Cardinal Bergoglio on the Eucharist and the Cross
“The Eucharist builds up the Church, the Sacrament of Salvation” proclaims Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, at the 2008 International Eucharistic Congress, Quebec City.
“So that the disciples, when they realized (each in their own time) what Christ had offered in His passion, [they also realized] that they already had received Him and that He had already made them participants in this redemptive sacrifice.”
The Sacrifice on the Cross would have had no meaning, had the Eucharist not been first instituted. Without the Eucharist, the sacrifice on the Cross, would have only been a total act of God, but without anyone capable of receiving it.
“The wine would have broken the old wine skins,” he said. But instead, “the act of the Cross is received into the new wine skin of the hearts that have already received Him and pre-tasted Him in the Eucharist.”
And he concluded, “That is why all the Passion could have and can be contemplated as salvific, because those who contemplate on it are “already included,” in communion with the salvific love beating in the Lord who suffers it.”
Why the Eucharist Builds Up the Church
The Eucharist builds up the Church because Christ gives Himself to His people and draws them into communion with His saving sacrifice. At every Mass, Catholics do not merely recall the Last Supper or Calvary as past events; they sacramentally participate in the one sacrifice of Christ. Receiving the Eucharist therefore calls the faithful to deeper unity with Jesus and with one another in His Mystical Body.
Grow in Eucharistic Devotion
To go deeper into this same truth, see our Eucharist pillar page, with reflections and resources on the Real Presence and Eucharistic Adoration.