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The Eucharist: a family eventPosted: 08.14.09 By its very nature, the celebration of the Eucharist is a family event. Indeed, Jesus instituted the Eucharist in a familylike setting at the Last Supper. Just as we gather around our tables at home to share a meal, so we gather around the altar of Christ to celebrate his sacrifice and to share his body and blood. Through him we are united with one another as one family. This union includes not only those present for the celebration, but the entire family of the Church including the saints in heaven. Truly, the Eucharist is a family event! Marriage and family life reflect the life of God himself as an eternal exchange of love. When God created us in his image and likeness, he created us to enter into a communion of love as he himself is. For all eternity, God gives himself away in selfless love and so is a communion of love in the Trinity. The family is a trinity of love which reflects this life of God. Husband and wife give themselves to each other in total love in the sacrifice of their own individual lives. The fruit of their love is children and a family. The love between a husband and wife is far greater than themselves. Their love is the very love of God present in the world which is created from the very beginning. The relationship that exists in a family looks toward the Eucharist and has done so since the creation of Adam and Eve. Indeed, the love between a husband and wife can be referred to as eucharistic insofar as it sacrifices itself and through that sacrifice gives life. In the beginning of the Bible in the book of Genesis, we read that for this reason, “a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife and the two of them shall be one body” (Gn 2:24). As the Bible concludes with the Book of Revelation, we read of the culmination of marriage, which is the relationship between Christ and the Church in the fullness of his kingdom. Here we read of the heavenly Eucharist, which is the marriage feast of the Lamb. The Church, “the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Rev 21:9), dwells fully with God and “a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev 21:1) come into existence. This climactic union of eucharistic love is foreshadowed from the beginning in the book of Genesis. In this manner, we can say that the Eucharist and marriage are the first and last words of Revelation. St. Paul’s teaching on marriage and its eucharistic relationship is quite clear. In his Letter to the Ephesians, after quoting the words cited above from the book of Genesis he states, “This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church” (Eph 5:32). For St. Paul, Christ’s love for his Church, which culminates in his cross, is a sacramental sign of what spousal love should be. In his apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist, “Sacramentum Caritatis” (“Sacrament of Charity”), Pope Benedict XVI tells us that the love of Christ for his Church is a conjugal one that has the origin and heart of the Eucharist. For this reason the Church manifests her particular closeness to all those who have built their family on the sacrament of matrimony” (27). Indeed, our Holy Father continually emphasizes the relationship of family life to the Eucharist, which is grounded in this great sacramental mystery. Pope Benedict XVI bases his teaching on that of Pope John Paul II who contributed an extensive amount of reflection on the relationship between marriage, the family and the Eucharist in his theology. For Pope John Paul II, these are united in an indissoluble bond which intensifies the graces that are available to us through each. His teaching deserves a great deal of attention as it can be a source of tremendous assistance to couples and families living their vocation. It is also a great blessing for our society which needs a renewed appreciation of marriage and family life. In our diocese we are attempting to foster that teaching in our marriage preparation program, “God’s Plan for a Joy-filled Marriage,” which is an elaboration of Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. Basing his theology on that of St. Paul, Pope John Paul II tells us in his apostolic letter, “Mulieris Dignitatem” (“On the Dignity and Vocation of Women”), that in the sacrament of marriage, “we find ourselves at the very heart of the paschal mystery, which completely reveals the spousal love of God. Christ is the bridegroom because ‘he has given himself’: His body has been ‘given,’ his blood has been ‘poured out’ (cf. Lk 22:19-20). The ‘sincere gift’ contained in the sacrifice of the cross gives definite prominence to the spousal meaning of God’s love. As the redeemer of the world, Christ is the bridegroom of the church. The Eucharist is the sacrament of our redemption. It is the sacrament of the bridegroom and of the bride. The Eucharist makes present and realizes anew in a sacramental manner the redemptive act of Christ who ‘creates’ the Church, his body” (26). Pope John Paul II emphasizes that marriage and the family find their highest expression in the celebration of the Eucharist. In his apostolic exhortation, “Familiaris Consortio,” (“The Christian Family in the Modern World”), he tells us that “the Christian family’s sanctifying role is grounded in baptism and has its highest expression in the Eucharist, to which Christian marriage is intimately connected. ... To understand better and live more intensely the graces and responsibilities of Christian marriage and family life, it is altogether necessary to rediscover and strengthen this relationship” (57.1). One of the greatest supports to family life is families celebrating the Sunday Eucharist together. Not only does this strengthen the life of the Church, it also strengthens the lives of individual families. Through such celebrations a family may move from the table of the Lord to the table in their home. The identification of these two tables is a source of grace which deepens the love of the individual family and strengthens its bonds. It also is a powerful witness and means of strengthening our society today. We come to know God’s love through each other. Our first encounter with this love is through our families. God’s love is one that gives and sacrifices even to the point of giving his own Son to us. His Son gave his life on a cross so that we could have life. This is the love of God which we celebrate in the Eucharist. A family’s love is based on this love. A husband and wife give themselves to each other totally and sacrifice their individual lives. This total gift brings new life into the world through the family. A family’s love is born, sustained and intensified in the Eucharist which is a family event.
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