Bread of Life Voice

There are two strong words to lay great emphasis on – The Eucharist and Spirituality.

*CCC 1322 -* The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord’s own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.

*CCC 1323 -* “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 1325 -* “The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the People of God by which the Church is kept in being. It is the culmination both of God’s action sanctifying the world in Christ and of the worship men offer to Christ and through him to the Father in the Holy Spirit.”

*CCC1326 -* Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.

It is not a human initiation but divinely inspired and instituted. Biblical support of this sacraments can be seen in Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22: 19-20, 2Cor. 11:23-24, Psalm 78:24, John 6:31-35, Exodus 16:1fd.

Christ issued a command *”Do this in memory of me!”*

*THE NATURE OF THE EUCHARIST*

*1. The Eucharist is a sacrament of unity and communion (1Cor. 10:16-17).* In it the Church is held by a strong and unbreakable bond that presents the life of Christ, his joint mission with the Church.

*2. The Eucharist is a sacrament of purity (1Cor. 11:27-28).* Those who receive it must be in a state of Grace. Purity is obtained at the sacrament of reconciliation.

*3. The Eucharist is a sacrament of Faith.* Without faith, it won’t make sense to you. Therefore, you must look beyond the white host and believe in the unseen power behind it.

*SPIRITUAL BENEFITS OF THE EUCHARIST*

– It draws us closer to Jesus Christ (John 6:65)
– It increases the life of Grace in us.
– It quiets the appetite for sin
– It gives us the cross of eternal life

*Is the Eucharist necessary for our Salvation?*

To answer this, John 6: 53-56 is employed – *”Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.”*

There is no two ways about it. The Eucharist is necessary for our Salvation.

Spirituality on the other hand is a broad word. But, narrowing it down to Catholic faith, Spirituality represents various ways through which Catholics live out their baptismal vows or promises through prayers and good works by the rejection of Satan and his works.

*FEATURES OF SPIRITUALITY*

– It must be Christological (You must accept Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour).

– It must be Trinitarian (You must be believe in the father, the son and the Holy Spirit).

– It must be Spirit filled (Neumatalogical). A spirit controlled life.

– It must be biblical and Marian. Mary must be culminated in every areas of your life.

– It must be communitarian. Acts 2:42-52. A community professing the same faith, doctrine, tradition. The hallmark of a community life is breaking of Bread (fellowship meal – Eucharist).

*Conclusion*
It is the Eucharist that gives us the strength to live out our spirituality.

*CCC 1324 – The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.”*

*”The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.”*