Dear Saints,

Lumen Gentium is the name of one of the Church’s most crucial documents. Promulgated in 1964 by Pope Paul VI, it endeavors to answer the foundational question: “What does the Church say about itself?”

With respect to the Eucharist, this is the answer: “Taking part in the Eucharistic sacrifice, which is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life, [the faithful] offer the Divine Victim to God, and offer themselves along with It. Thus both by reason of the offering and through Holy Communion all take part in this liturgical service, not indeed, all in the same way but each in that way which is proper to himself. Strengthened in Holy Communion by the Body of Christ, they then manifest in a concrete way that unity of the people of God which is suitably signified and wondrously brought about by this most august sacrament.”

“Fount and apex” is often referred to as “source and summit,” and theologians can (and do) spend a lifetime unpacking that rich statement. It’s one of those realities that gets more amazing the deeper you go. Yet no matter how deep the dive, the Church does not allow us to forget the intensely personal nature of the Sacrament: “not indeed all in the same way but each in that way which is proper to himself.”

Jesus did not suffer and die for the unnamed masses. He does not offer his body and blood to some random stranger who happens to be in the communion line. His love is not poured out on everyone interchangeably. It is poured out individually, in a unique friendship that will never be repeated and can never be replaced.

We would do well to live as if we are each that important and indispensable to Jesus, because today he shows us that we are.

Christ’s Peace,

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ