Dear Parishioners,

The Church has received the Eucharist from Christ her Lord not as one gift – however precious – among so many others, but as the gift par excellence, for it is the gift of himself, of His person in His sacred humanity, as well as the gift of His saving work. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the memorial and perpetuation of her Lord’s death and resurrection, this central event of salvation becomes present, and the work of our redemption is carried out. This sacrifice is so decisive for the faith and salvation of humanity that Jesus Christ offered it and returned to the Father only after He had left us this means of sharing in it as if we had been present there.

Each of the faithful can thus take part in it and inexhaustibly gain its fruits. This is the faith from which and for which generations of Christians through the ages have lived. The Church’s Magisterium has constantly reaffirmed this faith with joyful gratitude for its inestimable gift. What more could Jesus have done for us? Truly, in the Eucharist, He shows us a love which goes “to the end” (John 13:1), a love that knows no measure.

During the Last Supper, Jesus did not simply state that what he was giving them to eat, and drink was His Body and His Blood; He also expressed its sacrificial meaning and made sacramentally present His sacrifice which soon would be offered on the Cross for the salvation of all. This was a faith invitation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms the fact that “the Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord’s body and blood” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1382).

The Church constantly draws her life from this redeeming sacrifice; she approaches it not only through faith-filled remembrance, but also through a real contract, since this sacrifice is made present ever anew, sacramentally perpetuated, in every community that offers it at the hands of the consecrated minister. By virtue of its close relationship to the sacrifice on Golgotha, the Eucharist is a sacrifice in the strict sense, and not only in a general way, as if it were simply a matter of Christ’s offering himself to the faithful as their spiritual food.

Do we take part in the Eucharistic celebration, or do we watch it being celebrated? The celebration of the Eucharist is not the action of the priest alone, even though he is the central figure, the president and minister of the celebration. The entire congregation contributes to the entire celebration and every one draws from the celebration the grace, the nourishment it produces. There are two levels of participation involved here: internal participation and external participation. The two sum up to make what we call active participation. Internal participation means that each word and action of the Mass becomes relevant to the Christian. Through attentive listening the Christian interiorizes the whole event into his or her life. External participation, on the other hand, involves the response of the body. This starts from proper prior preparation and embraces gestures like singing, kneeling, standing, hand clapping, dancing, other external symbols, etc.

The gift of His love and obedience to the point of giving His life (Jn 10:17-18) is, in the first place, a gift to His Father. The most acceptable sacrifice willed and accepted by the Father. In giving His sacrifice to the Church, Christ has also made His own the spiritual sacrifice of the Church, which is called to offer herself in union with the sacrifice of Christ. This is the teaching of the Second Vatican Council concerning all the faithful: “Taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, which is the source and summit of the whole Christian life, they offer the divine victim to God, and offer themselves along with it” (Lumen Gentium, No. 11). 

Happy Sunday to you all!