| Resources to help you guide your child to grow up Catholic Click on the items below to find more information Catholic Prayers with which every child should know by heart - or at least be familiar! Catholic Words An illustrated glossary which you can share with your child or use on your own. Catholic Teaching about the Sacrament of Eucharist. The Catholic Catechism in plain English You have to buy this, but it's worth the investment so you can be fully confident and able to teach your child well. Daily Faith Sharing A guide to how to do it based on the readings from each week's Sunday Mass Resources galore! We've chosen a few resources we think every Catholic home should have in it. Use this as your check list. Some of these things you have to buy. Others are free. |
| How Do We Celebrate God’s Gift of Communion? The Sacrament of Eucharist full set of these articles, click here. The little numbers give the articles in the Catechism which are being summarized here. How Do We Complete Our Initiation and Celebrate God's Gift of Communion? The Sacrament of the Eucharist Source and Summit (1322) Each time we celebrate the Eucharist we deepen and more perfectly complete our own Christian initiation. We enter ever more deeply into Christ, putting on Christ more fully as a garment, living with Christ forever. (1323-24) The great Constitution on the Church from Vatican II make this clear in a single, memorable line: The Eucharist, it explains simply, is "the source and summit of the Christian life." All the rest of the work of the church and indeed, the daily life of us Christians, directs us toward the Eucharist and flows from it. Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives. (1325) It is the source of our union together as the People of God, and it is that thing which keeps the church. (1326-27) It is, you might say, an entire summary of our faith wrapped up in a single moment where Christ acts to express that Divine Love which he revealed in his life and death and which is now sustained by the Spirit of Love. Many names (1328) Because it is so central to us and so rich, we give this sacrament many names. Each name reflects certain dimensions of this diamond, and in each we see a slightly different meaning. The word itself, “Eucharist” comes from Greek and means, literally, “thanksgiving.” (1329) We also refer to it as “The Lord's Supper” because it flows from that famous last supper which Jesus shared with his friends. We call it “The Breaking of Bread” because in that last supper, Jesus used the rite of breaking and sharing bread, a rite which was common for Jews. It was again in that rite where his disciples recognized him after the resurrection, and that is the rite around which his early followers gathered using it to signify their own unity as the Body of Christ. We call it “The Eucharistic assembly” because the Eucharist is celebrated in public by the church assembled. (1330) We refer to the Eucharist as “the memorial of the Lord's passion and resurrection,” “the holy sacrifice,” and “sacrifice of praise.” (1331) We call it “holy communion.” (1332) We call it “the Mass” by which we refer to its final action, which sends us forth to love and serve and which was rendered, in Latin, ita missa est. Important signs (1333) Each and every time we gather faithfully to celebrate the Eucharist, Christ makes himself present among us under the signs of bread and wine. This is the memorial he left us, to share this meal and in it, to recognize his presence. (1334) This reflects our Jewish roots because bread and wine were offered by early priests to show gratitude to God. Also, it was unleavened bread which they ate on that night of the Passover, marking their imminent departure on a journey during which they were fed with manna. The cup of blessing at the end of the Jewish Passover meal was a hopeful and festive action, a sign of Divine Love among them. In Christ, this blessing cup became a sharing in the kingdom of God. In Christ, this bread became a sharing in his dying and rising. (1335-37) Perhaps the most revealing moment in Jesus’ life came on the night of that famous supper when he revealed the depths of Divine Love. As a servant would do, he rose from the supper table, donned an apron, and washed the feet of his disciples. In this single act, he forcefully revealed that God is love, Divine Love. (1338) Matthew, Mark and Luke hand on to us the account of the breaking of bread while John adds this account of the washing. By reading them all, we get the picture clearly: Christ has left us a memorial of his love, a way to continue to make himself present down through the centuries under this form. Eucharist is a memorial of Christ’s dying and rising. (1339-40) Here for us is a “new Passover” one in which Jesus passes over to his Father, one in which we too pass over to new life, which is why it is always initiation. (1341) This liturgical action is more than a mere memory, however, for in it Christ continues to be present, forming us in love, shaping us as a people, loving us to death. (1342) And from the very beginning, the followers of Christ have gathered for this memorial. (1343-44) And we gather too, using the same fundamental prayer, around the entire world, on the first day of the week. It is the center of our lives. How We Celebrate (1345) The way we celebrate the Eucharist today reflects closely how it was celebrated in the early church communities. (1346) The liturgy has a certain defined structure, following two great parts: liturgy of the Word liturgy of the Eucharist. Together, they form one single act of worship. (1347) Remember the story of Emmaus? The liturgy follows that basic format: Jesus walks with us to teach us, then sits with us at table. (1348) First we gather faithfully together, coming from all walks of life, from all cultures, and from many places, into a single place with one mind, sharing one heart and one faith, …we gather. Christ presides represented by the priest, but all who gather participate fully. It is Christ who acts through the priest. (1349) We read from the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments. We hear a homily and we pray faithfully. (1350-51) We present the bread and wine, along with other offerings, and these are blessed by the Spirit. (1352) And then the moment arrives for us to pray the great Eucharistic Prayer of the church, giving thanks, committing ourselves, and being made holy. It begins with a preface expressing this thanks, singing with full heart and soul. (1353) In the prayer over the gifts we acknowledge that it is the Spirit of Love which blesses us and our gifts to make them and us into the Body of Christ. By retelling the story of the Lord’s Supper in the power of this Holy Spirit, Christ’s body and blood are made sacramentally present under the form of bread and wine. Bread and wine are the essential signs of the Eucharist. (1354) By remembering the story of God loving us, the dying and rising of Christ, our own hearts fill with gratitude. By calling to mind then the entire church: living and dead, our pastors and leaders and all the faithful, we connect ourselves in the Spirit. (1355-58) And then in communion, we all share in this great sacramental moment, when God who is Divine Love, and Christ in whom that Love is revealed, and the Spirit of that Love fills us also with love. Thanksgiving and Praise (1359-61) In the Eucharist we pray in two important ways. First we give thanks to God for the great divine love shown to us, especially shown through Christ. Second, we celebrate and sing praise to God who is the generous giver of all these gifts. (1362-63) The Eucharist is also the memorial of Christ's Love, and every time we remember this love, it becomes more real for us, more present in our own lives. (1364-65) Tremendous grace flows from the Eucharist because in it, we see into the heart of God as clearly as humanly possible. All the many ways in which we miss the mark as God’s sons and daughters when we make unilateral choices, or live selfishly, or break our bond with the community, are focused here. We are forgiven again, and again, and again… The Eucharist is, in this way, a sacrifice, “an action which makes us holy.” (1366) It is Christ’s action, the power of grace, the forgiveness of sins, the celebration of Divine Love. (1367-68) We bring our whole lives to this, our work and suffering and love, our failures to love and our desires, our fear and anger and ignorance, our joy and hope and communion. (1369) So it is the whole church who prays at Eucharist, in every time and place where it is celebrated. (1370) This includes the entire communion of saints. (1371-72) When we gather faithfully, Christ is present, the power of the Spirit heals us, and Divine Love is once again expressed fully. Real Presence (1373) Christ is present in the church in many ways. We find him among the poor and rejected whom he loves, in the Word, broken open and shared, in the gathering of the people, in all of the sacraments, in the person of the priest or bishop. But Christ is present especially in the Eucharist. (1374) When we speak of “real” presence in Eucharist, we do not mean to exclude the other types of presence, which we have just mentioned. We mean only to emphasize that here in the Eucharist, Christ is present in a substantial way, a unique way, fully, really, and entirely. Christ makes himself present to us in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Christ is substantially present. (1375) The bread and wine are converted into Christ’s body and blood in this sacrament. The priest pronounces the words of Christ from the Lord’s own supper, but the power to transform the bread is God’s. (1376-77) We give a name to this daily miracle, a name which helps us see that the presence of which we speak is a substantial one. The name is “transubstantiation” and by it we refer to the belief that the very substance of the bread and wine actually changes and remains changed until consumed. (1378) It is for this reason that we bow or genuflect when we pass the tabernacle. It is for this reason that we revere the Eucharist for this reason that we set aside some hosts for the sick and for our own prayer. (1379) It is for this reason that we place our tabernacle in a worthy and safe location. (1380) Christ himself gave this memorial of his love to his closest friends and disciples and now he remains mysteriously present in our midst, still loving us, still giving us grace, still present. (1381) Do not try to understand this with your senses, as St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us, but give yourself over to this miracle. Gather with others who believe, break open and share the Word, then turn to the gifts of bread and wine, with an ordained priest who represents Christ. Invoke the Holy Spirit and retell the great story of that great, loving supper, give thanks for all we have received, and lo! Christ makes himself present! The church wants us to receive communion often. (1382) We then receive communion as the church urges us to do each time we are present at Mass. It is Christ whom we receive. Just as in baptism we enter into the death of the Lord so as to die ourselves and rise with Christ, so in Eucharist, once again we share in the Cross. (1383) For this reason, receiving communion is something we do only after preparation. (1384-85) We should first examine our consciences and be free of the kind of serious sin which separates us from the community, which we call “mortal sin.” If such serious sin has occurred, sacramental reconciliation should precede our celebration of the Eucharist. We should fast from other food beforehand, and receive this gift with humility and joy. We must be “in the state of grace” to receive communion. (1386-89) The church requires that we celebrate the Eucharist each Sunday, and on all holy days, but it obliges us to receive communion at least once a year during the Easter Season. (1390) It’s important t to note that, even though Christ is fully present when we receive only the host of bread, the sign of communion is more complete when given under both kinds. This is the usual form of receiving communion in the Eastern rites. Communion with Christ (1391) The key to the Eucharist is this: we become what we receive. When we celebrate the Eucharist, we Christians join more closely to Christ and to one another. Indeed, we become the Body of Christ! (1392 1393) In this process, we are freed to live in Christ and to live with love and to shed our unilateral behavior. For how can we be joined to one another and not love? In this way, by repeating the Eucharist, over and over and over again, our journey of faith is empowered. Just as the drum beat provides the cadence of a song, regular Eucharist provides a steady rhythm to our shared life in the church. --------------------- The Eucharist strengthens our unity as church. ------------------------------- 1394-7 Hence we are joined to one another and to the poor, the rejected, the outcast. We are joined to Christ. 1402-5 And finally, the Eucharist and our gathering for it, the great singing and praying of the church, also expresses the hope we have that one day we will live in this love forever. One day, we will have the joy of knowing Divine Love, revealed to us in Christ, and we will live in the Spirit of Love. Christ is present In all of the sacraments, in the person of the priest or bishop. But Christ is present especially in the Eucharist. |
| Resources to help you guide your child to grow up Catholic Click on the items below to find more information Parents who are not Catholic Some suggestions about how you can take part in all this Household Bible Study Here is an easy-to-use, downloadable Household Bible Study. 18 sessions in all. Each has a 5-page worksheet that you all can share. All you need is your own Bible. The cost of this is 99¢ per worksheet. Get them all in a handy zip file. Just Living Simply. Sustainably. In solidarity with the Poor. This is a 14 step process on the web site which walks you through a series of household exercises leading to a life more in keeping with Gospel values. Exciting but challenging! |
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