Cathal BarryThe Church teaches that the Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s Passover, writes Cathal Barry
The Eucharist, the sacrament of salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross, is also a sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for the work of creation, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
“In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole of creation loved by God is presented to the Father through the death and the Resurrection of Christ,” the key teaching document states.
“Through Christ the Church can offer the sacrifice of praise in thanksgiving for all that God has made good, beautiful, and just in creation and in humanity.”
The Eucharist, according to the Catechism, “is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his benefits, for all that he has accomplished through creation, redemption and sanctification”.
Glory of God
Eucharist means first of all “thanksgiving”.
The Eucharist is also the sacrifice of praise by which the Church sings the glory of God in the name of all creation.
“This sacrifice of praise is possible only through Christ,” the Catechism states.
“He unites the faithful to his person, to his praise, and to his intercession, so that the sacrifice of praise to the Father is offered through Christ and with him, to be accepted in him.”
The Church teaches that the Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s Passover, the making present and the sacramental offering of his unique sacrifice, in the liturgy of the Church which is his Body.
In all the Eucharistic Prayers we find after the words of institution a prayer called the anamnesis or memorial.
In the sense of Sacred Scripture the memorial is not merely the recollection of past events, according to the Church, but “the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God for men”.
“In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way present and real,” the Catechism states.
The Church teaches that the memorial takes on new meaning in the New Testament. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ’s Passover, and “it is made present the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present”.
“As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which ‘Christ our Pasch has been sacrificed’ is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out” (Lumen Gentium).
Because it is the memorial of Christ’s Passover, the Church holds that the Eucharist is also a sacrifice.
The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: “This is my body which is given for you” and “This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood” (Lk 22:19-20). In the Eucharist, the Church teaches that Christ gives humanity the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:28).
The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit.