Eucharistic Life—The Third Pillar of the Year of Mission

We come to the third of the four pillars of the Year of Mission in the National Eucharistic Revival. This third pillar is Eucharistic Life. We saw that the first pillar is that of Eucharistic Encounter. This means that we must first encounter Our Lord Jesus Christ in His Sacrifice at Mass, in receiving Him in Holy Communion, and in adoring Him truly present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament. After the Eucharistic Encounter with the Lord, the second pillar follows. It is Eucharistic Identity, which shows us we are beloved sons and daughters of God the Father because of our relationship with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist made possible by the Holy Spirit.
            
The third pillar, Eucharistic Life, manifests to us that as missionary disciples we are strengthened and renewed in our Eucharistic Identity by participating in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. As we come to love Jesus more and more by receiving Him in Holy Communion, our lives are configured more and more to His.
            
Living the third pillar, Eucharistic Life, means living what we hear described in the Acts of the Apostles:

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them… “God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured it forth, as you (both) see and hear.”… Peter [said] to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit.… Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day. They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved (Acts 2:13A, 32-33, 38, 41-47).
            
Here we get a clear picture of the early Christians encountering the Lord Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, finding their identity in His Eucharistic Presence, and offering their life through the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. Our union with Christ in His Sacrifice for the salvation of the world empowers us to give ourselves to others. We follow Christ, who is the perfect model of sacrificial love, in making of ourselves a sacrifice of love for our brothers and sisters. 
            
Pope Francis beautifully teaches us: 

“The content of the bread broken is the cross of Jesus, his sacrifice of obedience out of love for the Father. If we had not had the Last Supper, that is to say, if we had not had the ritual anticipation of his death, we would have never been able to grasp how the carrying out of his being condemned to death could have been in fact the act of perfect worship, pleasing to the Father, the only true act of worship, the only true liturgy” (Desiderio Desideravi, no. 7).
            
Pope Benedict XVI taught us in a similar vein, “The Eucharist draws us into Jesus’ act of self-oblation. More than just statically receiving the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving.”
            
Dear Friends, we come to realize that embracing the Eucharistic Life in the third pillar means recognizing and believing in, and entering into the Sacrifice of Jesus at Holy Mass. When we do this, we must offer also the sacrifice of our own lives, all we are and all that God has entrusted to us, in union with His own perfect sacrifice. This echoes exactly what the Second Vatican Council taught in Lumen Gentium, “Taking part in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which is the source and summit of the whole Christian life, they offer the Divine Victim to God, and offers themselves along with it.” (#11)  

Encountering Jesus in the Holy Eucharist,  identifying with His Eucharistic Presence, and living His Eucharistic Sacrifice enables us to offer ourselves in the service of our brothers and sisters by announcing the Gospel to them and helping them in their needs. 
            
We see then that it all begins at the Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus offered on the altar, and then returns to the altar in the sacrifice of our lives offered to God and to others.
 
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh