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Mary
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
- Do Catholics celebrate the original Passover every day we celebrate the Eucharist?
One priest in our church says we do. I disagree. Also,
- When did Catholics start calling the Eucharist the
Passover Meal?
I understood the Eucharist is like the Passover
of the Jews but it is not the same Passover.
Many Catholics are confused by different interpretations
among various priests. Some, more liberal than others,
with the attitude:
Christ, and this meal, is anything you want it to be.
Thanks for your time in clarifying this for me.
Mary
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{
Do
Catholics celebrate the original Passover every day we celebrate the Eucharist? }
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John
replied:
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Mary,
The Eucharist is a Mystery that cannot be defined
in narrow terms.
- It is indeed the participation in the Passion
of Christ, as well as the Resurrection.
- It is, at the same time, the participation in the
Sacrifice being perpetually offered in the Divine
Liturgy taking place in Heaven.
- It is the Memorial Meal which makes present the
Passover meal that Christ celebrated with His disciples.
As such, it is a participation in the original
Passover.
Remember, Christ as a good Jew was participating
in the original event, hence when we participate
in the Lord's Supper, we enter into that same
event He and the Apostles entered into.
John
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Mary
replied:
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Yes,
But the original Passover I was referring to was
when He passed over the households of the Jewish
people with blood on the post.
This Passover, our priest said, was the Passover
we celebrate in the Eucharist daily. I thought the Passover we celebrate in the Eucharist
is the Last Super.
Mary
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John
replied:
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Mary,
Again you are trying to put this all in a nice little
box. The Eucharist is a Sacrament and a Mystery.
As we contemplate this Mystery we see many layers.
Yes, we celebrate and enter into the Last Supper
but then ask yourself:
- What was the Last Supper but a Jewish Passover
in which the participants entered into and participated
in the original Passover?
If we truly enter into the Last Supper, we also
enter into the Passover of the Jews. In fact, we
enter into the Passover event in Baptism.
If you read St. Paul, you see that, in a sense, it
works both ways. Those who actually went through
the original Passover and went through the Red Sea
are said to have been baptized, although they obviously
didn't fully understand the future implications of
the event.
Again, this is just one aspect. In and through the
Eucharist, we:
- participate in the divine nature of Christ
- unite ourselves to the Life of the Trinity
- proclaim Christ's Death and Resurrection until
He comes again.
So it's not good to try and shoe horn this into
a rational Western paradigm.
That kind of thinking is what lead to the Protestant
Reformation.
John
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