Catechism index

1326 I. The Eucharist - Source and Summit of Ecclesial Life Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all. 137
1327 I. The Eucharist - Source and Summit of Ecclesial Life In brief, the Eucharist is the sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking." 138
1328 II. What is This Sacrament Called? The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called: Eucharist, because it is an action of …
1329 II. What is This Sacrament Called? The Lord's Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the wedding feast of the …
1330 II. What is This Sacrament Called? The memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection. 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 …
1331 II. What is This Sacrament Called? Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body. 149 We also call it: the holy …
1332 II. What is This Sacrament Called? 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 …
1333 III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ's Body and Blood. Faithful to …
1334 III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator. But they also received a …
1335 III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the blessing, breaks and distributes the loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, prefigure the superabundance of this unique …
1336 III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the announcement of the Passion scandalized them: "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" 158 The Eucharist and …
1337 III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation The Lord, having loved those who were his own, loved them to the end. Knowing that the hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father, in the course …
1338 III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation The three synoptic Gospels and St. Paul have handed on to us the account of the institution of the Eucharist; St. John, for his part, reports the words of Jesus in the …
1339 III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood: Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the …
1340 III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus' passing over to his father by his death …
1341 III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation The command of Jesus to repeat his actions and words "until he comes" does not only ask us to remember Jesus and what he did. It is directed at the liturgical celebration, …
1342 III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation From the beginning the Church has been faithful to the Lord's command. of the Church of Jerusalem it is written:
1343 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.... Day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts. 166 It was above all on "the first day of the week," Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection, that the Christians met "to break bread." 167 From that time on down to our …
1344 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.... Day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts. 166 Thus from celebration to celebration, as they proclaim the Paschal mystery of Jesus "until he comes," the pilgrim People of God advances, "following the narrow way of the cross," 168 toward the …
1345 IV. The Liturgical Celebration of the Eucharist As early as the second century we have the witness of St. Justin Martyr for the basic lines of the order of the Eucharistic celebration. They have stayed the same until our …