The Eucharist
Source of Catholic Identity
The Institution of the Eucharist
“And having taken bread, he gave thanks and broke, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is being given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In like manner he took also the cup after the supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which shall be shed for you.’” (Lk 22:19-20).
Action Item 1: �Teach the students Who is Present in the Eucharist
Read the discourse on the Eucharist together from John 6:26-72
Jesus: Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal.�
Narrator: Then they said to him,�
People: What must we do, to be doing the works of God?�
Narrator: Jesus answered them,�
Jesus: This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.�
Narrator: They said to him,�
People: Lord, give us this bread always.�
Narrator: Jesus said to them,�
Jesus: I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall�not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.�But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not�believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me; and�him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come�down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of�him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me,�that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but�raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father,�that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.�
The two greatest powers given to humanity
Procreation—gift of being created complementarily as male and female in God’s image and through that complementarity to bring forth new life.
Consecration—gift of ordained priests being able to consecrate bread and wine into the Living Christ-present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity under the appearance of bread and wine.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church, and delivered himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, cleansing her in the bath of water by means of the word; in order that he might present to himself the Church in all her glory, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she might be holy and without blemish. Even thus ought husbands also to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife, loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh; on the contrary he nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ also does the Church (because we are members of his body, made from his flesh and from his bones).
‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is great mystery---I mean in reference to Christ and to the Church” (Ephesians 5:25-32).
These Powers are integrally related.
Blessing down the generations
“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and requites to their face those who hate him, by destroying them; he will not be slack with him who hates him, he will requite him to his face” (Deuteronomy 7:9-10).
Narrator: So they said to him,�
People: Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and�believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate�the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave�them bread from heaven to eat.”
Narrator: Jesus then said to them,�
Jesus: Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who�gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the�true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.�
Narrator: The Jews then murmured at him, because he�said,�
Jesus: I am the bread which came down from heaven.�
Narrator: They said,�
Jews: Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father�and mother we know? How does he now say, “I have come down from heaven?”�
Narrator: Jesus answered them,�
Jesus: Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can�come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.�
Narrator: The Jews then disputed among themselves,�saying,�
Jews: How can this man give us his flesh to eat?�
Narrator: So Jesus said to them,�
Jesus: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh�of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in�you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.�
Narrator: This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at�Capernaum. Many of his disciples, when they heard it,�said,
Many disciples: This is a hard saying; who can listen to�it?�
Narrator: But Jesus, knowing in himself that his�disciples murmured at it, said to them,�
Jesus: Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you that do not believe.�
Narrator: For Jesus knew from the first who those were�that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him.�And he said,�
Jesus: This is why I told you that no one can come to me�unless it is granted him by the Father.�
Narrator: After this many of his disciples drew back and�no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve,�
Jesus: Do you also wish to go away?�
Narrator: Simon Peter answered him,�
Peter: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of�eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.�
Narrator: Jesus answered them,�
Jesus: Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?�
Narrator: He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot,�for he, one of the twelve, was to betray him.
(John 6:26-72)
Action item 2
Promote the power of God’s merciful everlasting Love for each one of us and His Infinite Desire to restore us to grace or strengthen the life of grace in us through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Teach the students how to examine their consciences, and how to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Provide opportunities for this.
�Action Item 3: Teach the students how to receive Holy Communion and what conditions are necessary to receive worthily.
Three conditions for receiving Holy Communion worthily:
�Teach the fear of the Lord in the Presence of the King of Kings.
“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the cup; for he who eats and drinks unworthily, without distinguishing the body, eats and drinks judgment to himself. This is why many among you are infirm and weak, and many sleep. But if we judged ourselves, we should not thus be judged. But when we are judged, we are being chastised by the Lord that we may not be condemned with this world. (1 Corinthians 11:27-32).
Action item 4
Promote a true understanding of why the Mass has Infinite value because of its making present the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Action item 5
Promote Eucharistic Adoration in your school.
Obtain permission to open a Eucharistic Chapel in your school or provide students access to a nearby Catholic Church.
Opening Ceremony EWTN coverage –�National Eucharistic Congress July 17, 2024, Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN
“Way Maker” by Sarah Kroger
Experience one on one with Jesus Christ in Eucharistic Adoration.