is UNIQUE because IT IS JESUS

• It is not simply the actions of Jesus

• Yes the Eucharist is an action

• It is also a verb

• It is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

• It is the UNBLOODY SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST to the Father in the Power of the Holy Spirit

• It is that sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary

• It is the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross

• THAT IS WHAT IT IS!!

• So yes it is also a noun

• It is also a verb

• What is the verb?

• SACRIFICE!!

• THAT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR ALL OF US!!

• Because we get to JOIN IN THIS

• The heart of religion is not merely the Creed

• The Creed is very important

• The heart of religion is not going to be the moral life although we are going to talk about that

• The heart of all religion is WORSHIP

• What are we giving to God?

• The heart of worship is SACRIFICE

• THIS IS SO IMPORTANT FOR US TO UNDERSTAND!!

• The heart of our relationship with God is the GREAT SACRIFICE of the Son of God to the Father in the Power of the Holy SPirit that we get to participate in at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

• So when we go to Mass we are not just watching what happens

• We are PARTICIPATING IN THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE

• We are PARTICIPATING IN THE PURE AND HOLY SACRIFICE

• We are PARTICIPATING IN THE HOLY AND DIVINE LITURGY

• We are PARTICIPATING IN THE SACRED MYSTERIES

• WE GET INVITED INTO THIS!!

• We receive Holy Communion, which is another term

• IT IS AMAZING!!

• IT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• We get fed with what they call the BREAD OF ANGELS

• BREAD FROM HEAVEN

• AND YET…

• Before that, we get to participate in worship

• Before that, we get to participate in the offering of the sacrifice by lifting up with the ministerial priests

• You are a kingdom priest

• You share in a baptismal priesthood

• You get to unite your prayers with the prayers of the ministerial priest who is united to the prayers of the one great High Priest, Jesus Christ

• When we go to Mass we are at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offering up that great and eternal once-for-all sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross

• We participate in an unbloody way

• THAT IS SO INCREDIBLE!!

• This is going to be an entire section of WE ARE SO GRATEFUL!!

• It highlights what an incredible gift it is for all of us 

• To be able to be united like this

• To be able to press PLAY and hear what God has in store for all of us

• (MAN!!) OH MAN!!

• It is remarkable to be able to hear how much God loves you

• We have all these names for the Eucharist

• The Eucharist is the love of the Father FOR YOU

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!