The Institution of the Eucharist

Continuing catching up on posting the bulletin inserts commenting on excerpts from Sacramentum Caritatis. This is #7.

10. This leads us to reflect on the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. It took place within a ritual meal commemorating the foundational event of the people of Israel: their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. This ritual meal, which called for the sacrifice of lambs (cf. Ex 12:1-28, 43-51), was a remembrance of the past, but at the same time a prophetic remembrance, the proclamation of a deliverance yet to come. The people had come to realize that their earlier liberation was not definitive, for their history continued to be marked by slavery and sin. The remembrance of their ancient liberation thus expanded to the invocation and expectation of a yet more profound, radical, universal and definitive salvation. This is the context in which Jesus introduces the newness of his gift. In the prayer of praise, the Berakah, he does not simply thank the Father for the great events of past history, but also for his own “exaltation.” In instituting the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus anticipates and makes present the sacrifice of the Cross and the victory of the resurrection. At the same time, he reveals that he himself is the true sacrificial lamb, destined in the Father’s plan from the foundation of the world, as we read in The First Letter of Peter (cf. 1:18-20). By placing his gift in this context, Jesus shows the salvific meaning of his death and resurrection, a mystery which renews history and the whole cosmos. The institution of the Eucharist demonstrates how Jesus’ death, for all its violence and absurdity, became in him a supreme act of love and mankind’s definitive deliverance from evil.

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As the Holy Father has carefully shown us in past excerpts, the Eucharist is a radical, self-giving of Jesus for our sakes. It makes sense then that Jesus would carefully select the most meaningful time to institute it. Just as a speech made from “Ground Zero” on September 11 has many layers of meaning for us, presenting this special, new gift at the Passover would have been deliberate and the disciples would have understood that.

In the context of the Passover, the apostles would have noticed the significance of historical and cultural clues necessary to help understand the significance of this salvific gift. They would not have full understanding until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, but the basic grounding in their faith provided a solid foundation upon which was built our understanding of the Eucharist. This is confirmed by the verses quoted by Pope Benedict from The First Letter of Peter (1:18-20): ... realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb. He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you ...

We no longer have the cultural markers that the disciples did. Our connection with this reality is through the liturgy, especially during Holy Week before Easter. We may identify it as a ritual and be moved only by the drama and passing sentiment of the moment, without ever experiencing more. How do we achieve this? Our thoughtful reflection and prayerful contemplation, as noted in the Holy Father’s words, should awaken within us the deepest appreciation of the Eucharist as living and transforming reality - present in our lives yet also a promise of what is to come. We must acknowledge that there is so much more for us - in Christ and in the Eucharist - than we are asked to consider in everyday life.
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This is one of a weekly series of excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis. You are encouraged to read the entire document. The Vatican link to that document as well as to Pope Benedict’s first encyclical can be found on the website, www.stthomasaquinas.org.