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1406 Jesus said: ‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will liveforever;.. . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and. . . abides in me, and lin him’ Un 6:51, 54, 56). 1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of
the Church’s life, for in it Christ associates his
Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and
thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his
Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of
salvation on his Body which is the Church. 1408 The Eucharistic celebration always includes:
the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the
Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his
Son; the consecration of bread and wine; and participation
in the liturgical banquet by receiving the Lord’s body
and blood. These elements constitute one single act of
worship. 1409 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s
Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by
the life, death and resurrection of Christ, a work made
present by the liturgical action. 1410 It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest
of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the
priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the
same Christ, really present under the species of bread and
wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice. 1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at
the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that
they become the Body and Blood of the Lord. 1412 The essential signs of the Eucharistic
sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine, on which the
blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest
pronounces the words of consecration spoken by Jesus during
the Last Supper: ‘This is my body
which will be given up for you... This is the cup of my
blood.. 1413 By the consecration the transubstantiation of
the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is
brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and
wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a
true, real and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood,
with his soul and his divinity (cf Council of Trent: DS
1640; i6~i). 1414 As sacr~flce, the Eucharist is also offered in
reparationfor the sins of the living and the dead, and to
obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God. 1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in
Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone
aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion
without having received absolution in the sacrament of
Penance.
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