what is the eucharist?

Two thousand years ago, when Jesus was walking among the people of Galilee, they had his presence in front of them every day. They could see him and hear him and touch him. Because we are physical people, it helps us to have concrete, tangible signs of the presence of the person we love.

For example, when a spouse goes away on a business trip, they may send a postcard or letter to their loved one as a continuing sign of their presence and their love. When the loved one reads the letter, the beloved is present to them in the words of the letter. In a similar way, Jesus wanted to give his followers a continuing sign of his presence and love for them, which would sustain them even if they could no longer physically see him.

He gave them this sign on the night before his crucifixion, when he and his closest friends were celebrating their annual Passover meal. It was a meal rich in symbolism, a meal in which all Jewish people remembered the time of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Each part of the meal had significance. They would physically re-enact the night of their “Passover” from slavery to freedom, and this re-enactment made their history real to them. They were not just reminiscing. It was so real to them that they felt it was actually happening in the present. They believed that they were the ones being called out of Egypt.

During that meal, Jesus took that symbolism and gave his followers a new way of looking at the meal. It was no longer simply the Passover from slavery to freedom of their ancestors long ago, but Jesus transformed it into the Passover from the “slavery” of sin to the freedom of new life in him. The bread became a symbol of the breaking of his body on the cross, and the wine a symbol of the blood he was about to shed for them. He asked them to continue to break the bread and share the wine “in remembrance of me.”

So this is what we do at the Mass. Every Mass is a making real, here and now, of the events that took place in Jerusalem in AD 33. Like the Jewish Passover meal, the Mass is a way that we participate in the sacrifice of Christ “here and now”. Like the Passover meal, it is more than just a reminiscence. At the Mass we believe that Jesus is really present, just as he was present over two thousand years ago.

The Eucharist is the culminating point of the Mass. Think of it like a thanksgiving dinner. First, you sit around the living room and tell stories (the liturgy of the word, where we read the Gospel) and then you move to the table to enjoy the meal. That is called the liturgy of the Eucharist. During the liturgy of the Eucharist the priest leads the community in remembering the words of Jesus at that last meal, saying “this is my body” and “this is my blood. Do this in memory of me.”

Those are called the words of consecration. Catholics believe that when the priest says the words of consecration, the wine and bread are actually transformed into the body and blood of Christ. How this happens is a mystery. You can’t see it happening. The wine is still wine, and the bread is still bread, but somehow it is also more than just bread and wine. Like the water of baptism is more than just water, and the oil of confirmation is more than just oil. Like the other sacraments, the bread and wine are physical tangible ways that God gives God’s spirit to us.

Prior to Vatican II, the focus had been on the words that the priest said. The sacredness of the consecrated bread and wine was the most important thing. While still maintaining the belief in Jesus real presence in the Eucharist, Vatican II asked Catholics to go a step further. Jesus is alive and active, not confined to a box in the back of the church.

When we receive the Eucharist, WE are transformed, just as much as the bread and wine. The sacrament of the Eucharist is meant to make us more and more like Christ, to transform us more and more into his image.

We, the Church, are the body of Christ. When we, as the body of Christ, take the body of Christ at the Eucharist, we are challenged to become more and more what we are called to be -- the hands and feet and arms of Jesus in the world today. We are to imitate Jesus self-giving in our own lives.

The Eucharist gives us the spiritual nourishment we need to live more Christian lives. In the Eucharist, and the other sacraments, we allow the spirit of God to come into our hearts and transform us. When we come up to receive the Eucharist, the priest or Eucharistic minister says “the body of Christ” and we say “Amen.” When we do this we are stating our desire to receive Christ into our heart, to allow his spirit of love to transform us into more loving, Christ-like people. Like a nursing child is fed by its mother’s body, we are fed by Jesus body in the Eucharist. It is the spirit of Christ nourishing us and transforming us that enables us to grow in the Christian life.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Eucharist

1. Are people receiving only “half” of communion if they receive only the bread? Do they have to receive BOTH the bread and wine?
No. Communion is complete if only the bread is received. But restoring the early church practice of taking both the bread and wine makes for a more perfect re-creation of the last supper.

2. What about alcoholics ? Is there a non-alcoholic alternative to the wine?
Unfortunately, no. But their communion is just as complete if they simply take the bread. The traditional reason for insisting on wine is that wine is what was used at the last supper. But this is a topic of much discussion in the church, and is a real pastoral concern. Offering a non alcoholic alternative is something that I could see happening in the future, as the church strives to address people’s needs.

3. Why do some people receive communion in their hands and others on their tongues?
It was the custom for a time for communion to be taken on the tongue, but now it is a matter of personal choice. Receiving communion in the hand is a more common practice now, and more in keeping with the early church’s practice.

4. Can communion be received more than once in the same day?
Technically, yes. If you stay for the whole mass. But, that can easily turn into treating the Eucharist like an asprin, just rushing in to take communion. So it is the norm for Catholics to receive Eucharist only once a day.

5. Why do people at St. Johns stand for the consecration, where at some other Catholic churches, people kneel?
In the early church, people stood for the consecration as a sign of respect and joyful celebration. As the centuries progressed, people began to kneel, as a sign of sorrow and repentance, and focused so much on the Divinity of Christ that his humanity was almost forgotten. Kneeling was a sign of fear before a king. This practice still continues in some catholic churches today. But with Vatican II, the church recovered the early church’s focus on joyful celebration. So, at St. John's we stand in joy rather than kneel in fear.

6. Why is the Eucharist called “Holy Communion”?
Communion means “union with”. Communion with Jesus unites us with God and with others. It gives us the power to live loving lives. When we receive Christ in the Eucharist, we become one with Jesus. His life enters us and transforms us. Communion with Christ strengthens us spiritually and renews the spirit of God that we received at our baptism. It also enables us to recognize Christ in the poorest of his brothers and sisters.

7. What is the “Eucharistic fast”?
It is traditional that Catholics do not eat or drink anything for an hour before they receive communion, to better prepare themselves for the Eucharist. Water and medicine are exceptions.

8. Who can take communion?
In order to take communion, the recipient needs to have an understanding of what the Eucharist is, and an honest desire to draw closer to Christ. They also should be attempting to live a Christ-like life. (The church teaches that it needs to be baptized Catholics…but Christ doesn’t check our ID’s)

Sometimes at weddings and funerals, non-Catholics may be invited to receive communion. Often non-Catholics attending Mass will come up to receive a blessing from the priest during communion, but not take the bread.

9. What is meant by the “Real Presence”?
Catholics believe that Jesus is truly present in the community assembled for worship. Jesus is also present in the proclamation of the word as we read the Gospel. In addition, we believe that Jesus is present in a special way in the bread and wine.

Exactly how Jesus is present in the consecrated bread and wine is a mystery. The church uses the term transubstantiation to express the idea that somehow the reality of Jesus is present in the bread and wine.
Catholics believe that Jesus presence continues in the bread and wine, so consecrated bread is kept in the tabernacle, a safe-like, secure receptacle usually located in a chapel or side altar. At St. John's the tabernacle is in the back of the church on the left side.