How do christians celebrate eucharist

His configuration to Christ in a special way empowers him to preside at the Eucharistic celebration and to pronounce the words that will make Christ present in the Eucharist.

Celebrating the Eucharist in Community. Printer Friendly. The Participants in the Mass The principal participant in the celebration of the Mass is Jesus Christ, who makes his presence felt in the assembly of his followers, in the proclamation of the Word, in the person of the priest, and especially in the Eucharist. Related Links Sacraments Matching Game Review the sacraments by playing a fun, printable matching game. The Catholic Church celebrates 7 sacraments. When people see a gathering of Church members, such as at Mass, they see the Body of Christ.

This is a sign of the invisible reality that these people are in spiritual union with Christ. People throughout the world gather for Mass. This is because the Church includes people from different nationalities, cultures and ethnic groups. Catholics all over the world are a sign of Jesus drawing together people of all nationalities, bringing them closer to God and to each other. The Nicene Creed draws from the wisdom of the first two ecumenical Councils in and List the similarities and differences.

Can you explain the differences? How can a greater sense of community be created? What Christian community mean to you? The Catholic Community in Australia. At the meal Jesus ate bread and wine and instructed his disciples to do the same in memory of him. The prayers and readings in a Eucharistic service remind those taking part of that final meal and of the solemn words and actions of someone standing at the edge of death. The people taking part drink a sip of wine or grape juice and eat a tiny piece of some form of bread, both of which have been consecrated.

Different churches have different ways of doing this, and different ways of understanding what it means, and what spiritual events are happening at the time. In the UK, Maundy Thursday of Holy Week is so named because it is recognised as the anniversary of the Last Supper and the beginning of the institution of the Eucharist.

Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum , meaning commandment, in Jesus's phrase A new commandment I give to you. The Eucharist symbolises the new covenant given by God to his followers. The old covenant was the one given by God to Israel when he freed his people from slavery in Egypt. The new sacrament symbolises freedom from the slavery of sin and the promise of eternal life. Christians believe that the piece of bread that is "taken, blessed, broken and given" becomes the life of Jesus, the body of Christ.

But they don't all mean the same thing by it, and some of the biggest disputes among Christians are about exactly what they do mean.

Although all denominations recognise the importance of the Eucharist, they differ about its meaning. Roman Catholics believe that the bread and wine that is offered is the actual body and blood of Christ and another form of sacrifice. They believe that although the bread and wine physically remain the same, it is transformed beyond human comprehension into the body, blood soul and divinity of Jesus.

This is called Transubstantiation and is celebrated in the festival of Corpus Christi. Protestants believe that Jesus made his sacrifice on the cross and simply follow the tradition of the sacrament in memory of the event, recalling its symbolic importance in the life of Jesus.

Churches also differ in how often they receive the Eucharist. The more importance a Church places on the sacraments, the more often its members will receive the Eucharist. For Roman Catholics, the Eucharist is the most important act of worship.