The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen Gentium, #11). In the Eucharistic liturgy and our prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, we encounter God’s presence in personal and profound ways. But the Eucharist is also social, as Pope Benedict XVI reminds us in Deus Caritas Est:
“A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented.”
The Eucharist, celebrated as a community, teaches us about human dignity, calls us to right relationship with God, ourselves and others, invites us to community and solidarity, and sends us on mission to help transform our communities, neighborhoods and world. Church teaching, rooted in both Scripture and Tradition, emphasizes both the personal and social natures of the Eucharist.
USCCB staff reflect on how the Eucharist draws us closer to Christ and to our community, transforming us to be sent on mission together to live as the Body of Christ in the world.
The Eucharist and Social Mission: Body of Christ, Broken for the World
The Eucharistic Liturgy: Formed, Transformed, and Sent
The Mystery of the Eucharist and the Call to Love and Transform
Transformed by Eucharist, Sent on Mission: A Service Learning Retreat Experience
Feeding the Hungry by Putting Our Two Feet of Love in Action
Jill Rauh, Executive Director of the Secretariat of Justice and Peace offers a reflection and discussion questions about the connection between us as a Eucharistic people and the call to put love into action in our communities.
The Eucharist and Missionary Discipleship: Living Out Matthew 25
Yohan Garcia, Catholic Social Teaching Education Manager for the Secretariat of Justice and Peace, offers a reflection and discussion questions about how the Eucharist compels each one of us to live out Matthew 25 and how this connects to missionary discipleship.
Break open the Theology of the Eucharist and consider how our liturgical practice calls us to be missionary disciples, going forth from the Eucharistic meal to accompany those who are poor and vulnerable. This webinar provides practical examples...
Each week as we celebrate around the table of the Lord, we have an opportunity to return again to the love of Christ and to be transformed. As we are transformed, we are sent on a mission together to live as the Body of Christ in the world. The Secretariat of Justice and Peace has cultivated a sampling of resources to help individuals and communities become missionary disciples who are fed, healed, and sent by the Eucharist.
Cardinal Blase Cupich writes about the power of the Eucharist to transform and heal in a world divided by war, polarization, and a lack of respect for human life and dignity.
Jill Rauh shares how the love that emanates through the Sacred Heart of Jesus transforms us to become in the community what we receive on the altar.
Fr. Patrick Hyde reflects on his trip to Ethiopia with Catholic Relief Services and accompanying the Missionaries of Charity, whose ministry is fed by the Eucharist.
Yohan Garcia reflects on the Eucharist providing strength during his difficult migrant journey.
