By Fr. Abey Thunduparambil MSFS

This work focuses on the challenges the Eucharistic celebration places before every believer that is to transform oneself, transform the society and transform the Church and thus the world. Secondly the challenges of living the ministerial priesthood and who is a priest and what are his ministries. Thirdly getting to know the Eucharistic Spirituality of St Francis de Sales. And the last chapter deals with the importance of living the Eucharist.

The first chapter I develop a brief sketch on the meaning and significance of the Eucharist by explaining the background of the Passover celebration. The Passover and the Eucharist are interconnected because the Eucharistic celebration as we know today originated from the Hebraic celebration of the Passover. We see how the Jewish customs of a meal has influenced the Eucharist because the one who instituted and its first recipients were all from the Jewish background.

In the second chapter I deal with the Eucharistic Transformation. The Eucharist celebrated in faith must allow the believer to experience Jesus ever more personally and receive the sufficient strength to face the challenges of the world in dying and rising with Jesus in every walk of life. Jesus’ death and resurrection was not for Himself. It was for the salvation of all human beings, for even those who hated Him and nailed Him on the cross. This sacrament of faith we celebrate urges everyone to work for the betterment of the world. This sacrament of faith urges us to a personal, social, and Ecclesial transformation. This chapter also deals with the title priesthood. Priests are chosen by God and authorized by God to serve His people by leading them and guiding them in His ways.

In the third chapter I deal with the Eucharistic Spirituality of St Francis de Sales. For Francis de Sales the Eucharist was an experience in wholeness and wholesomeness which he treasured. Francis de Sales says to be one with Jesus through intimate personal union. As the Eucharist emanates from the self-sharing nature of God, it imposes on believers the responsibility to be united with their neighbour. The Eucharist transforms believers and they are transformed into Christ. Thus believer’s whole person, whole being, even the hairs, must radiate Jesus Christ. For Francis de Sales the communion of the Eucharist, is both oblation and communication of one's participation in this divine life in this world, but also in view of one’s definitive union with Christ in eternal life. Francis de Sales defines the sacrament of the Eucharist as the life-giving banquet of God’s love.

In the fourth chapter 1 deal with the importance of living the Eucharist. The Eucharist is celebrated, received, adored and lived for the enhancement of the life that is personal, communitarian and social. Spirituality of the Eucharist is dangerous because it is transformative and demands transformation at personal, communitarian and ecclesial level. To know the Eucharist in the New Testament and the early Church one has only to look at the composition and actual life of the Church. Similarly, to know the Church, one has only to look at the way it celebrates the Eucharist. The Eucharistic liturgy is like a mirror which images the life and activity of the Church; reflects its qualities as well as defects.