eucharist + reconciliation (im barely hanging on)

o   The Eucharist is the … and … of Christian life—why?

§  Source…summit

§  This is because all other sacraments are oriented around Eucharist since Christ is actually present in the Eucharist

§  The eucharist is the most important sacrament!!

Eucharist instituted where?

THE LAST SUPPER (at the Passover meal)

o   Sacrifice- Why animals, and why no longer?

§  So animals did no wrong, and died in place of the person performing the sacrifice

§  However, because Jesus was the PERFECT AND ULTIMATE sacrifice, we no longer needed any more animals, since nothing can beat Jesus

o   Day of Atonement- all details discussed in class

• §  Day of Atonement is aka Yom Kippur

• §  Atonement means to cover up

  Leviticus 16:

• Sacrifices could only take place in the Temple

• Aaron, the high priest, made the sacrifice and entered the Holy of Holies, the area of the Jewish temple that had God’s presence with a curtain separating God from man

• ·       2 goats were used:

• 1^st is sacrificed and blood is sprinkled all over temple, symbolizing life

• 2^nd is the scapegoat, when Aaron lays his hands on top of the goat and symbolically transfers sins to the goat. The goat is then sent away “taking the sins away” from the people

o   In the Old Testament what are two important parts of making a covenant

§  A sacrifice and a meal

passover information

• §  Context of Passover: when the Israelites were in slavery, God sent Moses to help free them. Moses says that the last plague (death of the first born) can be avoided if an unblemished male 1 year old lamb is sacrificed. The blood went on the door posts and they also had to eat the lamb.

• §  Then in Exodus 16, the Israelites are complaining because they are hungry and God says there will be raining bread from heaven. The bread cannot be collected our hoarded except the day before the Sabbath to show that we needed to trust God (the bread continued to be given for 40 years)

• §  Passover commemorated Israel’s liberation from slavery…and Jesus liberated us from sin (see the connection)

• §  4 cups drank during Passover, however during the last supper, Jesus did it a little differently. During the 3^rd cup he said that the bread and wine were really his body and blood of the covenant (so like actually him). This was also said after the original Passover so Jesus was showing the creation of a new covenant using Jesus as the sacrifice. Jesus then did not drink the last cup, the cup of Consummation. This is because the Passover couldn’t be complete since Jesus was the sacrifice. On the cross, Jesus drank some wine and said “it is finished” because he was sacrificed and therefore the Passover was completed.

o   How does the feeding of the 5000 and the Wedding feast at Cana relate to the Eucharist?

§  Feeding: Everyone was able to be fed in Jesus’s love, and they were actually full whereas we are spiritually full. Also everyone can receive his love even though he is just one person.

§  Cana: the accidents and substance both changed to show Christ’s ability to change things. There is a transubstantiation of the wine in the Eucharist.

o   How do the words of the last supper connect with Mass?

§  They are the same. They illustrate how Jesus is fully present during the Eucharist because they are directly his words. He is the new covenant and the ultimate sacrifice and during the Eucharist he actually becomes the substance we are eating.

o   John 6 all details discussed in class

§  The bread of life discourse shows Jesus’s actual presence in the Eucharist

§  Jesus says “I am the living bread that came down from Heaven” which angers the Jewish people because he is also saying he’s God. This also disgusts them because he says the bread is his flesh and they interpret it literally.

§  Jesus is willing to lose followers over this

o   Significance of Passover and connection to the Eucharist, and Christ

§  Passover shows the Israelites being freed from slavery. Therefore the Eucharist shows them being freed from sin. Both have sacrifices to protect them from something (the lamb/Jesus). Jesus is the “paschal lamb” and takes on the role of the sacrifice so we don’t need animals anymore. Jesus’s words during the Last Supper show him teaching that he is actually the Eucharist that they consume.

o   What do priests do when consecrating the Eucharist, and what does this mean?

§  They take on Jesus’s body as they say the words he said at the last supper as they act in Christ and therefore consecrate the host. Therefore the wine and bread actually become Jesus.

o   What is the role of an Extraordinary Minister of Communion.

§  Lay people who can distribute communion can offer the gift of Christ

o   How can we (the laity) participate in the Mass?

§  We can be trained to distribute communion!

o   Graces that come from the Eucharist?

§  Unity with Christ (most important part)

§  Unity with the Church

§  Separation from sin…cleansed of venial sins

Commitment to the poor/others: evangelizing

o   How can we show respect for the Eucharist, and how should we prepare to receive it?

§  Truly believe in his presence in the Eucharist

§  Examination of conscience

§  Be free from grave/mortal sin

§  One hour fast from food/drink

o   What if we receive the Eucharist unworthily?  What does this mean?

§  Paul said we are “guilty of profaning the body and blood of the lord” if we do this. Therefore we are harming Jesus and we do not receive the effects of this Sacrament

o   Matter of Eucharist

§  The bread and the wine. Bread is typically unleavened to tie back to the Israelites fleeing

o   Transubstantiation- be able to explain

§  A substance vs an accident

§  Substance = the essence of what something is, accident = features of a substance that can’t exist on their own

§  Jesus is a substance and the accidents are the bread and wine

o   Know enough to defend the idea that the belief in the real presence can be traced back to the earliest days of the church

§  The real presence is the idea that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist: body, blood, soul, and divinity

§  This did not take long to develop because Christians have always believed it

§  This is mentioned in Acts, and other Church documents from early on

·       How do we see confession, in a sense, prior to Christ and the Church?

o   Israel has always contained provisions for remission of sins

o   Confession has been around as long as sin has been

·       What is the typical human reaction to sin?  How does God respond to sin?  Use the stories of Adam and Eve Cain and able to explain this.

o   In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve commit the first sin. Instead of confessing what happened with the apple when God asks, they blame each other. God knows what they did but wants them to come clean and they don’t.

o   Cain and Abel have the same thing. In Gen 4 Cain kills his brother and denies it.

o   God WANTS us to take accountability even though he is a merciful and forgiving God. Our human nature is to blame others instead of ourselves.

·       The three names of reconciliation and their significance.

o   Penance – means repentance/remorse for wrongdoing. We show our interior sorrow through penance.

o   Confession – signifies how we reveal our sins to a priest. We admit what we have done.

o   Reconciliation – purpose of the Sacrament is to be reconciled to God, or brought back together with Him. We are set right with Him.

·       The ways that reconciliation heals beyond the individual:

o   We are social creatures so our sins affect other people as well. Therefore when we confess, we join back into the Church and the whole body is restored as well.

·       Mortal sin vs Venial Sin

o   Mortal sins:

§  Kill our relationship with God

§  They must be willingly done, know they are wrong, and are grave matter (otherwise they are venial sins)

o   Venial sins:

§  Excusable sins that can be forgiven through eucharist

§  Damages relationship with God

·       Sin of omission

o   Sins of commission are sins that we do directly, omission means they are sins that are made when we fail to do good. They can also be mortal and venial.

o   Example: saying you are at a friend’s house without saying you are drinking and doing drugs there.

·       Some reasons to avoid sin?

o   Sin severs our relationship with God

o   Causes us to forfeit grace and virtues

o   Deprives us of the Holy Spirit’s gifts

o   Causes us to lose happiness with God in heaven

o   Ultimately makes us unhappy because it is so self-destructive

·       What does it mean to say sin is it’ own punishment?

o   Because we offend God and deserve what we get. Sin has consequences!

o   We deliberately choose lesser good over God so we get lesser happiness.

o   It is our decision what we get not God’s.

·       How does sin affect my relationship with myself and my relationship with God?

o   It makes us more unhappy and we don’t take accountability for our actions

o   We cannot be as close to God and may not be able to join him in heaven if we never try to correct our behaviors.

o   Valuing the opinion of others often over God undermines our relationship with Him!

·       Why go to a priest for confession?

o   Interior contrition is important but so is a priest being with us. It humbles us and helps us recognize the significance of our action

o   The priest also gives us the absolution—this can help us feel healed and relieved

·       Benefits of confession?

o   Psychologically, hearing “your sins are forgiven” is an amazing feeling

o   Socially, the priest represents Christ as well as the Church, so Confession brings you back into full communion with the Body of Christ (God and the Church)

o   Confidentiality: the priest cannot share what you say, even upon threat of death

o   Christ told us to confess our sins to one another

·       What are the steps of confession?

o   Make sign of the Cross and start with bless me father, for I have sinned

o   Say how long its been since your last confession

o   Confess your sins (be specific about quantities)

o   Make your act of contrition

o   Priest says the prayer of absolution

o   You then are dismissed with “The Lord has freed you from your sins. Go in peace”

·       What happens in the sacrament of confession?

o   Our relationship with God is repaired AS LONG AS WE ARE SORRY!!

·       What is absolution?

o   The form of prayer or words the priest says over us when he forgives our confessed sins

·       What is the seal of confession

o   The idea that priests cannot share anything you have said in confession with anyone.

why were animals used

animals did no wrong so they died in place of whoever performed the sacrifice- much like jesus

why did jesus institute eucharist at passover?

passover commemorates israel’s liberation, and jesus brang (is that a word?) a new liberation from sin

how was eucharist performed in early christianity

jesus said to do this in memory of me so the christians would pray in the temple in the morning, then share a meal and the eucharist in the evening

the didache

a document believed to be the earliest christian document outside of the new testament

it discussed how to receive eucharist

how to make a good confession

1. examine conscience

2. sorrow for sins

3. resolution to avoid sins in future

when is passover typtically

march/april

zeroah

lamb bone

symbol of lamb sacrifice during passover in jerusalem

beitzah

egg

represents offerings brought to temple and the cycle of life

maror

bitter herbs

bitterness of slavery/sufferin

charoset

apple + cinnamon mixture

represents the mortar used by the slaves while building in egypt

karpas

parsely/celery

shows flourishing and hardships during slavery