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The Eucharist: The Church’s Source of Unity

Alan Schreck completes his explanation of the Encyclical Letter, ‘Ecclesia de Eucharistia’, highlighting John Paul II’s teaching on the Eucharist as a source and deepening of communion with the Trinity and with each other in the Church.

Here we conclude our study of Pope John Paul II’s final encyclical letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia (on the Church and the Eucharist) published on Holy Thursday, 2003.

Chapter IV of the encyclical focuses on the central theme of the Second Vatican Council: communion. The entire purpose of God’s saving design is to bring humanity back into loving communion with himself and with each other after the original sin disrupted and broke this communion.

The Eucharist is one of the great gifts God has provided to restore and deepen our communion with God and with each other. As the Pope observes: ‘It is not by chance that the term “communion” has become one of the names given to this sublime sacrament… The Eucharist thus appears as the culmination of all the sacraments in perfecting our communion with God the Father by identification with his only-begotten Son through the working of the Holy Spirit’ (no. 34). In response to this great gift, the Holy Father urges us to cultivate a constant desire for the Eucharist. He affirms St. Teresa of Avila’s practice of making a ‘spiritual communion’ if one cannot attend Mass (34).

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Dr. Alan Schreck is a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, specializing in Catholic doctrine, Church history, and the teachings of Vatican II. He is the author of several books including The Essential Catholic Catechism, published in 1999; Vatican II: The Crisis and the Promise, published by St. Anthony Messenger Press in 2005. In 2004 his noted apologetic book, Catholic and Christian: An Explanation of Commonly Misunderstood Catholic Beliefs, was reprinted in a 20th Anniversary edition. His latest book is The Legacy of Pope John Paul II: The Central Teaching of His 14 Encyclical Letters, which can be ordered through this website. He and his wife Nancy have five children and reside in Steubenville.

This article is from The Sower and may be copied for catechetical purposes only. It may not be reprinted in another published work without the permission of Maryvale Institute. Contact [email protected]

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31.3

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The Catechetics Degree Programs and the Catechetical Institute (CI) at Franciscan University of Steubenville work in concert to prepare clergy, religious and laity to join the “army of catechists” called for by St. John Paul II, eager to help the Church in her mission of making all nations joyful disciples of Jesus Christ. We combine a thorough formation in Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and Magisterial documents with training in effective pedagogical techniques to help those we serve to grasp the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Father’s plan, and to bear witness to others faithfully of the wonderful life of grace in the Holy Spirit.

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