How to go to Mass (3)
Liturgy of the Eucharist
The Institution Narrative
The priest, in the person of Christ, continues to address the Eucharistic
Prayer to God the Father, and we recall when and how Christ instituted the
Eucharist and the holy priesthood, the New Covenant in His Blood. By means of
words and actions of Christ, the Sacrifice is carried out which Christ Himself
instituted at the Last Supper, when He offered his Body and Blood under the
species of bread and wine, gave them to his Apostles to eat and drink, and left
them the command to perpetuate this same mystery (GIRM 79d).
The fact that Jesus instituted the Eucharist at a Passover meal is no accident. At the Passover, the Jewish people remembered (made present) before God the great saving deeds of the Exodus. Jesus draws on Himself all the images of the Passover meal, the whole history of Israel, as He consciously identifies that whole history with Himself, fulfilling it and opening the New Covenant in His blood. Henceforth, all remembering refers to the Paschal mystery, the central event of all salvation history (What Happens at Mass).
Consecration and Elevation
The bread and wine (all of our offerings) are now transformed into Jesus: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity! At Mass, Holy Thursday unites with Good Friday—we are united with Jesus at His table and at the foot of His Cross as the priest elevates the Sacred Host and Chalice. Notice that when the priest speaks the words of Jesus, they are now in the present tense "This is my body...this is my blood." The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is made present to us, and our souls bow down before the Divine Majesty now present on the altar. As the Host is raised we can silently make an act of faith; when the Chalice is elevated, we can renew our Covenant with the Lord.
Transubstantiation—Miracle of Miracles
The substance of the bread and wine truly changes; it is truly the Body and
Blood of Christ, under the appearance of bread and wine. Recall what the Church
teaches about Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist: The Eucharistic presence
of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the
Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in
each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way
that the
breaking of the bread does not divide Christ (CCC 1377). Christ is
really, wholly present in every crumb and in every precious drop.
In the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore the whole Christ, is truly, really and substantially contained. This presence is called real—by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence—but because it is presence in the fullest sense: That is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes Himself wholly and entirely present (CCC 1374).