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10 amazing facts about the power of the Eucharist

A friend recently told me that her father used to help her mother
in the kitchen with the most tedious of tasks. One thing he liked
to do was peel walnuts and sort them into buckets. Then, he would
give bags of the nuts to friends and family.
My friend’s father recently passed away and a few months later she
reached into her freezer to get some of the walnuts to make banana bread.
As she looked at the bag of walnuts she realized that even though her
father was gone, he had left her nourishment for her journey.
 
At that moment, my friend suddenly had a deeper understanding
of the Eucharist. Jesus knew he was going to ascend into heaven,
but he left his followers with something to nourish them,
and not just earthly food but his own Body and Blood.
We are looked after. We are cared for. We have a heavenly Father who
knows our every need and goes to great lengths to give us what we require.
 
Our daily bread is not a symbol or mere earthly sustenance; it is true
spiritual food, the real flesh and blood of our Savior the God-man.
The Eucharist is nourishment that transcends ceremony and finds its
power and its essence in the very workings of the Trinity itself.

Here are some of the amazing effects of the Eucharist:

1) Union with Christ: Reception of Jesus in the Eucharist fuses our being
with that of Christ. St. Cyril of Alexandria describes it as similar to
“when melted wax is fused with other wax.” The Christian journey is a
journey to become like Christ, to “abide in him” and he in us.
The Eucharist is the means for this to happen.
 
2) Destruction of venial sin: The Eucharist destroys venial sin.
Destroys! Through sin, the fervor of our charity can be dampened
by venial sin. But when we receive the Eucharist we are united
with Charity himself, which burns away the vestiges of our venial
sins and leaves us cleansed and ready to begin again.
 
3) Preservation from mortal sin: While we should refrain from
receiving the Eucharist when we are aware of being in a state of
mortal sin, we should receive the Eucharist as much as possible
when we are able because it preserves us from grave sin. It is as
if the Eucharist’s power washes away the venial sin in our souls
and then covers us with a protective coat which helps us to stay
away from serious sin.
 
4) Personal relationship with Jesus: Many Christians speak of
the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus, which is
very true. But it is primarily through the Eucharist that we can
truly have an intimate encounter with the Person of Jesus.

Benedict XVI once pointed out this connection:


“Today, there is a need to rediscover that Jesus Christ is not just
a private conviction or an abstract idea, but a real person, whose
becoming part of human history is capable of renewing the life of
every man and woman. Hence, the Eucharist, as the source and
summit of the Church’s life and mission, must be translated into
spirituality, into a life lived ‘according to the Spirit’”
(Sacramentum Caritatis).
 
5) Gives life: According to the Catechism, the Eucharist
“preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism”
(CCC 1392).  In other words, reception of the Eucharist increases the life
of grace already present within us. Sounds even better than a trip to a spa!
6) Unity with the Body of Christ: Since we are united more closely to
Christ through the Eucharist, we are therefore united more closely to all
the other people who receive the Eucharist! In other words, the Eucharist
is like the glue that keeps us united with Jesus and all our brothers and
sisters in the Church.
 
To finish up:
 
 
Original Post

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I'm not Roman Catholic and thus am not aware of many of the Church's Catechisms and I'm not trying to disagree with you about your statement of the  importance of "The Lord's Supper" or "Eucharist" and the importance of giving it it's place of importance in worship  I would though want to emphasize that some of the attributes that you are attributing to the Eucharist I believe are part of the Holy Spirit's (of God's) ministry unto mankind. 

John 14:15-31 (NCV)
15
“If you love me, you will obey my commands.
16  I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever—
17  the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he lives with you and he will be in you.
18  “I will not leave you all alone like orphans; I will come back to you.
19  In a little while the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live, too.
20  On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and that you are in me and I am in you.
21  Those who know my commands and obey them are the ones who love me, and my Father will love those who love me. I will love them and will show myself to them.“
22  Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you plan to show yourself to us and not to the rest of the world?“
23  Jesus answered, “If people love me, they will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
24  Those who do not love me do not obey my teaching. This teaching that you hear is not really mine; it is from my Father, who sent me.
25  “I have told you all these things while I am with you.
26  But the Helper will teach you everything and will cause you to remember all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name.
27  “I leave you peace; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don’t let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
28  You heard me say to you, ’I am going, but I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you should be happy that I am going back to the Father, because he is greater than I am.
29  I have told you this now, before it happens, so that when it happens, you will believe.
30  I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me,
31  but the world must know that I love the Father, so I do exactly what the Father told me to do. “Come now, let us go.

 Through the Eucharist we are continually reminded of Christ blood sacrifice and exacly what that means to each of us and it is an essential part of worship and one condoned and implemented by Christ Himself for us, the Church, Christians, to continue to do. 

Regarding part 1, the Union with Christ God's Holy Spirit is within us, dwells within us and is God dwelling within our mortal bodies, a living ministry unto us.  In keeping with point 2 we should also remind ourselves that God's Holy Spirit convicts us of our Sins and assist us in our praying to God seeking forgiveness

Romans 8:26-27 (NCV)
26  Also, the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us with deep feelings that words cannot explain.
27  God can see what is in people’s hearts. And he knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit speaks to God for his people in the way God wants. 

Additionally, I believe, that it is God's Holy Spirit that from within us renews us and restores that excitement and righteousness we had upon our Salvation conversation experience. 

Again I am not wanting to disagree about the importance of the Eucharist in a Christian's life but I also wish to insert that, for the Christian, whether or not they be Roman Catholic or protestant that it is God's Holy Spirit that renews us and equips us with Spiritual understanding and comprehension to be able to appreciate the Sacrifice that Christ made that is revealed in and through the Eucharist and while it is important I also don't want the Christian to ignore or diminish the importance of God's Holy Spirit's ministry unto each and every believer/Christian.

 

Good post GB, and of course I agree God is everywhere and
at times dwells within some of us. But that's not the intention
the Father had in the creation of the Eucharist. The difference
is the Divine presence of Jesus himself, and that only happens
in the non blood sacrifice of the Mass by way of the Christ
the New Covenant.

 

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