THE MASS AND THE EUCHARIST

Part one of Father Barratt's series on the Eucharist, the Mass

Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress, Inc., kneels in prayer before the monstrance during Eucharistic adoration at the opening revival night July 17, 2024, of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller) (Courtesy photo of Bob Roller)

Part 1: An overview and introduction

With our Gospel this Sunday (John 6:1-15), we commence the first part of Jesus’ “Bread of Life Discourse,” beginning with the well-known miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. Immediately we can notice many significant things and an important dynamic or pattern. Jesus first teaches the crowd and then he feeds them. In fact, we can say that he feeds them twice: first with his word and then with the loaves and fish. Hopefully, this pattern seems familiar to us for, in many ways, this is the pattern we follow when we celebrate Mass. We gather, we listen to God’s Word and are fed by it and then we are fed again by the Eucharist. We might also therefore say that the miracle of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” is repeated each and every time that we gather to celebrate the Mass. As with the crowd all those centuries ago, it is also a life-changing encounter for us too. As the Lord feeds us with his Word and with himself in the Eucharist, we too are somehow changed.

However, this food for thought is a great deal to digest in one sitting! So, over the next five weeks, we are going to explore the Eucharist and the Mass: so often called “the source and summit,” or the beginning and end, of the mission and ministry of the Church. Our aim will be to explore together some of the great richness of the Eucharist and the Mass. In our mini-series about the Mass and the Eucharist with Chapter Six of St. John’s Gospel as our guide, we hope to understand better what we believe and also why we believe it and, for that matter, how we have arrived at those beliefs and how we can live them.

As we begin our five-week exploration, perhaps we could first take a step back and share a few fundamental reflections about the Eucharist and the Mass. As we then journey on, we can explore the key points of our faith about the Eucharist; that is the Eucharist as a sacred meal, as the real presence of Jesus Christ and as a true/living memory and sacrifice. After all, it is easy to take the Mass for granted, or to forget some of the things we have learned about the Mass, perhaps some time ago.

The Eucharist is, of course, one of the seven sacraments and it is useful to remember exactly what the sacraments are and what they give. The “Catechism of the Church” (n. 1131) states that “the sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.” This wonderful but concentrated definition needs some unpacking and explaining. We could understand things this way. Through the use of outward, physical signs (like bread and wine, water, oil, etc.), every sacrament continues the saving presence and work of Jesus Christ. The sacraments are often called symbols:  they literally “throw together” (that is what the word symbol means) the human and earthly on the one hand and the divine and spiritual on the other hand. In other words, God’s love and gifts somehow come to us through the physical signs or elements that we use in the sacraments. This is what the Eucharist is and what it does as a sacrament, but it also has a special characteristic compared to the other sacraments. In the Eucharist there is a unique and special presence of Jesus Christ: he is present, body, blood, soul and divinity

The Eucharist and the Mass are ancient. Like all the sacraments, they take us directly back to Jesus, because they reflect and continue here and now Jesus’ own ministry and mission. In fact, the roots of the Eucharist and the Mass go even further back to the Old Testament. We see this, for example, in the prayers of blessing and thanksgiving for all that God has done for us and for the good things of creation (the prayers said at the preparation of the gifts of bread and wine, or in the Eucharistic Prayers we use at Mass). Many understand the Eucharist as a living memorial here and now of the Last Supper that Jesus celebrated with His disciples all those centuries ago (Mark 14:22-25). So, in the Eucharist we remember all that God has done for us and that this saving love is not just remembered superficially. We know that it is actually made present right here and now. A truly amazing gift.

The Eucharist and the Mass is also what we might call a ritual encounter with the Lord. What does this mean? Well, we are, after all, ritual beings. We all have our daily rituals and habits and, if these do not happen, then the day often is not a good one! This is why the Eucharist and Mass follow a set pattern and structure (in other words, a ritual) that will lead us to a living encounter with the Lord. As we have already noted, the structure or pattern of our Mass follows what we will hear about in our Gospel on Sunday, where Jesus feeds with his Word and then with the loaves and fish.

This structure and ritual has been followed ever since. For example, St. Justin writing around 150 AD, gives a description of the Sunday Eucharist that is pretty much what we do today … an awesome thought. Here is what he wrote:

“And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each and a participation of that over which thanks have been given.”

The Eucharist and the Mass is also very much about relationships and relationships that are dynamic and active. The Eucharist should help us grow in our relationship with the Lord and with all whom we meet: family, friends, neighbors, work colleagues etc. So, it is nothing less than a life changer for us; just as in the Gospel where people were changed when they encountered Jesus.  

The Eucharist is also a wonderful gift given to transform us; but it is a gift that needs our cooperation. In the Gospel, we heard how just a few loaves and fish were transformed into enough food to feed the whole crowd and with 12 baskets-full then left over. We should therefore not forget the part that the generosity of the nameless boy played in this amazing exchange and miracle. So too at the celebration of the Mass. The bread and wine that we provide are transformed into the Eucharist (and yes: we will think about “transubstantiation” in a later reflection). We may ask, like Andrew in the Gospel, “what good” are the meagre gifts we offer to God? Let us recall the prayer we hear at the Preparation of the Gifts at Mass: “pray brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yours …” The point is that we offer these gifts or “our sacrifices,” as well as the bread and wine. It is the power of God which will transform them, and us.

From our Sunday Mass and Eucharist, we are then sent out having been fed, sustained and transformed, in order to share and to live all these gifts in the week ahead. The Lord feeds us as his friends and disciples, but he also does this so that we will be his ambassadors and disciple-makers. This is why we are dismissed and sent out at the very end of the Mass with these, or similar words: “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.”

Father Barratt, STL, PhD, EV, ChM, is the director of the Office of Prayer and Worship, episcopal vicar for the Hudson Valley Vicariate, a member of the Presbyteral Council & College of Consultors and pastor at Holy Trinity Parish in Hudson-Germantown — all in the Diocese of Albany — and adjunct professor at Siena College and St. Bernard’s Postgraduate School of Theology and Ministry in Albany.