In a world where conflicts, wars, violence and divisions seem to be everywhere, one might ask: what can we do? Is that all there is to it? Is this how the world was supposed to be? Saint John Paul II, in his encyclical Eclessia de Euchristia (2003), seeks to rekindle the fire for the Eucharist. It shows us that it is the great gift, par excellence, of Christ to humanity. It is in this gift that we experience the paschal mystery, and it is through the Eucharist that we will have true communion, with Christ and with each other. It also reveals the way in which we can live the Eucharistic life. It provides guidance and at the same time corrects the abuses that have taken place in the Church. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Saint Joan Paul II has a very methodical approach. He begins by laying out his big arguments. He then provides theological evidence and supports his writings with Church teachings and biblical references. Then he gives pastoral directions and corrections where necessary. He concludes by reiterating his main points and providing a way for them to put this teaching into practice. He uses this method on a large scale throughout the encyclical, but also does so in each section to some extent. St. John Paul II begins his encyclical Eclessia de Euchristia by explaining the Eucharist and its importance to the world. It is the gift par excellence that Christ gave to the Church. She hopes her readers will understand the incredible richness, beauty, and perfect love found in this gift. There is no other similar gift because it is the gift of Christ himself and his saving work. There is no greater gift we could ask for, and there is no greater gift Christ could give. This gift expresses His incredible love for all humanity, and because sacrifice transcends all time, all the faithful can continue to partake in it and continue to profit from its fruits. It is through this gift that the Lord's work of redemption is accomplished. The Eucharist is not only a memory of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, but it is a re-presentation of his unique sacrifice. This means that we are not simply remembering a sacrifice made thousands of years ago, and it is not a new sacrifice of Christ. It is a participation in the one sacrifice. Christ expresses the main meaning of this sacrifice during his institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. He declared that he was giving the apostles his body and blood to drink, and he also expressed the sacrificial significance of his body and blood. The body and blood will be shed for the forgiveness of sins, a sacrifice that will be consumed on the cross and continues to be present in every Holy Mass. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The Sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one sacrifice.” It is the same sacrifice as yesterday, today and tomorrow. The Eucharist is a sacrifice in the strict sense. Saint John Paul II underlines that, although it is certainly a gift given to all humanity, it is first and foremost a gift of love and obedience given by Christ to his Father. By giving the sacrifice to the Church, to all humanity, He invites us to be participants in this sacrifice and to offer ourselves, the Church, in union with the one sacrifice of Christ to God the Father. As Lumen Gentium famously stated: "By taking part in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which is the source and summit of all Christian life, they offer the divine victim to God and offer themselves with it." Christ we must not omit that in the consecration we also proclaim the resurrection of Christ. «We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song» (Angelus 30 November 1986). The resurrection crowns the only sacrifice. By giving ourselves with Christ in his one sacrifice, we die withHim and we rise with Him to new life. This is the meaning of the paschal mystery, Christ's great gift to humanity. We are invited to live this mystery daily and to develop a Eucharistic life. This gift, under the transubstantiated species of bread and wine, is the body and blood of Christ: it is the real presence of Christ. As Saint Paul VI states in his encyclical Mysterium Fidei, it is said to be real because "it is the presence of Christ in the fullest sense, the God-Man is entirely and entirely present". It is the gift par excellence to all humanity. St. John Paul II states that modern theological efforts to understand this mystery are good and laudable, but any theological explanation of this mystery must contain this objective reality. It is the real presence of Christ that truly nourishes us. He offers us spiritual nourishment, and offers us communion with Him in His Body and Blood through which He fills us with His Spirit. The spirit given to us in baptism and sealed in confirmation is increased in us during communion. It's not a metaphorical food, it's the only food that can truly satisfy you. When we take part in the Eucharistic sacrifice of Christ, we allow ourselves to be transformed by Him. There is a certain eschatological tension created in the Eucharist because the Eucharist is an “anticipation of the fullness of the joy promised by Christ”. It is a harbinger of heaven. However, when we feed on the Eucharistic sacrifice, we do not need to wait for heaven. We already have it on earth. This strengthens our communion with the communion of saints, the Church in heaven. We participate in the same Eucharistic celebration with them. This connection, as it were between heaven and earth, should increase our sense of responsibility and urgency in creating a paradise on earth today. We must understand our urgent task of working for peace. The Eucharist calls us to move forward and shine the light of Christ in the world. We must follow the example that Christ set with the institution of the Eucharist in washing the feet of his disciples, and wash the feet of the poorest among us. This is how we can live a Eucharistic life. The Eucharist is central to the growth of the Church. Since the very origins of the Church, the Eucharist has been present at the Last Supper. The apostles began a new hierarchy and founded the new Israel in the world. At the Last Supper the apostles entered into sacramental communion with Christ. From this moment on the Church is built up through sacramental communion. Every Eucharistic communion renews the incorporation into Christ, which we received in baptism. The Eucharist strengthens us, edifies us and nourishes us. In Eucharistic communion each of us receives Christ, and He also receives each of us! The purpose of the Eucharistic sacrifice is the communion of all men with Christ the Son, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. However, with the reception of this Great Communion also comes a Great Commission, we are sent into the world to be its light. This strength to carry out this mandate comes from the Eucharist. Thus, the Eucharist is not only the source and culmination of the Church and of the Christian life, but it is also the source and culmination of all evangelization, which should normally be a product of the Christian life. It is the source of strength to carry on evangelism, and it is the purpose of that evangelism. It is through the Eucharist that we are united with each other and with Christ. Every human heart has a great desire for fraternal communion. The Eucharist continues to fill us with the Holy Spirit we received at baptism and draws us into intimate unity with Christ. We are united with Him through the Eucharist, and it is also through the Eucharist that we are united with each other. The fallen world experiences disunity daily because of sin. The body of Christ counteracts this in its powerunifying. It is “a sign and instrument of intimate unity with God and of the unity of the whole human race”. (Lumen Gentium)The cult of the real presence in the Blessed Sacrament is aimed at communion, both sacramental and spiritual. Worship is connected to the Eucharistic sacrifice, and has incredible importance and value for the Church. Eucharistic adoration prolongs and increases the fruits of our Eucharistic communion. Saint John Paul II states that every community that wishes to contemplate the face of Christ must develop this form of worship. He goes so far as to tell pastors that it is their responsibility to promote Eucharistic adoration, with their personal testimony and encouraging the faithful. The exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is particularly important. In spending time with Him in the Eucharistic style, we can listen to each other and let ourselves be renewed by his infinite love. Saint John Paul II gives his personal recommendation for the practice of Eucharistic adoration, and notes that it is continually recommended by the magisterium and the saints. He quotes Saint Alphonsus Ligouori who says: «Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most useful to us. The importance and value of this great gift must not be underestimated." The Eucharist builds the Church. The Church is one, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, and so is the Eucharist. The Church and the Eucharist were built on the foundation of the apostles. The Eucharist was given to the apostles when the sacramental priesthood was begun at the Last Supper. It was passed down to us from them. The Church is apostolic in the sense that it continues to be led by Christ's apostles and their successors. The Eucharist is also apostolic. It is the great gift, par excellence, handed down by the apostles for generations. The faithful participate in the offering of the Eucharist through their royal priesthood, but there must be an ordained priest who, acting in persona Christi, offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is he who offers the Sacrifice to God in the name of all the faithful. No one can truly offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice except the eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ. It is with this awareness that the priest, acting in persona Christi, can offer the Sacrifice of the Eucharist. It is only through the sacrament of Orders, which a man receives through valid episcopal ordination, that a priest can act in persona Christi and celebrate the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The priest acting in persona Christi is a sacramental identification with Christ himself. For priests, if the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life, it is certainly the source and summit of the priestly ministry. In fact, he is the reason a priest exists. It is extremely important to celebrate the Eucharist daily, even if no believers are present, because it is an act of Christ and the Church. In the Eucharistic sacrifice, priests will find the strength they need to face all their daily activities and will come to lead a Eucharistic life. Because the Eucharist is central to every Christian life, a validly ordained priest is central to every Christian community. It is true that in the Church there is a great need for holy priestly vocations. There are many communities that are without priests or that do not regularly receive the sacraments. It is painful when communities do not have a priest because without a priest to celebrate the Eucharistic Sacrifice they are incomplete. There may be a temptation to replace the Eucharistic Sacrifice with other devotional activities, or to lower the standards of priestly training. This incompleteness should push the faithful to pray. It should inspire the faithful to ask God to send workers into the harvest. It should also encourage dioceses and communities to use all their resourcesnecessary to promote priestly vocations. The faithful have the responsibility to be hungry for the Eucharist and to keep this hunger alive, because only through the Eucharist can a true community be built. Saint John Paul II notes that, although great progress has been made in the field of the Eucharist, In ecumenism, the Catholic faithful must be aware that nothing can replace the source and summit of the Christian life. As much as we desire to be united with our Christian brothers, we must always bear witness to the truth. The faithful should never replace Sunday Mass with ecumenical services, nor should they receive communion in other churches. The true communion to which we are all called can only be found in the Holy Eucharist. Saint John Paul II addresses issues relating to communion. Specifically, he notes that the Eucharist is the culmination of all the sacraments. Perfect our communion with God the Father. The sacrament of communion perfects every good in us and is the goal of every human desire. This is why it is so important to continue to cultivate the desire for the sacrament of the Eucharist. However, the Eucharist is not and cannot be the starting point of union with God. It is the culmination and perfection of the goods within us and of our communion with God. However, the sacrament presupposes that a communion already exists between man and God. Our sacramental union with God begins with baptism, we are sealed in confirmation. If we break this bond through mortal sin, then this union is repaired through the sacrament of reconciliation. These sacraments, as well as the vocational sacraments of orders and marriage, are perfected in the Eucharist. For this reason it is important that each of us examines our conscience before receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist. This is also why the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist are closely linked. Likewise, it is not possible to give communion to a person who is not baptized or who rejects the truth of the Eucharistic mystery. Nor is it possible to concelebrate with other Christian denominations. However, our desire for unity with our Christian brothers pushes us to look to the sacrament of unity. There is a relationship between the Eucharist and ecumenical activity. It is the Church's fidelity to the Eucharist that should attract others to it. It is possible, in particular circumstances, to administer the Eucharistic Sacrament, reconciliation and the anointing of the sick to people belonging to Churches not in full communion with the Catholic Church. This can only happen to satisfy the grave spiritual need of the believer, who strongly desires to receive the sacrament, and professes and manifests faith in the truth of the sacraments. The Eucharist cannot be given to achieve intercommunion. The Eucharistic banquet has led several Christian churches around the world to embellish the Eucharistic feast through: art, music, buildings and other things. In short, the Church has spared no extravagance in using its best resources to adorn the unsurpassed gift of the Eucharist. The Church felt the need to celebrate the Eucharist in an environment that points to such a great mystery. This is good, and different cultures have shaped this feast in different ways. This was the type of “inculturation” that Vatican II had in mind. However, with this work of adaptation, we must be constantly aware of the great treasure that makes up the deposit of faith, rites and the Eucharist itself. Practices should not be introduced without the careful scrutiny of ecclesial authorities. “The Sacred Liturgy cannot be determined by the local Churches, isolating them from the universal Church”. (Ecclesia in Asia) Saint John Paul II laments the fact that, in an excessive reaction to perceived formalism, some have.