Catechesis. The Documents of the Second Vatican Council. III. Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium. 4. The Mystery of the Eucharist

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome!

We will continue our catechesis on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, particularly the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) on the Liturgy.

When Saint Augustine wanted to explain the mystery of the Body of Christ to those who were newly baptized, he took up the passage from Saint Paul that we have just heard: “Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.” (1 Cor 12:27). He adds: “It is your own mystery that you receive. To what you are, you respond: Amen, and your response is like your signature. You are told, ‘The Body of Christ,’ and you reply, ‘Amen.’ Be therefore members of the Body of Christ, so that your Amen may be true. […] Be what you see, and receive what you are” (Sermon 272: PL 38, 1247).

Immediately after recalling Jesus’ Last Supper, the Constitution on the Liturgy speaks of the Eucharist in these Augustinian terms. For Christians, taking part at the Lord’s table means being “instructed by God’s word and … nourished … [giving] thanks to God” (cf. SC, 48). It is by receiving Him in His Word and in the Eucharist that we become what we receive. We become the Body whose Head is the risen Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father (cf. Col 1:18), who prepares a place for us in heaven (cf. Jn 14:3). Thus, the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Kingdom that is to come. It is the Bread for the journey that leads us to our heavenly homeland, until that blessed day when “God will be all in all” (1 Cor 15:28).

The liturgical assembly offers the Sacrifice “not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him” (SC, 48). From this perspective, the Eucharist is the form of the spiritual sacrifice of Christians (cf. Heb 13:16; Rom 12:1), as the path to union with God and with one another. By participating in it, they learn “to offer themselves; through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other” (ibid.). Thus, by incorporating us into Christ, the Eucharist teaches us to adopt the very style of life of the Lord Jesus, which was marked by the free gift of Himself. This gift draws us into the dynamic of unity, offering a powerful antidote to the forces of division that undermine our world, our communities, our families, and our hearts (cf. SC, 47).

Dear brothers and sisters, when we participate in the Eucharist, we are invited to listen to the Word of God and to be nourished at the Lord’s table, where He offers Himself to the Father. These two parts of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, “are so closely connected with each other that they form but one single act of worship” (SC, 56).

With regard to the Word of God, it is important to remember that it is not merely a matter of acquiring intellectual knowledge of the Scriptures, but of receiving the Word that is “living and effective” (Heb 4:12), spoken by God to everyone and at the same time to each individual. This Word nourishes and sustains us together with the Eucharistic Bread and leads us from the decay of sin to new life in Christ. “The Eucharist opens us to an understanding of Scripture, just as Scripture for its part illumines and explains the mystery of the Eucharist.” (Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, 55).

The Second Vatican Council called for the treasures of the Bible to be opened more abundantly, so that a richer fare from the table of God’s Word might be provided for the faithful (cf. SC, 51). The liturgical reform translated this request into the treasure that is the Lectionary, the book that gathers all the biblical readings for liturgical celebrations. This richness has been drawn from the purest source of the living Tradition, which combines fidelity with tradition; with openness to legitimate progress (cf. SC, 23).

The beginning of Chapter II of the Constitution on the Liturgy is woven with references to the great river of Tradition, that continues from the Fathers of the Church down to us. I will quote from it: “At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries 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 eaten, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.” (SC, 47).

Dear brothers and sisters, let us draw with faith from this source of divine life and allow ourselves to be transformed by the mystery we celebrate.

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Special greetings:

I greet this morning all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly groups from England, Sweden, Malawi, Tanzania, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Canada and the United States of America. Upon all of you and your families, I invoke the peace and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!

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Summary of the Holy Father’s words:

Dear brothers and sisters, as we continue our series of catecheses on the Second Vatican Council, today we consider the celebration of the Eucharist as presented by the Constitution on the Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium This sacred mystery is described in the second chapter of the document as “a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, ‘a paschal banquet in which Christ is received, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us’” (n. 47). The Constitution also emphasises that at Mass, the faithful are not passive spectators. Rather, all are encouraged to offer themselves in union with Jesus Christ, the spotless victim, to the Father, through the hands of the priest and together with him. Participation in the Eucharistic sacrifice also means being formed by God’s word and nourished at the table of the Lord’s body. Indeed, these two parts of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharistic Liturgy, “are so closely connected with each other that they form but one single act of worship” (n. 56). Brothers and sisters, as we seek our nourishment from this abundant source of divine life, let us allow ourselves to be transformed by the mystery we celebrate.