Institution of the
Eucharist and Priesthood

Forth Hour of the Passion: Holy Thursday from 8 to 9 PM

Institution of the Eucharist
The Eucharist is for real
The Memorial of Christ
The Words of Consecration... "For all"... "For many"
The Lord's Supper and the Jewish Passover... the Seder

Institution of the Priesthood

Institution of the Eucharist:

    It is described in the three Synoptic Gospels and in the First Letter to the Corinthians. The Eucharist celebration is also mentioned in the last chapter of Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, and in the Book of Revelation. St. John do not describe it in his Gospel, instead, he gives us the beautiful Sermon of the Bread of Life, in which we already commented the Eucharist.

 

    I believe it is wise to have a full quotation of the Bible on the Institution of the Eucharist:

1- St. Matthew 26:26-32:

26- While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my body."

27- Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you,

28- for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.

29- I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father."

30- Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

31- Then Jesus said to them, "This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed';

32- but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee."

 

2- St. Mark 14:22-28:

22- While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body."

23- Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

24- He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.

25- Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

26- Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

27- Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written: 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be dispersed.'

28- But after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee."

3- St. Luke 22:14-20:

14- When the hour came, he took his place at table with the apostles.

15- He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,

16- for, I tell you, I shall not eat it (again) until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God."

17- Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, "Take this and share it among yourselves;

18- for I tell you (that) from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

19- Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me."

20- And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.

 

4- 1Corinthians 10:16:

"The cup of blessing we bless, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ? And the bread that we brake, is it not a communion with the body of Christ? The bread is one, and so we, though many, form one body, sharing the one bread"

 

5- 1 Corinthians 11:23-30:

23- For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread,

24- and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

25- In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

26- For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

27- Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord.

28- A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup.

29- For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

30- That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying.

 

6- St. Luke 28:30-31, 35:

On the Road to Emmaus: "When they were at table, Jesus took the bread, said a blessing, broke it and gave each a piece. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; but he vanished out of their sight… Then the two told what had happened on the road and how Jesus made himself known when he broke the bread"

 

7- Acts of the Apostles 2:46, 20:7:

"Each day they met together in the Temple area; they broke the bread in their homes; their shared their food with great joy and simplicity of heart… On the first day of the week, on Sunday, we were together for the breaking of the bread, and Paul, who intended to leave the following day, spoke at length"

 

8- Revelation 5:6:

    What John sow in Heaven, through an open door "Then I saw, in the middle of the throne… a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered".

    It is Jesus, the Lamb, standing but sacrificed, the Eucharist!… it is the "eternal and permanent sacrifice" of Num.28:1-6 and Ex.29:38-43… if it is "eternal" and "perpetual", is got to be in Heaven, and it is!, just in the center of the Throne of Heaven, the reason for all praise and joy and singing of the saved for an eternity…

… and if it "permanent", is got to be on earth now, and it is!… in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and not only twice a day as in Num.28, but over 500.000 times a day, every day!… praise the Lord… Jesus is indeed our daily bread in the Eucharist, the beginning and the center and the end of all Christian Evangelization, of the Good News, the solution of all our problems, the most we can ask God on earth, and the most God can give us on earth. and in Heaven!… I praise you and I adore you, my Jesus, the Lamb of Heaven, my Savior my God and my friend, alleluia!…

The Eucharist is for real:
… The Eucharist is really real, in the Bread and Wine there is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the same Jesus of Bethlehem: There he looked like a child, but he was God!… the same Jesus that the Baptist saw: The Baptist saw just a man with a face and teeth an hands, like any other man, but he was God!… in the Eucharist we see just bread and Wine, even more humble that in Bethlehem, but he is God!… I adore you, Jesus, in the Eucharist, I praise you for your immense love in the Eucharist, and I glorify you, my sweet Jesus, for your patience in the Eucharist, and for your humility, and for your great pain and joy in the Eucharist already for 2000 years, alleluia!.

    God the Father, with the power of the Holy Spirit, I offer you the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of your beloved Son and our Lord Jesus Christ, in reparation for my sins and for the sins of the whole world. For his sorrowful passion have mercy on us and of the whole world.
    Thank you Father, for His immense love in the Eucharist, you have mercy of me and of the whole world… For his patience in the Eucharist, you have mercy of me and of the whole world… For His humility in the Eucharist, you have mercy of me and of the whole world… For His great sorrow in the Eucharist, you have mercy of me and of the whole world… For his joy in the Eucharist, you have mercy of me and of the whole world… Thank you, Father, thank you Jesus, thank you Holy Spirit… all glory and praise and power and honor is yours for ever and ever. Amen.

 

    The "real" body and Blood of Christ:
    This is how strongly Paul puts it: "It follows that anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of offending against the body and blood of the Lord" (1Cor.11:27, REV). If you treat a picture of Jesus in an unworthy manner, you will not have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord, but if you do that in the Eucharist, you are guilty!
    And two verses later Paul is still stronger: "For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink their own condemnation" (1Cor.11:29)… "Without discerning", is to eat the body as a symbol, or as something worth less than one million dollars!…
    In the Catholic Church there are several Dogmas of Faith referring to the Eucharist: "The Body and the Blood of Christ together with His Soul and His Divinity and therefore the whole Christ are truly present in the Eucharist… The whole Christ is present under each of the two Species… When either consecrated species is divided the whole Christ is present in each part of the species".

 

"In memory of me" (Lk.22:19, 1Cor.11:25-26):

    The Eucharist is "the memorial" of Christ: Not a memorial made of stone, or building a city, but a memorial made of His real Flesh, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. It is mind-boggling, but it is true and real!… and it is a memorial of his death and resurrection, just like Psalm 22 prophesied: In Psalm 22, the first 22 verses is a man crucified, with 13 prophecies fulfilled by the letter in Jesus at Calvary; and from verse 23, the crucified man appears joyfully alive giving witness in the middle of the congregation. The same with the Eucharist: The Consecration is a memorial of his death; the Communion is a memorial of his resurrection, because we receive Jesus alive in Communion, not death!… and we should do it until his second coming in glory (1Cor.11:26).

    Jesus at Calvary offered one single sacrifice for all sins of mankind (Heb.9:12,26,28), but the blessings of salvation merited for mankind on the cross they are still to be applied to us, in Baptism, in the Eucharist, free, by grace, by faith alone… the blessings of salvation in the cross were meant to everybody, but many Africans and Hindus, for example, can not have them, they are not applied to them, because they have not even heard about Jesus Christ. See The Testament of Jesus at Calvary.

 

The Christians form One Body:
    "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ? And the bread that we brake, is it not a communion with the body of Christ?" (1Cor.10:16). This communion of the body and blood of the the Risen Christ, besides being a personal encounter with Christ, makes all of us one body. We form one body!. This that not only mean that we feel united, but that the risen Christ unites us to himself and, so doing, gives the community a new strength: The unity which exists among members of the Church, who partake the same victim. It is the unity among Christians already brought into existence by Baptism.
    As the bread is made by many grains of wheat crushed to form the flour, so the Christians have to be also crushed, be humble, with unselfishness, to form one community in Christ, in one body. And the wine also is made by many grapes crushed, so the Christians should.
    "Breaking of the bread" became an almost technical term for the whole Eucharistic rite of the bread-body (Lk.28:35, Act.2:46, 20:7).
    Please, look at The Sermon of the Bread of Life, on chapter 6.

The Words of Consecration:
    In the Catholic Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, there are several Eucharistic Prayers, all including the Consecration Words in the same manner. This is the Eucharistic Prayer IV:
    "While they were at supper, he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take this, all of you, and eat it: this is my body. In the same way, he took the cup, filled with wine. He gave you thanks, and giving the cup to his disciples, said: Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me".
    "For many"… "For all":
    These Words of the Consecration are the ones used today, after the Vatican Council II. At the end says, "for you and for all", while in the Consecration Words before the Vatican II used to say "for you and for many". Two Gospels say "for many" (Mt.26:28, Mk.14:24); Luke an 1Cor.11 only say "for you". But actually, as St. Paul teaches, both are the same thing, interpreted in different ways: Notice how St. Paul uses "for all" twice, and "for many" also twice, in two consecutive verses: "Therefore, just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the on man's obedience the many will be made righteous" (Rom.5:18-19)… Jesus died on the Cross "for all", but only "many" will take advantage of that merit of Christ, those who receive Him by grace, only by faith!.

 

The Lord's Supper and the Passover:
    The Eucharist is the Christian Passover, the institution of the New Covenant. The dividing line between the OT and the NT is not the blank page between Malachi and Mathew, but "Jesus' blood of the New Testament which is shed for many (those who receive Him) for the remissions of sins" (Mt.26:28, Mk.14:24).
    The Jews, in the Passover Supper, celebrate the freeing of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, and their formation into God's chosen people (Ex.12). The Christians, in the Eucharist, celebrate the freeing from sin, and the formation of Christ's Church, with Jesus in our hearts, until he comes the second time in glory (1Cor.11:23-26, Mt.26:28-29, Mk.14:25).
In the Passover Supper of the Holy Thursday Jesus instituted the Eucharist and the Priesthood.

    The Order of the Jews' Passover Supper:
    To understand better the Lord's Supper and the celebration of the Eucharist in the Holy Mass, it is helpful to understand a little the joyful Passover Supper of the Jews.
    The Jews call it "Seder", which means "Order", or "Haggadah" ("telling"), because in that Supper the President tells the story of the liberation from Egypt. "Pesah" ("Paschal") means "Passing Over".

    This is the Seder (the Order of the Paschal Supper):
    1- The Preparation: The place (Mt.26:17-19). The dinner was prepared by the mother of the family, probably the Mother of Jesus.
    2- The Lightening of the Festival Lights: By the mother, probably Virgin Mary.
    3- Blessing of the first cup of wine by the president, the father of the family, here Jesus. The cup of joy… and the washing of the hands. Probably here Jesus washed the feet of the Apostles.
    4- Karpas: Eating of the bitter herbs dipped on a salty sauce, symbolic of bitter slavery of Egypt.
    5- Yahatz: Breaking of the unleavened bread (matzoh), and hiding the largest part, called "afikoman", a visible reminder of the hidden Messiah whose appearance is expectantly awaited.
    6- The Haggadah: the telling of the story of Exodus 12, answering questions. Probably here Jesus delivered the Sermon of the Last Supper (Jn.14-17).
    7- Dayenu: Hymn of thanksgiving, and explanation of the ritual foods.
    8- Thanksgiving for the delivery from Egypt, Psalm 113, and the second cup of wine, the cup of thanksgiving.
    9- The Paschal Supper: The president blesses the bread and the lamb, and it is eaten.
    10- The afikonan suddenly appears (the hidden unleavened bread)… and they drink the third cup of wine, the cup of redemption, Psalm 116.. Here is when Jesus instituted the Eucharist.
    11- The forth cup of wine, of peace, with the singing of the Psalms of praise, the Great Hallel (Psalms 113-117).
    12- A fifth cup of wine, the one for the expected prophet Elijah, who is supposed to came before the Messiah, but did not come… until next year, in Jerusalem!.

Institution of the Ordained Priesthood:

    The Eucharist is a "Sacrifice", because if the bread and wine are separated, it means there is shedding of blood. He is "the Lamb standing as if he has been slaughtered" (Rev.5:6). Only ordained priests can offer a sacrifice all along the Bible, and when Jesus instituted the Eucharist gave "an order" to his Apostles, he "ordained" them as "priests", "do this in memory of me" (Lk.22:19), "do this in remembrance of me" (1Cor.11:24), "do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me" (1Cor.11:25).
    The chosen people was constituted by God as "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex.19:6, Is.61:6). But within the people of Israel, God chose one of the twelve tribes, that of Levi, and set it apart for liturgical service; God himself is its inheritance (Num.1:48, Josh.13:33). The priesthood of Aaron and the service of the Levites are prefiguring the ordained ministry of the New Testament.
    Everything that the priesthood of the Old Testament prefigured finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the "one mediator between God and men" (1Tim.2:5). The Christian tradition considers Melchizedek, "priest of God Most High" as a prefiguration of the priesthood of Christ, the unique "high priest after the order of Melchizedek" (Gen.14:18, Heb.5:10, 6:20); "holy, blameless, unstained" (Heb.7:26), "by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified", by the unique sacrifice of the cross (Heb.10:14).
    Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the his Church "a kingdom, priests for his God and Father" (Rev.1:6, 5:9-10, 1Pet.2:5,9). The whole community of believers is, as such, priestly. In the Catholic Church, for example, in Baptism, each person is proclaimed as priest, prophet, and king. And in the sacrament of Confirmation, every believer is confirmed of the three same honors and duties… but, as in the OT, there are special "priests" chosen by God, the Ordained Priests in the sacrament of Holy Orders. They differ essentially of the common priesthood. In what sense?: They are at the service of the common priesthood; the ministerial priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Church...

   ... Christ is the source of all priesthood: The priest of the old law was a figure of Christ, and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ. The ministerial ordained priest is truly made like to the high priest and possesses the authority to act in the power and place of the person of Christ himself. And, otherwise, acts in the name of the Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church, above all when offering the Eucharistic sacrifice… and it is Christ who worships in and through his Church, "through him, with him, in him", in the unity of the Holy Spirit, to God the Father. It is because the ministerial priesthood represents Christ that it can represent the Church.
    The greatest thing Jesus left us was his Church!: Were not for his Church, you and I would have never known anything about Jesus, nor about the Eucharist… Jesus did not baptize you, it was his Church. Jesus did not teach you the Bible, it was his Church!… you mother or father or friend brought you to the Temple, the Church!… Thank you, Jesus, for your most Holy Mother Church: A mother, because she engendered us in Christ in Baptism, she cleans us with the sacrament of Penance, she feeds us with the Eucharist, she blesses us in the sacrament of Marriage, and in the Anointing of Sick… and I ask you, Lord, that at the last moments of my life, a priest of your Church be at my side to give me your last blessing on earth. Thank you, me dear Jesus, my Lord and my God, alleluia!.
    The common priesthood of the Church is also very important: We should participate in the Eucharistic sacrifice actively, as our chief duty and supreme dignity, and with such earnestness and concentration that we may be united as closely as possible with the highest priest, according to Paul, "In your minds you must be the same as Jesus Christ" (Ph.2:5). We should offer ourselves as victims together with Christ who continues to sacrifice himself to God in every Eucharistic celebration… "we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship" (Rom.12:1). Praise the Lord Jesus Christ!.