Eucharist and Mission

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has a special web page dedicated to our Catholic faith in action. Although designed for college students, it has material for everyone. For example, the bishops discuss Eucharist and Mission:

The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen Gentium, #11). In the Eucharistic liturgy and our prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, we encounter God’s presence in personal and profound ways. But the Eucharist is also social, as Pope Benedict XVI reminds us in Deus Caritas Est: “A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented.”

The Eucharist, celebrated as a community, teaches us about human dignity, calls us to right relationship with God, ourselves and others, invites us to community and solidarity, and sends us on mission to help transform our communities, neighborhoods and world. Church teaching, rooted in both Scripture and Tradition, emphasizes both the personal and social natures of the Eucharist.

Here are two handouts to help you explore and understand how the Eucharist both transforms us and sends us on mission