Understanding the Eucharist

Eucharist

THE LAST SUPPER AND THE MASS 

The liturgy recalls the events that saved us and makes them present

Jesus and his disciples ate a Passover meal together before Jesus’ Passion and Death. Jesus’ final Passover meal with his friends is known as the Last Supper and is recounted in all four Synoptic Gospels.

In Luke’s Gospel, we hear Jesus’ words: ‘Do this in memory of me’. In the Gospel of John, we see Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. Jesus says: ‘So, if I your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.’ (John 13:14).

Church Tradition teaches how the Eucharist began at the Last Supper and how the early community obeyed Jesus’ command to ‘break bread’ in his name (Acts 2:42). This memorial of the Last Supper became a central ritual for Christians when they gathered together. In the earliest times, the Eucharist was celebrated along with a shared meal in the homes of local Christians.

In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes a Eucharist celebrated in connection with a common supper shared in the homes of the early Christians.

This supper included the blessing of the bread and wine, the breaking of the bread, and communion. As the numbers of Christians grew, the Eucharist as a sacred meal separated from the common meal.

Believers today still remember and celebrate the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. For Jews, this time is the beginning of the Jewish Passover Festival. The bread and wine are symbols of nourishment and food for the Christian journey. Believers take part in the Eucharist to give thanks to God, and share this meal as a community. In community believers gain strength from everyone who has gathered.

LUKE 22:7-23

The Preparation of the Passover
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.’ They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for it?’ ‘Listen,’ he said to them, ‘when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, “The teacher asks you, ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’” He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.’ So, they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

The Institution of the Lord’s Supper
When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God’. Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes’. Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me’. And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. But see, the one who betrays me is with me, and his hand is on the table. For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom he is betrayed!’ Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this.