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Since the birth of Jesus,
there is already a glimpse of what would come. “A prefiguration was there
in the fact that the baby Jesus came to the world in a stable and was placed in
a manger. The manger is the place where we put the food for the animals. We are
nothing more than animals in a great stable and He came to be our most special
Food, in the Eucharist, so that we may have Eternal Life”. (3)
In a brilliant, very
enlightening way, the document of Pope Benedict XVI tells us about the
Eucharist: The Eucharist, a mystery to be believed.
But nothing like the
Word of God, Himself; Christ spoke clearly, bluntly, in John 6, 27-59: “27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food
that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him
God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said
to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus
answered them, “This is the work of God, that you
believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to
him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do
you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as
it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Jesus
then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it
was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the
true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is vhe who comes down from heaven and gives life to
the world.” 34 They said to
him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus
said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever
comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not
believe. 37 All that the Father
gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will
but the will of him who sent me. 39 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 on the last day.
40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks
on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him
up on the last day.” 41 So
the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am
the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “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’?” 43 Jesus
answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws
him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught
by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—
46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from
God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal
life. 48 I am the bread of
life. 49 Your fathers ate the
manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that
one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If
anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give
for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How
can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “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. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal
life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in
me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the
Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like
the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live
forever.” 59 Jesus said these
things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.”
At the last supper, Jesus
gave power to the apostles to consecrate bread and wine so that we could eat
his flesh and drink his blood - thus, He instituted the sacrament of the
Eucharist (Matthew 26: 17-30, Mark 14: 12-26, Luke 22: 7-39, John 17).
When we receive the Sacred
Host, being prepared to do so, obviously, we are the Tabernacle of the Living
Jesus. It is the saving sacrifice that is repeated with each Consecration of
bread and wine. (1)
The importance of the
Eucharist is not limited only to our personal salvation, enabling us to eternal
life, but we participate in the sanctification of the Church, in communion with
all its members. (1)
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Related
links:
(1) The Eucharist: basic questions and answers (this
text clarifies many doubts about the Eucharist)
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