The Catholic Church describes The Holy Eucharist (Mass) as being ‘the source and the summit of the Christian life’. But what does it mean exactly?
It means that: firstly – all other sacraments we have (baptism, confirmation, reconciliation, anointing of the sick, matrimony and priesthood) are not equal to the Mass! They are only bound up with the Mass and are oriented toward it, because the whole spiritual good our Church has, is contained in the Mass.
Secondly – this sentence: ‘Mass is the source and the summit of the Christian life’ means also, that Mass is the sum and summary of whole our faith, because in the Mass, in the consecrated bread and wine Jesus Christ himself is present. And obviously, Jesus Christ for us is everything.
As a Catholics we believe, that during Mass in the special moment (consecration) the bread and wine (mixed with drop of water) are changed into Christ who from that moment is present, whole and entire, under the forms of bread and wine. But we believe these are not just bread and wine any more, they are Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. This is one of the important differences between Catholics and most Protestants.
To most of our Protestant brothers and sisters, the Eucharist is a symbolic meal in which the bread and wine somehow remind them of the sacrifice of Christ. But for us – Catholics – the bread and wine are Christ; they’re not just symbols of Christ. These bread and wine are not just things, both of them now are a person, Jesus Christ, who is alive! Since it is true for us, receiving Holy Communion means entering into communion in Jesus Christ, entering into communion in person, who shares himself with us in his love. In Holy Communion we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body – Church.
What happens to us when we receive (and eat) Holy Communion? We all know perfectly why we should eat bread every day – in the morning for breakfast, then in school or maybe at work in lunch time, and in the evening for supper. We eat bread every day to live, to have the strength to grow and enjoy what God gives us each day. This bread (his body) and wine (his blood) that Jesus gives us on the altar have the same purpose. But it is concerned about a different life – that will never end and the happiness that it gives us will be even greater than that on earth. It is about eternal life with God. Can you imagine – when God wanted to give suitable food so that our souls will live – he looked around the whole of creation, but didn’t find anything suitable that would be able to feed our souls continuously. So He looked into himself, and he decided to give himself for us. The truth is that only God can satisfy our soul’s hunger! What a beautiful misty that only God can feed our soul. So the first fruit of our Holy Communion at Mass is – Jesus feeds our soul and spirit by himself and prepares us for eternal life. But there is the second fruit of it. Through Holy Communion Jesus draw us ever more closely to God, to Holy Spirit and to one another. In this way the Eucharist makes the Church. As the Church receives the Body and Blood of Christ, so too it becomes the body of Christ in the world. In other words: by our union with Christ in Holy Communion Jesus comes to the world again. Christ who is in heaven, has no body now but ours. No hands, no feet on earth but ours. We are His body on the earth. He acts and become present on the earth through us his disciples.