Eucharist (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A) : Revision Note

Meaning and effects of the Eucharist

• The Eucharist is one of the seven sacraments

• Eucharist means ‘thanksgiving’

  • The Eucharist is a thanksgiving for Jesus’ sacrifice in giving his life on the cross for the sins of humans

• The Eucharist is known as Mass by Catholics

  • Mass is the main act of worship within the Catholic Church

• During the Mass, the Last Supper Jesus shared with his disciples is re-enacted to fulfil the command of Jesus to ‘Do this in memory of me’ (Luke 22:19)

• The priest blesses bread and wine, which become the body and blood of Jesus. Catholics eat the bread and drink wine from a shared cup 

  • The belief that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus Christ is known as transubstantiation

• Mass always consists of the following structure:

  • Procession, greeting and welcome

  • Penitential rite: a time of reflection where people express sorrow for their sins and ask God for mercy and forgiveness

  • Liturgy of the Word: Bible readings, with one always taken from one of the Gospels. The priest may explain the meaning of the readings to the people

  • Liturgy of the Eucharist: This is the most important part of the Mass

    • The bread and wine are brought to the altar by members of the congregation in a procession known as the offertory

    • The priest blesses the bread and wine using the words Jesus spoke at the Last Supper. These become the body and blood of Jesus

    • The congregation receive the bread and wine

    • They believe that through this, Jesus is fully present with them and therefore they are brought closer to God

  • Final prayers and blessing

• The effects of the Eucharist for Catholics are that

  • they are given God’s grace and power to resist the temptation to sin, so they go out into the world and follow God’s commandments 

  • they are remembering Jesus’ words and actions at the Last Supper and also his sacrifice of being crucified

  • they come closer to God through taking part in the Eucharist, because of Jesus’ promise to be with them when they do so

State of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church

• The Eucharist is at the very centre of Catholic life and faith

• The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to the Eucharist as;

• It is called the summit of the Christian life because it is considered the highest form of prayer and worship for a Christian

  • This is because it re-enacts Christ’s sacrifice and makes him present in a special way to all who attend

• It is called the source of the Christian life because receiving the body and blood of Christ in the bread and wine is considered to give spiritual life to all who take part

  • They become closer to God and receive his grace in a special and unique way

• The Eucharist is linked to all the other sacraments, and often forms part of the  services in which the other sacraments are received

• The Catholic Church teaches that the Eucharist is an important factor in unifying believers worldwide with each other and with God

  • This was described in a key document produced at the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium

Different Christian views about the meaning of the Eucharist

• There are many differing interpretations of the meaning & importance of the Eucharist

Roman Catholics

• Roman Catholics believe in transubstantiation: that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus Christ 

• Every Mass is a re-enactment of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross

• Therefore Mass is the highest form of prayer to God

• Catholics receive God’s grace and saving power every time they take part in the Eucharist

Orthodox Christians

• Orthodox Christians have very similar beliefs to Catholics

• They have some differences in how they celebrate the Mass. 

  • For example, the consecration, the moment when the bread and wine are blessed and become the body and blood of Jesus happens behind a screen called an iconostasis. This moment is considered too holy for the congregation to see

Anglican Christians

• Anglican Christians have a range of beliefs about the Eucharist

• Some share the Catholic belief in transubstantiation

• Others think that the bread and wine do not literally become the body and blood of Christ, but that Christ is spiritually present in the sharing of bread and wine and in the  gathering together of the community

Other Protestant Christians

• There are a range of beliefs about the Eucharist in the various Protestant denominations

• Some Protestant Christians, such as Baptists, think that the Eucharist is symbolic of the body and blood of Jesus

• They think that the purpose of sharing bread and wine is to remember, not re-enact, the events of the Last Supper

• They may focus more on the presence of God in the readings from the Bible, the word of God

  
  

• The differing beliefs about the meaning of the bread and wine mean that Catholics and Orthodox Christians hold Eucharistic services more often than some Protestant churches, and there tends to be more ritual surrounding the services