1) a sacrifice in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated.

2) a memorial of the death and resurrection of the Lord, who said "do this in memory of me." (Lk. 22:19)

3) a sacred banquet in which, through the communion of the body and blood of the Lord, the People of God share the benefits of the Paschal sacrifice, renew the New Covenant made through Christ, and in faith and hope foreshadow the anticipated banquet in the Kingdom of the Father.

The Eucharist is a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal meal in which Christ is eaten, the mind filled with grace and a pledge of future glory given to us.

In order to profit by the great act of Christ’s love, we must unite ourselves to it. We must make it our own. We must somehow take part in Christ’s death and resurrection in order to attain heaven.

It is natural to share in the things that happen to those we love. We want to be with those we love, particularly, in their great moments of life. We go to the hospital to be with those who are sick; parents want to take part in their child’s graduation; friends take part in one another’s weddings.

Through the Eucharist we are able to also share in Christ’s death and resurrection. We can relive his life, mysteriously, but really. We try to imitate him, but even more we can actually go through -- with him -- what he did. His actions become our own.

Above all, Christ wants us to share his own "passage," his going back to the Father and eternal happiness.

The Holy Eucharist is Jesus Christ living among us under the appearance of bread and wine. When the priest says, "this is my Body; this is my Blood," the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. By the power of Christ working through the priest the bread and wine, though still appearing to be bread and wine, become Christ. This is the great and central mystery of our faith.

When Jesus Christ living among us in the Holy Eucharist prolongs his death and resurrection so we can take part, this is the Mass. Christ’s going to the Father is made present under the appearance of bread and wine, so that Christians till the end of time can take part continually, gradually going with him to the Father. The Mass is to be the great way we are drawn to God, and our great source of strength for the journey to him.

There are various ways in which we can take part in an event. For example, we might hear of it on radio, or read about it in the newspaper; we might see it on T.V.; we might watch it from afar or even nearby; or we might actually be part of the event itself. The more one enters into an event, the more one is involved in it, the more he/she gets out of it, the more it means to them and to others whom they come into contact with.

At Mass, we are not only present at Christ’s actual death and resurrection; we can actually take part in them to the extent that we want to. Christ’s death and resurrection are here, we are present at them, but they are hidden; they are present here through the signs of bread and wine, and the more these signs mean to us, the more we want to enter into the great struggle of Christ’s death and resurrection, the more we actually are a part of them, the more our life and pain become meaningful, the more love we spread in the world, then the closer we come to eternity and God.

One way of understanding the Mass is to recall that the great events of life are celebrated by the giving of gifts or presents, as on birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries. Our gift can express many things: love, praise, thanks, repentance, and it can implicitly ask for something. A gift stands for the giver; accepting a gift often means acceptance of the one who gives it, e.g. an engagement ring. A gift, then, particularly expresses our desire to be united in love with the one to whom it is given.

From ancient times, men have offered gifts in sacrifice to God (or their Concept of God). It was done to show their feelings toward him and their desire to be united with him.

Sacrifice means offering a gift through a priest, changing it in some way, and sometimes eating of it. In the Old Testament people would take some gift that represented themselves, and offered it to God by means of their representative, a Priest. He would then change or transform the gift to signify that they were giving it to God, and that it no longer belonged to them. Often a living gift (sheep or cattle) would be killed and then it might be burned to further show God’s acceptance and possession of it. Sometimes, there would then be a meal or banquet, a communion, to further signify their union with God by the eating of what was now divine.

However, something was lacking in these times, because the people never really had a truly suitable gift for almighty God, nor did they have a worthy priest; they were unable to be as fully united with God as they wished.

When mankind was ready, Jesus Christ offered the perfect sacrifice by his death and resurrection. He was the perfect gift and the perfect priest making their offering. The best gift, after all, is that of a living person, as when a couple give themselves as gift to one another in marriage - and Christ is the divine Son giving himself to the Father. By his death, he gave himself to his Father; his resurrection and ascension showed that the Father accepted his gift.

After his ascension to heaven, Christ did not leave us, his followers, without a way of communicating with God by sacrifice. He gave us the Holy Eucharist, his living presence among us, so we could join ourselves to him and continually share in his own great sacrifice. Instead of showing it by a bloody death, he now expresses his giving of himself by this ceremony with bread and wine. In our own actions for example, it is our inner intention, our sincere willingness to do something that really matters. There is a great difference between a person giving up his life voluntarily and one who is forced to die. Christ becomes present among us at Mass with the same inner intention, the same desire to be sacrificed for us that he had on Calvary 2,000 years ago.

At Mass Christ does not suffer or die again. Rather, he re-presents, prolongs, continues, renews his great moment of sacrifice down through the centuries so that we can be a part of it. There are millions of Masses, but only one sacrifice of Christ. If we at Mass were to close our eyes, it would be the same as if Christ’s followers on Calvary closed theirs; the same great action is taking place before us, and we are able to be an intimate part of it.

At Mass, we are joined with Christ, as he appears before his Father and ours. The Father no longer sees the poor actions of mere men -- you and me with our sins and weaknesses, but only the gift that God, himself, cannot resist that of his only Son.

If our eyes could see what is really happening at any Mass, we would see Christ at the altar and among us, leading us and drawing us all into himself. Then, with him, we ascend to the Father’s presence.

We would also see the Holy Spirit within each of us, uniting us, inspiring our offering. We would see the Father giving us in return his Son, Jesus Christ, the best gift God can give mortal man, and we would see ourselves being drawn into an indescribable union with divinity.

When we come together for Mass, we are not only going to Church — we are a Church. We are welded into one people as we renew our common covenant, offer our gift and share our meal, which is Christ.

The Mass is the meal which renews Christ’s sacrifice, and can be compared to the main meal of a family. The family comes home; they wash up, and talk to one another, learning the events of the day. The table is set and the food is prepared. Then the family prays together over their food, offering thanks to God for all he has given them. Finally, they eat together, taking part in the food and in one another’s companionship.

So too, at Mass, we first come together and prepare ourselves, cleansing ourselves of sin, speaking with God, and learning from him the great events of our salvation. Then we prepare our food, the bread and wine. We then join in the great Eucharistic prayer of thanksgiving to God over our food, which is now Christ his Son. Finally, we take part together in our meal of Holy Communion, nourishing ourselves on Christ and joined with one another in the companionship of our Christian family love.

When we take part in the Mass, we unite ourselves with Christ and through him, we reach out and are drawn to God. This act of worship is certainly the most significant and important action of the day and of the week.

At Mass, we personally renew our covenant with God for that week. The more we prepare for it and try to remember and prolong it in our daily life, the more truly Christian — Christ filled — our life will be.

Christ sacrifices himself at Mass by his interior desire to give himself for us. The more we unite ourselves interiorly, by our own sincere desire, to Christ’s offering — the more we offer something that is really of ourselves -- the more effect the Mass will have on our daily lives.