The redemptive fruit of this sacrifice remains present and available to all generations in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Church’s greatest treasure. It is the summit of her liturgy, the center of her life, the source of her power, the visible sign and foundation of her unity. The Eucharist is at once a sacrifice and meal. It makes present the sacrifice of Christ in the Church and offers her members a share in the sacred banquet of His Body and Blood. The Eucharist contains Christ Himself, who is present not merely by the power of His grace, but in the reality of His glorified humanity. It is within the Eucharistic Liturgy (the Holy Mass) that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. This takes place during the consecration when the priest, in the person of Christ, invokes the Holy Spirit saying: Let Your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and then continues saying the Lord’s words over the bread: Take this, all of you, and eat it: this is My body which will be given up for you,” and over the cup “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.” The Lord’s words of institution spoken over the bread and wine by an ordained priest through the power of the Holy Spirit effect His Real Presence. By receiving the Lord truly present in the Eucharist (Holy Communion), we also enter into a communion of life and love with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. In the words of John Paul II, “The Eucharist is the most perfect sacrament of this union. By cel- 40
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