Pope John Paul II: Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Part 40

In 2003, on Holy Thursday, 2003. Pope John Paul II issued what would be his final encyclical: Ecclesia de Eucharistia, "On the Eucharist and Its Relationship to the Church." This encyclical contains much to prayerfully ponder/meditate on. The encyclical's Chapter Four, The Eucharist and Ecclesial Communion, continues as follows:

"40. The Eucharist creates communion and fosters communion. Saint Paul wrote to the faithful of Corinth explaining how their divisions, reflected in their Eucharistic gatherings, contradicted what they were celebrating, the Lord's Supper. The Apostle then urged them to reflect on the true reality of the Eucharist in order to return to the spirit of fraternal communion (cf. 1 Cor 11:17- 34). Saint Augustine effectively echoed this call when, in recalling the Apostle's words: 'You are the body of Christ and individually members of it' (1 Cor 12: 27), he went on to say: 'If you are his body and members of him, then you will find set on the Lord's table your own mystery. Yes, you receive your own mystery'.⁸⁴ And from this observation he concludes: 'Christ the Lord... hallowed at his table the mystery of our peace and unity. Whoever receives the mystery of unity without preserving the bonds of peace receives not a mystery for his benefit but evidence against himself'.⁸⁵

Notes

⁸⁴Sermo272: PL 38, 1247.

⁸⁵Ibid., 1248.