The Most Blessed Sacrament
Jesus makes us an infinite gift in the most Blessed Sacrament. … There are three principal things in Holy Communion: the memory of the passion of Jesus Christ, an abundance of grace, and the pledge of eternal life. (OOCC; X, pp. 574 -575; STA, 148)
The most Blessed Sacrament is the mystery of God’s love for us. In this mystery, Jesus, the Eucharistic Lord, gives a gift of himself to us. Hence, in the most Blessed Sacrament Jesus’ continuous and real presence is made available to every believer. In this mystery of God’s love in Jesus for us, the memory of the passion of Jesus Christ is recalled. Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist or express our adoration to the Eucharistic Lord, we recall and commemorate the suffering, death and resurrection of the Lord. The Eucharistic mystery is the font of grace, as all the merits of the suffering, death and resurrection of the Lord are communicated through the Eucharist. Therefore, when we participate in the Eucharistic celebration, we open our lives to the abundance of graces which are manifested to us through the resurrection of Jesus. Finally, Eucharist is the final pledge of Jesus in which we are guaranteed eternal life in the world to come. The life of St. Vincent Pallotti was centered on the Eucharist. For him, in the celebration of the mystery of the Eucharist, one encounters the total Christ, his passion is meditated upon, abundance of grace is granted to each participant and the pledge of future glory is also given.
Do I have the faith-filled understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist? While participating in the Eucharist do I experience the total Christ? Does the Eucharistic celebration help me to recollect the passion of Jesus, open me to experience abundance of his graces, and assure me of future glory?
Unless you eat the flesh of the Messiah and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him at the Last Day. (Jn. 6: 53)