
	The Sacrament of the Eucharist (The Mass)

	One of the ways that we express our love and care for one another is through food. How many times does a wife prepare a favorite dish for her husband or a mother fix a special treat for her children? When God led the Hebrew people from Egypt, he fed them Manna, a bread-like substance. In addition God provided them with quail and fresh water. More times than not, the stories of Jesus' interaction with people involves a meal. And so it is understandable that when Jesus gathers with his disciples at the last supper, he would take bread and wine and say, "When you gather as disciples, remember me. Remember what I tried to teach you. As you share this bread and wine, know that I am really present to you. As you share this bread and wine, so you are to share your lives with one another. When I say to you, 'Love one another as I have loved you', I mean share your life with one another."


	Christ is Truly Present As Catholics we believe that Christ becomes truly present to us at Mass. When we gather and pray the prayer Jesus said at the last supper, we believe the bread becomes His Body and the wine His Blood. The theological term we use to describe what we believe about the presence of Christ is 'Transubstantiation". This means the substance of the bread and wine - that which makes it bread and wine - is changed or transformed into the presence of Christ. Christ is present in a true, real and substantial manner or in His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. The phrase "Body and Blood" is a shorthand version of that full statement. To say that Christ is present in His Body and Blood is the best way we have of saying that Christ is truly present not in some mystical or spiritual sense, but just as you and I are really present to one another. Indeed there are other ways in which Christ is present to his disciples. When we say Christ is present in the Eucharist we are saying that His presence is real in the fullest sense of the word. Christ is not present in flesh and blood as you and I have flesh and blood because Christ is risen from the dead with a transformed body. Thus we are not talking about being cannibals when we receive Communion. On the other hand we are not talking about a mere symbolic presence. We are talking about the real presence of the risen person, Jesus Christ. As Catholics we believe that Christ is not simply present at the moment of communion, but continues to be present as long as the bread and wine remain. The Mystery of Christ's Death and Resurrection In the Eucharist we celebrate Christ's death and resurrection, the culmination of his life. By the power of the Spirit we are united to Christ as he makes the gift (sacrifice) of himself to God on the Cross. Because he totally entrusted himself to God, God raised him up on the third day. In the Eucharist we both celebrate and are united to Christ as he journeys from death to life. If we are willing to make a gift of ourselves and entrust our life to God as Christ did, then we too shall share in Christ's resurrection. Because participation in the Eucharist both expresses and forms us as Christ's disciples, it is called the source and summit of Christian Life.