The Eucharist

“In the sacrament of the altar, the Lord meets us, men and women created in God's image and likeness, and becomes our companion along the way." – Pope Benedict XVI

The Sacrament of the Eucharist is the most widely available and celebrated in the Catholic faith. Our faith professes, as Jesus taught in the Gospels, that the Eucharist is truly the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.

The Sacrament may be received by initiated Catholics at every celebration of the Mass. The Sacrament is also reserved in the tabernacle or shown in the monstrance and made accessible to all the faithful for moments of personal prayer in the presence of Christ.

“At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us." (CCC 1323) Because the Eucharist is the supreme act of worship of God, the Mass is celebrated daily.  And, it is in the Eucharist that we find our strength to live the Christian faith and go forth to continue the mission of Christ in today’s world.

“The Eucharist is the source and center of the Christian life.”  In the Eucharist, we find our life, our hope and our strength and we return all of our love and thanksgiving to the Eucharist, “for in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.” (CCC 1324)