The Eucharist perfects the Church

One of the great privileges of the priesthood is the daily celebration of the holy Mass. Priests should be encouraged to know that by the means of this constant Eucharistic ministry – even apart from all the other parish busyness they find themselves engaged in – they are building up the Body of Christ (Eph 4:12-13). Through the Eucharist, the Church grows in unity, in maturity and in stature.

All Christians are joined into one communion through the sacrament of Baptism. In the waters of Baptism we are reborn into the one Body of Christ. The sacrament of Confirmation publicly strengthens this communion with the outpouring of the Spirit. But in the Eucharist, we who through Baptism are the Body of Christ, receive the Body of Christ as food, with the result that our unity is crowned in celebration.

Yet every priest, in fact, every communicant, is aware that the table of the Lord is also a place where disunity is often experienced. Those who are not fully one in Christ become aware of what is lacking in their communion with him and with his people. It may be that grave sin. It may be that dissent from or rejection of the teachings of the Church. It may simply be that disharmony exists between those who are brothers and sisters in the Lord. In these cases, it is necessary that one seek reconciliation with God and with the Church before approaching the altar (Matt 5:23-24). Each time we celebrate the Eucharist therefore, we are being called to a greater unity, that includes those who are not yet with us.

Through the Eucharist, the Church also grows in maturity. The Eucharist is “solid food”, not food for those who are spiritual infants (1 Cor 3:2). In our parishes we put a lot of effort into preparing our young people for their First Communion. We teach them what this sacrament is so that they will gain the maximum benefit from it and so that it will produce the maximum effect in their lives. Perhaps we ought to ask ourselves what we are doing to increase our own Christian maturity? Are we content with what we learnt as children? Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Word invites us into a deeper maturity of faith.

At times, the Eucharist exposes our immaturity. As we approach the altar to receive the Lord’s body and blood, we become aware how unprepared we are, how little we understand, and how poorly we live out our Christian lives in the world. The early church father, Saint Irenaeus, was able to say that “our way of thinking conforms to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking.” Is it possible that, after 2000 years, we are in fact less “conformed to the Eucharist” than Irenaeus and his community were a mere 100 years after Christ?

Finally, the ministry of the Eucharist adds to the stature of the Body of Christ. We are told by Saint Luke that when Christ lived upon the earth, he “increased in wisdom and stature” (Luke 2:52). The Second Vatican Council de-clared that “the Eucharist perfects the Church” (Ad Gentes), which suggests that the Body of Christ continues to grow in “stature” even today. How does this happen? Surely one of the ways is in the increase of the members of the Body of Christ.

We are assured by Christ that the Gospel is meant for “all nations” (Matt 28:19), yet attending Mass each Sunday reminds us that many have yet to be drawn into the universal communion of the Church. As we sit or kneel in the pews, we hear the business of the world going on outside the walls of the sanctuary. We are mindful of the fact that soon after we have received Communion, we will be sent out into that world once again – sent “to love and to serve the Lord” in our daily lives. Is our regular entry into the Lord’s presence a “retreat” or “escape” from the world, or is it not rather our task to bring the world with us into that presence? Again, Vatican II declared that – as members of the living Christ, incorporated into Him and made like unto Him through Baptism and through Confirmation and the Eucharist, all the faithful are duty-bound to cooperate in the expansion and spreading out of His Body, to bring it to fullness as soon as may be (Eph. 4:13).

The Eucharist is a challenge to us. On the road to holiness, we are not yet perfect. It is through the Eucharist that the Church will be “perfected”: in unity, in maturity and in stature.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.