You become more united with Christ (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1391)
What does this even mean to be more united with Jesus? A few things. First, it means that we take our seats right alongside the original apostles and be partakers of the same meal received in the Last Supper.
Secondly, we become stronger in our resistance against the temptations of the devil, and saying “no” to sin becomes a whole lot easier.
Thirdly there is a special grace that we receive through the Eucharist; It gives one a certain sensitivity, to dictate what purpose the Holy Spirit and to the very longings of Jesus’ heart.
“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” – John 6:56
We are separated from our sinfulness (CCC #1393)
We must remember the whole purpose of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.
If Christ died so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God, so also do we become partakers of the same sacrifice for the forgiveness of our own sins.
“If, as often as his blood is poured out, it is poured out for the forgiveness of sins, I should always receive it, so that it may always forgive my sins.” – St. Ambrose
It wipes our venial sins away. (CCC #1394)
Mortal sins, as we know, are sins of our full consent. They are moments when our own selfish desires go against the love and will of God. Due to this, our relationship with God is affected. Venial sins, on the other hand, are not evil that we directly will; rather, they are acts or side effects of our concupiscence. As humans, we often fall and this tells us that not long after that we have been reconciled we will surely sin again. By uniting us to Christ and through the driving of that wedge between us and our tendency to sin, the Eucharist actually strengthens our charity that becomes weakened through the rigors of daily life.
“Since Chriq zxast died for us out of love, when we celebrate the memorial of his death at the moment of sacrifice we ask that love may be granted to us by the coming of the Holy Spirit.” – St. Fulgentius of Ruspe
Through the Eucharist, our communion with other Christians is strengthened. (CCC #1396)
During the sacrifice of the Eucharist, we must note that Christ is not present locally but universally. What this means is that there is not a different Jesus on your parish’s altar and another Jesus over at another. The actual occasion of the Eucharist means that one Christ is present in all of these liturgical celebrations under the species of bread and wine. Also, it must be noted that He is not present by parts in one parish and by another part in another. Example, let’s say, one parish might have a foot whereas another parish might have an ear of Christ. It is not so. In every Eucharistic celebration, Christ is fully and totally present. From this understanding we now know that when you receive from the table of the Lord and your friend in Ohio receives in his parish as well, the SAME CHRIST has been physically assimilated into your flesh and his. We gather from this truth a sense of fraternal bonding that takes root between all the faithful. We become brothers and sisters through the identical flesh and blood that we all receive.
“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” – 1 Corinthians 10:17
We are reminded of those less fortunate than us. (CCC #1397)
Countless times we read that Christ emptied himself and took on the form of a servant. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords humbled himself and became a man like you and me in all, except sin. The Eucharist is a reminder of that humility; it is a reminder that the Son of Man became the object of sacrifice for our sinfulness and gave himself up to death on a cross. It also reminds us that we ought not to boast about anything. If Christ received what he deserved or what was owed to him, he would not have arrived here in a feeding troth. Christ became poor to save the poor, became weak to give strength to the weak, suffered to relive the suffering and died that the dead shall have Life. The Eucharist, therefore, reminds us of our duty to those who have less than us and who are struggling just to survive. The Eucharist empowers us to be the Church. Mass is, more than anything, an exercise in humility.
“In the present condition of global society, where injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable, the principle of the common good immediately becomes, logically and inevitably, a summons to solidarity… it demands before all else an appreciation of the immense dignity of the poor in the light of our deepest convictions as believers.” -Laudato Si #158
