The Eucharist, Source of Unity and Healing in a Polarized World
By: Maria del Mar Muñoz-Visoso, M.T.S.| Executive Director, Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church, USCCB
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that “Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body - the Church.” (#1396). Hence, “the Eucharist makes the Church.”
The Eucharist not only remembers and makes present again Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, but actually brings about our communion, that divine bond of love and belonging to the Lord and to one another which must guide our daily actions and relationships.
Saint Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, helps us to understand that we are one body composed of many and diverse members. Diverse too are the gifts that Spirit bestows to each one for the benefit of the many. As Christians we are called to reflect that communion of love and life that is the Holy Trinity, one God and Three persons, the greatest example of unity in diversity.