The Eucharist

The principal fruit of receiving Holy Communion is intimate union with Christ Jesus. As our Lord said, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him."

This communion with the Body and Blood of Christ forms the very foundation of our life in him.

Holy Communion nourishes our spiritual life just as bodily food sustains our physical life. It preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism.

It provides essential sustenance for our journey of faith and strengthens us to live as faithful disciples.

The Eucharist reinforces charity within us, the living gift of Christ's love. By nourishing this love, it enables us to break free from disordered attachments to created things.

As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens the charity that tends to weaken in daily life, making our love for God and neighbour ever more ardent.

The Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins. By the charity it awakens in us, it wipes away venial sins and purifies the soul.

By deepening our friendship with Christ, it also preserves us from mortal sin. It is not, however, ordered to the forgiveness of mortal sins, which requires the sacrament of Reconciliation.

The Eucharist makes the Church. Those who receive the Body of Christ are united more closely to him and to one another, strengthening the bonds of the Mystical Body.

This communion also calls us to recognise and serve Christ in the poorest and most vulnerable members of society.

In receiving the Eucharist, we are given a foretaste of the heavenly banquet and the promise of eternal life.

Holy Communion fills us with a longing for the fullness of God's Kingdom and sustains our hope in the glory that awaits all who remain faithful to Christ.