I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

— Romans 12:1

Either before you arrive or as you wait for class to begin, find this short passage from Sacred Scripture in your Bible or through an online search. Reading it will prepare you for this week’s material.

— 1 Corinthians 10:15–21

Almighty and ever-living God, your eternal Son humbled himself not only in becoming man but also in giving us his flesh and blood to eat and drink. Help us learn to worship him with devout attention and to benefit from his unfathomable gifts. Amen.

• The Catholic Church teaches that the sacraments “cause what they signify”. They accomplish in us by grace what they “mean” or point to. There are three distinct aspects that the Eucharist points to and three corresponding distinct effects that it brings about.

• The first signification in the Eucharist is that it is food and drink: the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present under the appearances of bread and wine. The Body and Blood of Christ nourish us in the order of grace.

• The second signification is the unity of the Church. St. Paul refers to this in 1 Corinthians 10:17. Many grains produce one bread, and many grapes produce one chalice. This signifies that, as we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, we are made one in Christ.

• The third signification is that of sacrifice. This imagery is present at the heart of the Mass itself: first, the body is consecrated, and then the blood. This represents the separation of the blood and the body of Christ at the Cross, where his blood poured out from his wounds as a sacrifice for sin.

• The Mass allows the Church to participate in the grace of Christ crucified. In this way, the Church is able to offer Christ’s own merits to the Father for the sake of the world and to unite herself to that sacrifice in faith, hope, and love.

Wisdom of the Saints

When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence.

— St. Francis de Sales

Take a moment to go through these questions with the group. For larger classes, divide them up into partners. Answers are provided to assist you in leading discussion.

1. What does the Eucharist signify?

   There are three principal aspects that the Eucharist points to: the nourishment of food and drink, the unity of the Church in the one bread and the one chalice, and the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.

2. What are the scriptural foundations for the Church’s belief that the Eucharist is a sacrifice?

   Jesus’s institution of the Eucharist is itself filled with sacrificial imagery, and he commanded the Church to perform this rite in memory of his death. The grace of the sacrament conforms us to the charity of his passion. It allows us to offer him to the Father for the sake of the world in reparation for human sin, and ourselves with him, moved by his grace.

3. Does the Eucharist cause what it signifies? How so?

   Yes, and this is especially manifest in the visible communion of the Catholic Church down through time, which is united in one enduring communion. This communion is sustained and strengthened by the perpetual celebration of the Eucharist.

Catechism Connection

In the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ becomes also the sacrifice of the members of his Body. The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those of Christ and with his total offering, and so acquire a new value. Christ’s sacrifice present on the altar makes it possible for all generations of Christians to be united with his offering.

— CCC 1368

Discuss these questions with the group, pair them with a partner, or ask them to meditate on their own.

1. Of the Catholics you know, how do you see the Mass playing a central role in their lives?

   The Mass shapes Catholics’ lives by regularly re-centering them on Christ’s sacrifice and the Communion of the Church. It provides weekly (or more frequent) nourishment in the Eucharist, a shared ritual that bonds families and communities, sustains personal prayer and moral commitments, and offers a rhythm for offering daily joys and sufferings in union with Christ.

2. How can you learn to offer your life with Christ in the most holy sacrifice of the Mass? How can your joys and sorrows be occasions to grow closer to the Lord through this sacrament?

   By intentionally uniting your intentions to the offering of the Mass: pray before Mass, offer your day’s work, joys, and sufferings to God in silence or with a simple prayer of offering, and receive Communion worthily as nourishment for this union. Participate actively in the Liturgy of the Mass (prayer, songs, responses, and gestures), bring specific intentions to the priest when appropriate, and make acts of thanksgiving and penance afterward. Over time, practice seeing daily events as opportunities to give thanks and to offer sacrifices with Christ, trusting that he transforms even small offerings into redemptive grace.

3. Is the Eucharistic sacrifice a repetition of the sacrifice Jesus made on the Cross?

   No. The Eucharist is not a new or repeated sacrifice but the one sacrifice of Christ made present sacramentally and sacramentally re‑presented (anamnesis). The Mass makes the one eternal sacrifice of Calvary present for the Church in an unbloody manner: the same Priest (Christ) and the same Victim (his Body and Blood) are made present, though in a sacramental way distinct from the historical event on the Cross.

After concluding your group discussion, return to watch the second video where converts to the Catholic faith discuss their conversion and how they live today as Catholics.

Rome to Home

It is a good idea to recall at the very outset what may be termed the heart and core of the doctrine, namely that, by means of the Mystery of the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of the Cross which was once carried out on Calvary is re-enacted in wonderful fashion and is constantly recalled, and its salvific power is applied to the forgiving of the sins we commit each day. . . .

… In offering this sacrifice, the Church learns to offer herself as a sacrifice for all and she applies the unique and infinite redemptive power of the sacrifice of the Cross to the salvation of the whole world. For every Mass that is celebrated is being offered not just for the salvation of certain people, but also for the salvation of the whole world.

— Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei, nos. 27, 32

Sacrifice of the Mass: The offering of Christ to the Father that the Church is able to make in the Mass by virtue of the grace of the Eucharist. This is not a new sacrifice of Christ but is the presence of the sacrifice of Calvary and its application to us and our lives through the medium of the sacrament of the Eucharist.

Liturgy: The Church’s public and official work of praising God. “Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church” (CCC 1069). Personal prayer, the individual cultivation of union with God, is distinct from liturgical prayer, but is essentially complementary to it.

God’s Word

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

— Colossians 3:15–17

O Sacred Banquet in which Christ becomes our food, the memory of his passion is celebrated, the soul is filled with grace, and the pledge of future glory is given to us.

LEADER: You gave them bread from heaven.
ALL: Containing every blessing.
LEADER: Let us pray: O God who in this wonderful sacrament have left us a memorial of your passion, help us we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your body and blood that we constantly feel within ourselves the fruits of your redemption. You who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

— St. Thomas Aquinas’s prayer for the feast of Corpus Christi

This serves as a review of the material that your students can read after each class, but it may be helpful for you to read as well. Consider reading it before each class to better prepare you for group discussion.

Participating in the Grace of Christ Crucified

Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist. What is the grace of this sacrament and what effect does it communicate to Christ’s faithful? The Catholic Church teaches that the sacraments “cause what they signify.” They accomplish in us by grace what they “mean” or point to. There are three distinct aspects that the Eucharist points to, each of which corresponds to three distinct effects that it brings about.

The first signification in the Eucharist is that it is food and drink: the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present under the appearances of bread and wine. Our Lord did not choose this sign at random. The Body and Blood of Christ feed us in the order of grace. The Eucharist is rightly called the sacrament of charity because it strengthens and builds up the Church in love. This is why we must be in a state of grace to receive the Eucharist fruitfully. It does not cause the first infusion of faith and charity, placing us in a state of grace (Baptism does this). Nor is it for healing us after a serious sin (the sacrament of Reconciliation does that). Rather, it is food for the spiritually-alive. It builds up and nourishes the life of grace already in us, strengthening our communion with God. It is fundamental for the Christian life, and so it is symbolized by bread, a staple food that keeps us alive. The Eucharist is also the summit and joy of the Christian life, and so it is symbolized by wine, the symbol of celebration and rejoicing. The Eucharist is what is most fundamental to the life of the Church and what is most ultimate.

The second signification is that of the unity of the Church. St. Paul refers to this in 1 Corinthians 10:17: “We who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” There is a unity of believers symbolized by communion from one source. This is because the Eucharist gives rise to the visible communion of the Church not only outwardly but inwardly by the grace of divine love. The members of Christ’s body are bound to one another spiritually by virtue of the charity of the Eucharist. Many grains produce one bread, and many grapes produce one chalice. This signifies that as we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, we are made one in Christ.

The third signification is that of sacrifice. Christ clearly understood his death in sacrificial terms and instituted the Eucharist so that his sacrifice on the Cross would always be present and active in the Church. We see this in what he says at the Last Supper. The night before he died, Jesus said the chalice holds “the blood of the covenant.” This is a clear reference to Exodus 24:8 where Moses offered the foundational sacrifice of the Old Covenant at Mount Sinai. Moses sprinkled the blood of sacrifice on the twelve tribes of Israel to ratify the covenant. At the Last Supper, Christ claims to renew this original covenant of God with Israel through his very death. Furthermore, he tells the apostles that this blood is poured out “for the many,” an echo of Isaiah 53:12: “he bore the sins of many.” This refers to the Suffering Servant, one who is depicted by Isaiah as a sin-offering on behalf of the people. This imagery is present at the heart of the Mass itself: first the Body is consecrated, and then the Blood. This represents the separation of the blood and the body of Christ at the Cross, where his blood is poured out from his wounds as a sacrifice for sin.

The Eucharistic sacrifice is not a repetition of the sacrifice of the Cross, nor is it in any way a multiplication of or rival to that sacrifice, as some have falsely claimed. Rather, the sacrifice of the Mass represents Christ’s past “once and for all” sacrifice and applies its fruits to the faithful. The Mass allows the Church to participate in the grace of Christ crucified. In this way, the Church is able to offer Christ’s own merits to the Father for the sake of the world and to unite herself to that sacrifice in faith, hope, and love. In the Mass, we are all invited to participate in the unique self-offering of Jesus by uniting our lives to his in love. This offering adds nothing to the grace of Christ. On the contrary, it is an offering facilitated or made possible uniquely by the grace of Christ crucified. Jesus wishes to have the Church offered to the Father with him by virtue of his unique saving sacrifice. In this way, the Mass is a sacrament that makes possible a true mystical union with Christ in charity.

Those who convert as adults to Catholicism sometimes feel intimidated by the challenge of learning to participate in the Mass. It is important to remember that the Mass is primarily a receptive experience of being in the presence of God. Our active participation is important, but it can be learned slowly. It can be helpful to have a missal that explains the parts of the Mass and provides the daily readings, but it is more important simply …to learn to pray silently in a recollected fashion before, during, and after the Mass.

Outside of the Mass, the Church also provides many forms of liturgical prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Eucharistic adoration is a common way to pray in the presence of Jesus Christ, present in the host in silence. The Church also has various liturgical offices of psalmody (the liturgy of the hours), which many of the faithful pray either individually in silence or in groups aloud. Religious communities often sustain a more solemn liturgy of monastic offices consisting of psalmody and hymns, which are open to all the lay faithful to participate in. All of these are ways that we can grow closer to God through the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, which rests at the heart of the Church. They are expressive of the visible and invisible communion that binds us together in the one mystical body of Christ.

White, Thomas Joseph. The Light of Christ: An Introduction to Catholicism. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2017. See esp. chap. 5, “The Church and the Sacraments.”