The church shares in the very life of the risen Lord. Its members, through baptism into the church, form a body with Christ as its head. It is through this church that women and men are saved by coming to know Jesus Christ and through him are united in grace to the Father through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, in his most recent encyclical, “Ecclesia De Eucharistia,” makes clear that the mystery of the faith involves the mystery of the Eucharist and the church.

The pope highlights the importance of eucharistic communion as the “unifying power of participation in the banquet of the Eucharist” (23). The encyclical also reminds us that “the worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable value for the life of the church … It is the responsibility of pastors to encourage, also by their personal witness, the practice of eucharistic adoration, and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in particular …” (25).

Theological logic

The theological logic of the encyclical unfolds in Chapter 3, “The Apostolicity of the Eucharist in the Church,” where we are encouraged to reflect on how the priest, acting in the person of Christ, brings about the eucharistic sacrifice. Here, the Holy Father develops the church’s teaching on the relationship between priestly ministry and the Eucharist (cf. 27, 29).

In the section titled “The Apostolicity of the Eucharist and the Church,” the pope addresses what it means to say that the church is apostolic and, therefore, the Eucharist participates in that characteristic. At the core of this teaching is the recognition that the church rests on the foundation of the apostles. “The Eucharist too has its foundation in the apostles, not in the sense that it did not originate in Christ himself, but because it was entrusted by Christ to the apostles and has been handed down to us by them and by their successors” (27).

Another sense in which the church is apostolic is that with the help of the Holy Spirit the church hands on the deposit of faith that she received from the apostles. The pope points out that here too the Eucharist is apostolic, “for it is celebrated in conformity with the faith of the apostles (27).

Until Christ’s return

Lastly, we are told the church is apostolic in the sense that she continues to be taught, sanctified and guided by the apostles until Christ’s return. The Eucharist “also expresses this sense of apostolicity” since it is the ordained priest who, acting in the person of Christ, brings about the eucharistic sacrifice and offers it to God in the name of all the people. The Holy Father at this point notes, “For this reason, the Roman Missal prescribes that only the priest should recite the Eucharistic Prayer, while the people participate in faith and in silence” (28).

A pastoral implication for this chapter is the “pastoral promotion of priestly vocations” (31). We are all obliged to pray and work for an increase in priestly vocations. We are reminded that when a community lacks a priest and a remedy is sought in having religious or laity lead the faithful in prayer, as praiseworthy as this exercise is, “such solutions must be considered merely temporary, while the community awaits a priest” (32).

Chapter 4 is titled “The Eucharist and Ecclesial Communion” and provides us insight into what it means to profess our faith in the church as a “communion” of believers professing the same faith, celebrating the same sacraments and recognizing the same hierarchical structure. The Eucharist is the supreme sacramental manifestation of communion in the church and, therefore, those who receive holy Communion bear public witness that the outward bonds of communion are intact (cf. 34, 38, 40).

Underlining this truth, the Holy Father teaches: “The celebration of the Eucharist, however, cannot be the starting point for communion; it presupposes that communion already exists, a communion which it seeks to consolidate and bring to perfection” (35).

In this section, the encyclical reminds us that we must be spiritually disposed to receive the Eucharist. “Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of reconciliation before coming to communion” (36).

Public statement

The reason why there cannot be intercommunion among those who do not share Catholic faith is because Communion is the public statement that those who receive it are “incorporated into the society of the church … accept her whole structure and all the means of salvation established within her, and within her visible framework are united to Christ, who governs her through the supreme pontiff and the bishops, by the bonds of profession of faith, the sacraments and ecclesiastical government and communion” (38).

The fifth chapter, titled “The Dignity of the Eucharistic Celebration,” challenges us to recognize that the celebration of the Eucharist must be done with fitting simplicity and solemnity and thus always in accord with the ritual of the church. The Eucharist is the patrimony of the church and not the private property of the celebrant (cf. 47, 49, 52). The way the Eucharist is celebrated should reflect the faith and practice of the church.

Reflection on Mary

The final section, Chapter 6, “At the School of Mary, ‘Woman of the Eucharist,’” the pope leads us through a beautiful reflection on Mary as the model of faith and her spirit of praise of God as a model of our own attitude as we approach the Eucharist (cf. 54, 58). “In the Eucharist, the church is completely united to Christ and his sacrifice, and makes her own the spirit of Mary ... The Eucharist, like the Canticle of Mary, is first and foremost praise and thanksgiving” (58).

Jesus continues to be with us. His eucharistic presence is the foundation of the church and our pledge of life everlasting. The faith of the church in the real eucharistic presence of Jesus goes back to the words of Jesus himself, as recorded in the Gospel of St. John.

In the eucharistic discourse after the multiplication of the loaves, our Lord contrasted ordinary bread with a bread that is not of this world but which contains eternal life for those who eat it. He said: “I am the bread of life … I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:48, 51).