During the first Eucharistic prayer the priest says: “let it become for us, the body and blood of Jesus Christ…” This shows how the people believe that Christ is present in the bread and wine.
We also believe that the wine is converted into the blood of Christ, this is because at the last supper he said: “This is my blood, of the covenant which is poured out for many”
This is demonstrated in the Act of Faith which says: “O God because you said it, I believe I shall receive the Body of Jesus to eat, and the Blood of Jesus to drink, I believe this with all my heart.”
However other Churches have different beliefs from that of the Catholic, they believe in Consubstantiation, this is where they believe that the bread and wine is a symbol of Jesus’ body and blood but that it is not actually changed into it.
During the Eucharist we are recreating what happened at the last supper, and we are entering into a new covenant between God and ourselves, Jesus said, “Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” In this he is promising eternal life.
At the last supper Jesus used bread to represent his body as it was an essential food at this time, he is trying to demonstrate that we need the Eucharist in order to survive spiritually in life, and it offers us strength. This is why Jesus is known as the ‘Bread of Life’. Similarly the wine is used as it was also a popular drink in Jesus’ time.
For Christians Jesus changed the event of the Passover, whereas before the Israelites had used the blood of a lamb to save them, Jesus now becomes the new Pascal sacrifice in order to save people from death and sin, he did this by dying on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, “dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life.” This is why he is sometimes referred to as the ‘Lamb of God.’
After the Passover, when the Israelites where in the desert they were in desperate need of food, then God provided them with ‘mana’ bread and this nourished them and kept them healthy. Jesus is known as the bread of life, as he keeps us spiritually alive, and so when we leave Mass after receiving the Eucharist we are said to be spiritually satisfied.
The word eucharist itself means thanksgiving, and the mass is consequently seen as a great act of thanksgiving by the people to God for what Jesus did by offering himself as the Lamb that took away the sins of the world. This is why at the start of most masses we say the Gloria: “Glory to God in the highest…in the glory of God the Father. Amen” It is a prayer of thanks.
The Eucharist challenges and inspires us; we reflect and listen to the message of the bible which is delivered in the liturgy of the word.
