Eucharist Sacrament and Christians - Research Paper Example

Eucharist sacrament Catholic sacrament is a Christian ritual meant to mark God’s grace or purification. Christians from different denominations and believes do take the sacrament as a form of asking God’s forgiveness and grace. Catholics take the sacraments to mark the basic stages of a Christian life and these are baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, marriage, reconciliation, holy orders and anointing the sick. However, one may opt to neglect some sacraments and focus on the relevant few. Furthermore, each sacrament is meant for a particular stage of Christian life. This work puts more emphasis on the Eucharist which is also regarded as Holy Communion. The holy Sacrament began the day Jesus gathered his disciples in a quite and orderly room for the last supper. This marked his major mingle with his disciples and was acting as a reminder in their lives and even the generations that were to come. He ordered for certain bread made in specific ways, for instance, it was to be unleavened, meaning it was to have no additives but be made from pure wheat. He then taught them on the importance and implication of the occasion before the actual partaking. He then blessed the bread and wine and ordered his disciples to partake in his remembrance. Jesus the broke the bread and gave to the disciples to symbolize his fleas while the wine symbolized his blood. The disciples kept on with the ritual even after their master ascended to heaven, and this has extended even to the current Christians. The sacrament was a symbol o unity, love, loyalty and commitment to the Christian faith (CCC, 1323) Catholics and other Christians from different believes do take the holy communion to mark the sacrificial ritual and as a meal, or rather the spiritual nourishment. The ritual involves the taking of wine and bread which symbolize the blood and body of Christ. The sacrament also draws human kind closer to God, as it purifies the soul and sparks God’s Grace in the Christian lives. The sacrament also acts as a bridge between human kind and God’s promises, according to the new covenant. Christians are required to settle their earthly differences and repent to God before taking the sacrament. This is meant to create a holy ground so that God’s Grace and plans can be fulfilled. Catholics do appreciate the fact that light and darkness can never tolerate each other, and that is the reason they purify their hearts for God’s mercy and work be manifested in their lives. Some Catholics even fast a day or two before the sacrament. This is to kill the flesh and nourish the spirit so that God may be pleased and His deeds be manifested in the Church. Christians, faith is set to grow as they take various sacraments from one stage to the next. A Christian life is meant to follow a certain order as indicated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. One is confirmed then baptized just as it happened in Jesus’ life. The sacrament of the Eucharist is meant for a mature Christian, not in age but in faith. One is to be taught the meaning of the sacrament before the actual partaking. Eucharist sacrament is a way of fulfilling Jesus’ command to the disciples to partake the wine and bread to symbolize his body and blood as a remembrance. A Christian is meant to attend some specific teachings to understand the influence of the ritual in Christians’ lives. Jesus had to teach his disciples the importance of the last supper before the actual breaking of bread. To follow Jesus’ example, a holy priest or teacher is meant to teach the church or remind the church on some basic principles with regard to the ritual before the actual partaking of the bread. These include but not limited to forgiving one another as Christians, repenting to God, telling God any yolk in your life and making peace with fellow human among others. The priest or teacher taking the process should provide humble time for Christians to make peace among themselves and the almighty. The priest or teacher then prays for the bread and then each Christian is enabled to take his or her piece in unison. Some Christians do take the bread then the wine while others do take the bread and wine at the same time. These have no major implication since the important factor is the Christian faith behind the sacrament. The sacrament is effective to Christians committed to their salvation and filled with the holy spirit. It requires the intervention of the Holy Spirit for God’s promises in accordance to Holy Communion to be fulfilled. This is because that any human being without the Holy Spirit is more an empty shell, bearing in mind there only two sides of a Christian life, the holy spirit and the flesh. The Eucharist sacrament has several implications or significance in the Christian lives. The bread symbolizes Jesus’ body which intern implies that the Christian life should be free from all kinds of yolks. For instance, Christians are meant to be healed from all kinds of diseases on taking the sacrament. The body of Christ is meant to weaken and destroy all evil projects in Christian life, and this means freedom. However, it is important to mention that not all these are automatic but it depends on a Christian faith. Jesus had already promised that human kind is free bit it takes faith to fulfill the promise. The wine on the other hand implies the blood of Jesus which is meant to wash away all human sins and draw human or Christians closer to God. Christians believe that the souls are pure the moment one takes the wine which symbolizes the holy blood of Jesus. The wine which means the blood of Jesus is also meant to remind Christians all the pain and suffering of Jesus on the ragged and lonely cross to save mankind. Jesus commanded his disciples to take the sacrament on a regular basis to keep reminding them on the main God’s salvation, meaning that God knew that humans were likely to forget the real mission of Jesus dying on the cross and instead indulge in worldly deceiving deeds like fornication, adultery, and idolatry among other kind of sins. This means that the Eucharist sacrament is a reminder and confirmation of God’s life to Christians and humankind in general. The sacrament is meant for all Christians in different parts of the universe to unite Christians in the Spirit. By taking the sacrament, it means that we all agree to Jesus command and that we have a common Christian walk despite our origins, race and ethnicity among other dividing factors. The bread to be taken during the sacrament should have some qualities or be made in a certain way just as Jesus commanded. The bread should be unleavened, meaning it should have any yeast or any other chemicals to add flavor. The unleavened nature symbolizes the pureness of the body of Christ or rather it does not have any worldly modifications. The yeast in the bible means sins or corruption in the human world. The bread being unleavened also means that it does not any flavor or any sweetness to mean total dedication to the spiritual life. A Christian life is meant to be spiritually rich physical poor meaning we should not indulge in the ‘sweet, deceiving and temporary” worldly life, but instead we should focus on the spiritual life which seem to be boring, barbaric to sinners. There are several controversies surrounding the principles of the Holy Communion. Several Christians believe that the ritual should be taken at will while others believe it is mandatory to every believer. Some believers even go as far as condemning their fellow believers to refuse to take the sacrament. Some Christians also believe that the sacrament should only be taken by adults or those at age while others believe that it can be taken by any Christians provided one understand the faith behind it. I tend to agree with the second group who believe that the basics behind the holy sacrament are not age but the actual understanding of Christian principles. God does not work with age but faith and the willingness and commitment to know Him in the deepest level possible. Some Catholics also believe that any bread whether leavened or unleavened could still be used for the ritual, while others stick to the unleavened command. Catholics in the Eastern part of the universe do take the leavened bread while the Ethiopic and Latin Catholics among others believe on the unleavened bread. Some Catholics in various regions of the universe mandate nobody but the priest to oversee the ritual while others believe that any church leader can oversee the occasion provided the leader is anointed by the Holy Ghost. I tend to support the fact that the basis behind the Holy Communion is the Holy Spirit; hence any Christian anointed by the Holy Ghost and pure before God can lead the fellow Christians in partaking of the blood and the body of the son of God. Some Christians also use the wine from grapes while others use wine from man made technologies. Finally other Christians do not believe on the Holy Communion, lamenting that taking the wine itself is a sin, while others still argue on the regularity of the event. Conclusion Eucharist sacrament is a ritual after a Catholic Christian is confirmed and baptized. It is meant to strengthen Christian faith and seek God’s purifications from the worldly sins. The ritual is also meant to unite Christians despite their locality, ethnicity and race among other dividing factors. The sacrament started the moment Jesus held the last supper with the disciples, where he gave them the bread and wine to symbolize his flesh and blood respectively. The Holly communion was further practiced by the disciples and this has extended to the current generation. The ritual is to be overseen by an anointed priest or deacon, although this is an issue objected by some believers. The bread is to be made from unleavened wheat, which symbolizes the spiritual purity. The wine is also to bee made from fruits or grapes. The Holly sacrament however has been perceived in different ways by different Christians in various parts of the world. Such controversies include the regularity of the occasion, the authority to oversee the occasion and the kind of bread and wine to be used among others. Work cited Catechism of the Catholic Church. London: Burns And Oates, 1999. 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