Into The Breach – Practices Of A Christian ManExemplo

Day 3 — Go to Mass

Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23-29

This is the earliest account in the New Testament of the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. Paul faithfully hands on to the community what Jesus himself gave to his church. He recounts the words of Jesus, expressing the sacrificial nature of Jesus’s self-offering and his command to faithfully continue the tradition he has left them (vv. 24-25). Christ is the living victim being continually offered to the Father as the one sacrifice for the world. In celebrating the Eucharist, we make his eternal sacrifice present anew on altars throughout the world. 

After recounting what he received from the Lord, Paul then adds his own understanding of the Eucharist: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes” (v. 26 NABRE). In the Mass, the church experiences the past, the redemptive death of Jesus, and the future, his glorious coming again. In this timeless experience, we gather to receive the grace of salvation as Christ becomes truly present in the sacramental gift of his body and blood. 

Receiving the Lord in communion requires self-examination and readiness (vv. 27-29). We must be free of serious sin, be prepared to receive the saving benefits of Christ’s sacrifice, and discern his real and substantial gift of himself to us. Worshiping the Lord in word and sacrament is the highpoint of the week. From the earliest days of the church, Christians began to gather for the Mass on the Lord’s Day, and so must every follower of Jesus Christ today. 

REFLECT: What is the best way for me to examine and prepare myself to celebrate the Mass with the community of faith? 

PRAY: Faithful God, who sent your Son for the salvation of the world, bring your people to the altar to experience the grace of Christ’s saving death until he comes in glory. Help me examine myself and prepare for the liturgy of the Eucharist so that I will be filled with Christ’s self-giving love and offer it to others.