Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

Christ: Given Up

At Mass, Heaven and Earth meet as the Priest proclaims, “Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you”. On Good Friday, the Son of God was given upfor us on the Cross. As the most benevolent act of pure mercy and love, the Eucharist became the center of our Catholic faith. To receive the presence of the Lord is to dwell in the fullness of God. Jesus himself said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them” (John 6:56).

In the Eucharist we receive the complete and total love of Christ, which demands an all-encompassing response. Because Jesus gave himself up for us, we need to return this love and give ourselves generously to Christ. We respond to the Lord through attentive prayer and worship, acts of mercy towards our neighbors, and accepting our own crosses. In every Mass, we’re invited by Jesus to respond, to give of ourselves.

In this mutual self-giving between Christ and us, we are no longer solely recipients of the Eucharist, but sharers in true Eucharistic Communion with God. Those powerful words “This is my body, which will be given up for you” are not only words spoken by Priests, but they are the very mission of every disciple who moves towards union with Christ.

By Greg Rabito, Seminarian