The Mercy of the Eucharist

In many churches of the Eastern rites, it’s traditional for the congregation to gather outside the sealed church on Easter morning, symbolizing Christ’s time in the tomb. The priest, with his hand cross, knocks three times on the main door, and it is thrown open. The people enter, as if entering Christ’s kingdom, to adore their risen Savior in the Eucharist.
 
The ritual may remind us of the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica that began this Jubilee Year of Mercy—illustrating the idea that, during the Jubilee, the faithful are offered what Pope Francis called an “extraordinary pathway” towards salvation.
 
In an important way, the message of Easter is forever linked to the message of the Last Supper.
 
At the Last Supper, Jesus transformed bread and wine into his body and blood. In his resurrection, the risen Christ gives himself to us both in the fullness of his divinity and in his glorified humanity.
 
As Pope Francis suggests: “In the Eucharist we feel this belonging to the Church, to the People of God, to the Body of God, to Jesus Christ. We will never completely grasp the value and the richness of it.”
 
Our prayer today:
 

 
Peter W. Yaremko, a former journalist, is the owner of Executive Media, Inc. and is a specialist in executive communications. He attends St. Peter the Apostle Church in Provincetown, Massachusetts and blogs at peterwyaremko.com/paradise_diaries.