Catholic and Loving it!

Lots of good things being said about the Eucharist on Zenit today...

Prelate: Faithful Not Mere Bystanders at Mass

When Catholics attend Mass they are not mere bystanders, but rather participants in the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection, says the archbishop of Washington, D.C.

He continued: "Unlike any other form of remembrance or commemoration, the Mass, the Eucharistic liturgy, thanks to God’s gracious gift, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, has the power to make present the very reality it symbolizes.

"In the Eucharist, Jesus has instituted the sacrament in which his Passion, death and resurrection would be made present again in our lives in a way that enables us to share in the benefits of the cross.

"We speak of our dying to sin and rising to new life because we participate in the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection."

"The Church uses the word 're-present' to speak of what is happening in the Mass," the archbishop explained. "The term 'holy sacrifice' of the Mass is also exact because sacramentally, but really and truly, the death and resurrection of Christ are once again made present."

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...and then...

Cardinal: If They Understand the Mass, They'll Come

"The Eucharist is a gift of God," said Cardinal Tomko. "Not as an object, as the other gifts of God, but a very special one, because the gift of God himself.

"The Eucharist is Christ himself, a Person with his divine and human nature, given to us. It is the body and blood of the Risen Christ present with us under the sacramental signs of the bread and wine."

"On the eve of his passion, in the Cenacle he took the bread and solemnly declared: 'This is my body given up for you.' And he said over the wine: 'Drink from it, all of you, this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.'

"He has accomplished only a few hours in advance of and in a bloodless, sacramental manner, the sacrifice offered in bloody way on the Cross at Calvary. Jesus therefore instituted the Eucharist as his redemptive sacrifice. The Eucharist is a sacramental form of the sacrifice of Jesus on cross, Cenacle and Calvary are just one sacrifice 'for the life of the world.'"

"This sacrifice happened only once," added the papal legate, "but Jesus wanted to apply and to perpetuate it through the centuries. Therefore he gave a commandment to his apostles: 'Do this in memory of me.'

"It is a memorial and a command: not only to remember him with speeches and words, but to do what he has done."

"From that time," said Cardinal Tomko, "the priests of his Church accomplish this sublime command doing the same action and pronouncing the same words. Through 2,000 years the same words of Jesus consecrating the bread and wine resounds."

"In each celebration of the Mass," he said, "Jesus Christ himself is present with us in the situation of sacrifice as the lamb of God who takes away the sins of our world, of our community, our sins."

"It is not a show, not a pure commemoration or remembrance," he stressed, "it is sacramental representation of this salvific event, a persevering memorial bringing its fruits to the faithful."

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