We all know that we have to go to Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation, which are the Assumption (August 15), All Saints Day (November 1), the Immaculate Conception (December 8), Christmas (December 25), and the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God (January 1). Have you ever wondered why? In the next few months I’ll answer that question and others related to the Mass and the Sacraments. Twice a month for the next few months I’ll dedicate the Pastor’s Message in the bulletin to reflecting on each of the seven sacrament. In this bulletin we ask why the Eucharist is called the “source and summit” of the faith.
The Second Vatican Council was a gathering of all the bishops of the Catholic Church to discuss certain issues affecting the Church and society, including the liturgy and sacraments of the Church, the Bible, evangelization, the relationship of the priesthood and the laity, and modern society and technology, among other things. It began in October of 1962 and ended in December of 1965. One of the most important topics the Council Fathers (the bishops who attended and voted on the acceptance or rejection of the documents) covered was the Mass.
They called the Mass “the source and summit of the Christian life,” because the Mass is the memorial of the Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension of the Lord, which is called, collectively, the Paschal Mystery. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, said, “Nevertheless the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows. For the aim and object of apostolic works is that all who are made sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord’s supper” (SC, 10). The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the highest liturgy of the Church; in fact, our Eastern Rite brothers and sisters in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic call the Mass “the Divine Liturgy.” Since the Eucharist is the heart of the Mass and the Mass is the highest liturgy, it’s become common to say that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the life of the Church.
God is the source of all things, but in a special way He is the source of the Christian life because He sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts to unite us to Christ. Whenever we receive the Eucharist we are more and more closely united to Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is the source of all graces, all of the Sacraments, and all spiritual life.
God is also the summit of the Christian life. He is our goal. The reason that we are Christians is to grow closer to God. That’s what holiness is: closeness to God. The Eucharist is the best way to grow in holiness because we are never closer to God than we are when we receive Communion, which is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Vatican II, in Sacrosanctum Concilium, continues, “The renewal in the Eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the faithful into the compelling love of Christ and sets them on fire. From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are directed as toward their end, is achieved in the most efficacious possible way.” In the Eucharist we receive grace to make us holy and unite us in the love of Christ and we give glory to God. Everything that the Church does ought to be directed towards these two goals. Are our lives centered around the Eucharist so that everything we do is motivated by the love of God? There’s a tradition in this area of making the sign of the Cross whenever you pass by a Church. I recommend that you continue that tradition and teach it to your children. Teach them that the Church is God’s house and that it’s a good thing to be able to visit God whenever we want.