Introduction

The Eucharist has been the distinctive Christian rite of worship since the earliest

days of the Church, though today, it commands dwindling attendance. For most common

faithful, Eucharist is the principal source of insight into the meaning of their faith and life,

and the means of renewing their relationship to Jesus and their commitment to Him as they

journey in this life. And the teachings of the Church expresses that the Eucharist is the

source and apex of one’s Christian life, of life and energy for mission.1 More so, the

Eucharist is the life of the Church.2 Hence, the Eucharist is a singular sign of unity and

love of Christian life.

With these realities about the Holy Eucharist, I chose it per se as the springboard

of my paper. This synthesis paper is entitled “Yukaristi-ko”. It is a compound word from

the words, “Yukaristiya” and “Ako”. On one hand, Yukaristiya (Santos nga Misa) is the

Visayan word for the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. And on the other hand, “Ako” is the

Visayan equivalent of pronoun “I”, which means myself. Simply stated, “Yukaristi-ko”, is

the Eucharist and the “I”.

In the Holy Eucharist, under the appearances of bread and wine, the Lord Jesus

Christ is contained, offered, and received.3 It is a food fellowship which has a character of

ritualizing celebrations of life, of thanksgiving, kinship and communion. In our Filipino

culture notwithstanding specifity of region, cultural ways and forms, to gather around the

table and partake the food is a common expression of hospitality, friendliness, solidarity,

1
Teodoro C. Bacani Jr., The Eucharist and Mary, (Manila; Gift of God Publications, 2005), xi.
2
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter On the Eucharist and its Relationship to the Church, Ecclesia De
Eucharistia (17 April 2003), 1.
3
Vatican II, “The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium,” in Vatican Collection
Volume 1: Vatican Council II – The Conciliar and Post-Conciliar Documents, ed. Austin Flannery (Northport,
New York: Costello Publishing Company, 1995), no. 47.

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and even serves to ratify an agreement or signify reconciliation and concord not just

traditional cultures but in modern societies as well. The sharing of an ordinary meal

establishes a certain communion among the people who shares it. Hence, partaking in the

Holy Sacrifice means partaking in the life of Jesus in communion and love with others.

St. Francis of Assisi is widely known for his life of poverty and love of creation,

but little did people know that this springs from his deep experience, love and

understanding of the Eucharist. He clearly pointed out that Eucharist is but a thanksgiving

of Jesus at the Last Supper4 (Lk. 22:19; Mk. 14:23; Mt. 26:27). This means the proper

conduct of one who is the object of a gift, and not only the attitude of thankfulness, but

also its outward evidence. Thus, living out a Christian life must be an outpouring of an

attitude of thanksgiving deeply rooted in the Eucharistic sacrifice.

However, the Eucharist and the mission are inseparable for there is no genuine

celebration of the Eucharist that doesn’t lead every Christian to mission.5 The Eucharist

celebrates in fact Jesus' offer of redemption to the Father that humanity may be saved.

Through the sacrifice on the Cross, Jesus "does" the Eucharist, i.e. he offers thanksgiving

to the Father. This mystery means that all of us join Christ to give thanks to the Father, not

so much through words but by communing our lives to His through others in deeds.

Going back to my title, “Yukaristi-ko”, I choose it as my title to reflect my personal

journey in knowing GOD and loving Him through the sacrament of the Eucharist. When,

I was a kid, I begin to fall in love with God and my faith through the Eucharist. It was in

4
Karl Rahner, Foundations of Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Idea of Christianity trans.
William V. Dych, (New York: The Seabury Press, 1978), 99.
5
John Paul II, “Eucharist and Mission are Inseparable”, in AsiaNews.it,
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Eucharist-and-mission-are-inseparable-1648.html, accessed December
9, 2017.

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my every participation and experience of the Holy Eucharist that I begin to imagine myself

as a celebrant and as one of the holy persons as well. This experiences was coupled with

my mothers’ teaching on how to pray the rosary and the novenas. In the church edifice, my

mother would often ask me to keep silent for we were in the house of God. She told me

that God is in the heavens watching over us and He is so powerful. My parents told me that

God loved my parents so much so He gave me to them as a gift. They also said that because

God loved us, He gave us everything we need and even what we want. Hence, at that young

age I had so much fun of anything heavenly most likely the Holy Eucharist.

I could still remember when every time I went to sleep, my mother would teach me

how to pray. Every time I wake up, before and after our meals, when we travel, my mother

would ask me to whisper a prayer to God for safety. Even before taking a bath, I was taught

to dip my fingers in the water and from then make a sign of the cross. My mother is a

devout Christian, I would say. She taught me many things about God and our religion when

I was growing up. I learned so much about God through my mother.

More so, my life together with our locales has increased my knowledge about

religion and about God. Our neighbors would tell something about God when I got naughty

with my playmates and rude to them. They said that God does not like children who are

bad and God might punish me for doing so. Even our parish priest has a very significant

contribution to my idea about God. Our pastor was so kind and loving to the people. Our

neighbors and even my parents were very happy every time he visited us for a mass. He

would chat and laugh with them. He was good and had a light attitude which everyone

would appreciate. Eventually, I got so inspired by him that I entered the seminary for I

saw in him a holy being, the experience of something ethereal. The attraction was at first

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to simply know and see seminary life of what it is to be holy like our pastor. But eventually,

I have come to enjoy and am happy staying in the seminary even though at first I was

scandalized with the way of life of most seminarians and priests. My professors and even

our community schedule especially in prayer moments have shaped my understanding and

maturity with my concept about God. My experiences would even affirm the existence of

God in my life and in the whole of cosmos.

My studies of both Philosophy and Theology widens my thinking about God and

my experiences likewise conforms and asserts to faith that God is the God of love and even

the love Himself concretely manifests His presence in the Church, in the sacraments and

even in the ordinariness of life experiences where I can say, “It was God!” It is both inspired

in rational and empirical knowledge that I would say God is love and is present in the world

and beyond. God is working in the Church and the power of God is evident to all of His

creation crafted in His divine design.

All these, has somehow, help me to see my life experiences of faith and love with

my family and others, and God to mirror in the rhythms of the Eucharist. The introductory

rites and the penitential rites somehow espoused the beginning of everything. God’s

overflowing love made all things, but man and woman’s disobedience almost unmade

everything. The introductory rites is a call to experience God in the Eucharist with the

invitation of being me in front of him with all the sad, joys, strengths and weaknesses. And

humbly ask his forgiveness in the penitential rites for like the first parents, I failed God

over and over again.

The two essential parts of the Holy Eucharist; the celebration of the Word and the

celebration of the Body and Blood, clearly shows the drama of the love story between God

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and humanity. The celebration of the Word mirrors the life of a Christian which follows

the humanity and the divinity of Jesus, the Word made flesh, in the ministry. This point of

the history of salvation is clearly captured in the readings and in the psalms on how an all-

powerful and all immanent God wills that all may be renewed through the sacrifice of the

One. It all captures the work of the Holy Triune God in communion, the plan of salvation

that is offered to all through Jesus. More so, in the celebration of the Body and Blood which

shows the part of remembering the Paschal Mystery offers the glimpse of what is to come

in the here and now, partaking in the eternal through the body and blood of Jesus in the

form of the bread and wine. This calls out the mystery and reality of God’s grace, though

we are all unworthy is gifted and is offered to all each and every day through the grace of

the sacraments.

And the communion rites and the concluding rites mirror the life of mission. In the

communion rites, we are invited to partake Jesus in His body and blood, while in the

concluding rites, after receiving Him, we are commissioned to follow and live Jesus

teachings and ways.

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I. The Beginning: The Outpouring of God’s Love

Every time I joined in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, I, the Eukaristi-ko is

invited to fully and actively participate in the full mystery of the real presence of God both

in The Word and in The Body and Blood of Jesus. I am always drawn to take a pause in

silence and be at awe with the mystery that is unfolding before me. More so, I joyfully sing

the invitatory hymn. And then to begin with, the priest led the congregation in invoking

the name of the Holy Triune God with the words: “In the name of the Father, of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit”. Thus, this brings me, the Eukaristi-ko to fully enter into the mystery

of the celebration.

So as the Eucharist, the creation begins with the Word. I as the Eukaristi-ko

consciously knows that it all began in creation. God of the Old Testament created the

universe through His powerful words: “Let there be light” and light appeared. (Gen. 1:3)

He speaks to his chosen people Israel through the prophets, His mouthpiece, and

spokesperson. God communicates and reveals Himself to the world by His words for He

Himself is the Word. He wanted to make Himself known by men whom He created in His

own image and likeness. An invitation that fully manifest and expressed through creation.

Creation by the Word is not an accident nor no purpose at all. Creation is God’s

expression of His overflowing love and goodness. It is not a single activity but a

communitarian activity of the Trinity by the power of love which results in beauty,

goodness and order. Since creation is divinely attributed to God’s work, man has an

inescapable mission to nurture creation, defend it and become a steward of it. The Creation

is the foundation of God’s loving plan made for salvation history of man.6

6
Catechism of the Catholic Church Definitive Edition (Manila: Word and Life Publications, 1994),
280.

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 God manifests Himself watching over His chosen people through His words and

deeds.7 He speaks and brings His message to them through the words of the prophets and

He unfolds and sends events and things that would prove His existence to the people. There

were people who believe in God speaking to them yet there were also those who did not,

like the Egyptians and the Pharaohs (Ex. 9:13-35). They never saw God physically and the

words of the prophets are not enough to satisfy their doubts that God is rather speaking to

them at a distance. Moses asked God to show him His face (Ex. 33:18-23). The request

was denied because no man can see God and live (cf. Dt. 5:24-27). Even where God shows

Himself intensively, He can establish Himself only through words and symbols (Ex. 3:1-

5).

God the Father speaks boldly of His love to His chosen people Israel that He made

a covenant with them (Dt. 5:2) and promised that He will bring them up out of the affliction

of their enemies and lead them to a land flowing with milk and honey (Ex. 3:17). God was

faithful to His promises and that many times He saved His people from slavery and sent

prophets to remind them of their covenant with God. He called Israel His child. "When

Israel was a child then I loved him" (Hosea 11:1). He called Israel His son. "I called my

son out of Egypt" (Hosea 11:1). He spoke of Israel as betrothed unto Himself, His wife

(Hosea 2:19-20); His daughter - "virgin daughter of Zion" (Lam. 2:13) He spoke of Himself

as Israel's mother - "Can a woman forget her... child... yea, these may forget, yet will not I

forget thee" (Isa. 49:15). However, in the course of history, God wanted to even reveal

Himself all the more.

7
Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, (18 November 1965), 2.

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 The biblical account of creation isn't a textbook for science, Pope Benedict XVI

said. Instead, the first chapter of Genesis reveals the fundamental truth about reality: that

the world is not the result of chaos, but is born of and continually supported by God's love.8

The objective purpose of creation is primarily the revelation of the Divine Perfections and

the glorification of God. The motive which moved God to create is the love of His Absolute

Goodness. God wanted to express His Love and even Himself in the wonders of His

creation.

A. Creation: God’s Expression of Overflowing Love

Creation is God’s masterpiece. He made all things through His Word. God’s Word

is dynamic and powerful which created all things. The nothing becomes something. Hence,

the Word is inescapable reality of our being.

When talking about this, I, the Eukaristi-ko come to appreciate how important is

the word to begin with during the Holy Eucharist. Through the words of invitation by the

commentator saying, “Let us all stand and sing as we begin our celebration”. This invitation

is the beginning only of a greater reality that is the Holy Eucharist itself. Hence, this words

are the invitation for me to actively and fully participate in the mystery that is to unfold in

the celebration of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

So much like the Holy Eucharist, creation is a design of the greater scheme of things

that begins with the active and dynamic Word of God. With which we call the natural

revelation of God. The natural revelation is inscribed in the order of things. It has creatures

8
Catholic News Service, “Creation story isn't science but reveals God's love, pope says,” accessed
in http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1300496.htm, 9 December 2017. The Holy Father even
added that everything God creates is beautiful and good, filled with wisdom and love; God's creative action
brings order, leads to harmony and gives beauty. This is during the general audience of Pope Emeritus
Benedict XVI.

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as its concrete evidence. Its light is the inner light of human reason. It arrives at God as the

Author of the world in His causal relationship with the world. Supernatural revelation has

for its principle the benevolent and gratuitous approach of God, the Author of supernatural

order. The immediate goal is faith, and through faith, it tends towards encounter towards

the vision of the living God. Its light is the prophetic light of faith.9

Science and religion do have different view on how things really started. How

things come about and how things were made. The question about the origins of the world

has been the topic of many scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our

knowledge. These discoveries invite us rather to even greater admiration for the greatness

of the Creator, prompting us to give Him thanks for all His works and for the understanding

He gives to those who attempt to know them.10 The existence of God can be proved in the

eyes of faith. The Bible says that we must accept by faith the fact that God exists: “And

without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must

believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

If God so desired, He could simply appear and prove to the whole world that He exists. But

if He did that, there would be no need for faith. “Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have

seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,’”

(Jn. 20:29).

The creation is “out of nothing”. God "invented" or "thought up" matter, time, and

energy and set them in motion by His own will (that is, He had NOTHING with which to

create, but really created entirely NEW things which were not already pre-existent). This

dogma about the "beginnings", holds that a transcendent, eternal, uncreated, self-existent

9
Fr. Felix Ferrer, Lectures on Faith and Revelation (Divine Word School of Theology, 2013).
10
CCC, 283.

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God created everything that is the natural universe out of nothing. Creatio ex nihilo means

“without exception”11 and that must be clearly understood that God creates everything in

the “world coming into being”. Creation is to be considered as free act of God to man.

The beauty of creation reminds man of God’s infinite goodness to make him known that

God wanted to bring about salvation and that the first step is through creation. As the

psalmist would sing: "Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight

in them," (Psalms 111:2). The term “creation” expresses the way in which the world and

everything pertaining to the world have their origin, ground, and final goal in God. It can

mean, actively, the creative action of God, and passively, the totality of the world.12

Every time I wake up in the morning see the sun rises, I thank God for the designing

a so much breath-taking view of nature. I, the Eukaristi-ko is invited day in and out to

experience and behold its beauty, mystery and wonder. The wonderful created beings tell

me how great is the goodness of the Lord and how much He desires to make Him known

by man in the splendid beauty of His creation. The amazing creation of God reveals to me

that He is real, true and existing. Everything that has life springs from the fountain of life

which is God. No amount of human genius would create a so much complex and majestic

creation as we witness in this world. It is only God. Hence, this brings me to actively, fully

and willingly know Him and participate in His plan in creation as a “Eukaristi-Ko”.

B. Human Freedom: Fruit of Divine Love

As the celebration of the sacrament of Holy Eucharist, after I make the sign of the

cross, the priest greets the congregation, “The Lord be with you,” and the congregation

11
Encyclopedia of Theology The Concise Sacramentum Mundi, ed. Karl Rahner, (Mumbai, India: St.
Pauls Mumbai, 2010.) Creation
12
Ibid.

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responded, “And with your spirit.” This liturgical greeting for me expresses the profound

reality of man’s free choice to respond to God’s invitation. That God is inviting me and us

to open our being into his and dwells in us. With these words, the priests is praying that the

divine life I and others received in baptism may continue to grow within me.

How do we know God truly exists? For me, as a Christian faithful in journey, I

know God exists because I experience Him and I can speak to Him every day. I do not just

audibly hear Him speaking to me directly, but I sense His loving presence, I feel His

leading, I know His love. With that I unceasingly desire His grace through the gift of life

that God has gifted me. There were and are a lot of things have occurred in my life that

have no possible explanation other than God. God has so miraculously saved me during

accident when I was just more than 3 years young that changed my life that I cannot help

but acknowledge and praise His existence for He saved me that moment. The free act of

God in creating the human person is precisely an act of God’s love that He made me and

us in His own image and likeness (Gen. 1:27). God could easily have commanded the

creation of man by His own Word, as He had done in the case of the animals (Genesis

1:20,24) and the plants (Genesis 1:11), but He chose not to. Man is not a close cousin of

the animals, nor a distant relative of primitive plant life, nor a product of any substance.

Rather, he is someone the greatest, among all created beings, wonderful and different, the

most excellent of all God's works, and a special expression of the divine nature, created by

God's own personal activity. God introduces man with solemnity, dignity, and honor. And

this me at awe and wonder how God works through creation.

Although man was formed from the dust of the ground, God personally 'breathed

into his nostrils the breath of life (Ruah); and man became a “living soul” (Genesis 2:7).

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Man's life is thus not the result of spontaneous reorganization of molecules within his body,

nor is it derived by evolution from any animal, but is a free and loving gift from God. Man

is given the gift of freedom to choose and the gift of rationality to make him understand

things. This rationality of man makes him different from the rest of creation as well as his

freedom. God’s instruction to Adam that may eat any fruit from the Garden except that of

the Tree of Knowledge tells us that God gives man the freedom to choose what to eat yet

with a warning not that of the forbidden tree.

Man is created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27). Man is gifted with

intellect and will that is both reason and freedom. Man is “able to know and love his

creator.”13 Man is given the rationality that he can think and comprehend God even the

highest way possible. He has the freedom to choose that springs from his rationality. The

power is in man to do things and how he does them. Man is capable to follow God, his

creator.14 He then can have the idea and/or principles higher form involving spiritual

understanding, where the object of understanding is not tangible and visible.

The reason and will of man always pertains to the good because both come from

God, the source of all goodness. Freedom is always towards the good. Man knows who he

is and acts according what he understands he is.15 As created in the image and likeness of

God, man is created given the capacity to relate with God. To be related is the primary

vocation of each human being – to be with God. The idea and even the experience of God

can be made possible to God. For almost 11 years in the seminary formation, I would say

13
Vatican II, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, (7
December 1965), 12.
14
CCC, 357-358.
15
“To be is to do and to do is to be.” It is the imperative given to man out of his conscience. Man
is good and thus he has to be good and he should act as a rational man.

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I am fully that as a Eukaristi-ko that my intellect and will have helped me understand and

know God both through the teachings of the Church and of my personal religious

experiences especially in prayers. God loves human beings and so He endows him with

intellect and will. The life of the human person is a life borrowed from the source and

fountain of life of whose Love makes man exists.

C. Stewardship: Man’s Vocation to Creation

I, the Eukaristi-ko is both body and spirit endowed with intellect and reason. And I

am fully aware that this gift of life and free will means co-responsibility. Because man as

he is endowed with intellect and will, he is also given the responsibility to dominion over

all other creation which is called stewardship as revealed in the Scriptures. Man is highest

form of all creation, he is far different from animals and all that has life. To have dominion

does not mean “to dominate” or “to exploit.” Rather, it means “to take responsibility for”.

In the creation story, human beings were created last, not as the so-called “crown of

creation,” but in order to exercise responsibility for the well-being of the garden, the Earth.

Steward is a biblical term that refers to a manager who is responsible for the goods and

property of another. A steward is not therefore an owner, but one who has a responsibility

to an owner to treat property with care and respect. Stewardship is a term that refers to the

responsibility of a steward to manage wisely (Gen. 2:19-20).

Therefore, being stewards of creation is foundational to what it means to be human.

Caring for creation is not an add-on, not a sideline. It is rather our calling and it represents

our proper human relationship to Earth. This portrayal puts human beings squarely in a

caretaker position in regard to environmental stewardship. We are called to serve and to

preserve, to till the land and take care of it (Gen. 2:15). Hence, the mandate “to serve and

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to preserve” the land places human beings not in a hierarchical position over creation but

in a position to be of service to it.

The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines noted that every Christian is called

by faith to practice stewardship of God's creation. “The sovereignty granted to us by the

Creator is not a license to misuse God’s creation. We are but stewards of creation, not its

absolute master. And stewards are accountable to the Creator and giver of all good things”

(PCP-II, 324). Hence, all our actions of stewardship are to be done as part of our service to

the larger will and purposes of God. In some sense, we humans are partners with God in

being responsible for creation. As humans, however, and not gods, it might be more

appropriate to say that we are responsible to creation. Most fundamentally, however, we

are responsible to God to care for creation. This is our vocation under God.

The care for the environment is a collective and universal duty. It is a responsibility

that must mature on the basis of the global dimension and the solution to the ecological

crisis should be confronted in the worldwide level. We are all called to be servants. Not

only those who are in position in the government but all humans. Fundamental to such a

wise and humble exercise of stewardship is the experience of oneness with all created

beings we serve. There is a wonderful scene in the book of Revelation that portrays this

common praise. “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth, and under the earth

and in the sea, and all that is in them singing, “blessing and honor and glory and might to

the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be forever and ever” (Rev. 5:13). We are in

solidarity with all creation; and if we do not care for the whole creation, we will not be able

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to celebrate together in praise of our creator. Nature is God’s gift to us. What we do with

nature is our gift to God.16

In the seminary, we have this ground work to clean the environment. We likewise

have ecological project where we plant trees, pick garbage along the streets, and even take

care of our dogs and cats. At home, I also practice groundwork. Twice a week every

morning, I am working the grounds. I help my mother cultivate her garden as she loves her

garden so much. In my little way in taking care of the environment I exercise my being

steward of God’s creation. Every time I walked or jogged, I see to it to pick up plastics and

non-biodegrable waste on my way. I am even a steward to my body. God gave me this

body and thus I have to take care of it. Balanced diet, proper exercise, have enough sleep

and all else. Man is supreme over all creation and so he has to serve them all. And this is

what it is to be a Eukaristi-ko in my own simple ways.

D. Alienation: The Fall of Man in Sin

Being a Eukaristi-ko is a being of God, created good and whole. Yet, I am fully

aware that I have all my frailties and sins. For most of the time, I failed to love. And this is

also the story in the beginning.

As mentioned earlier, God told Adam that he was not to eat the fruit of the tree of

the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen. 2:17) Adam was without sin, but God had given

him a will which gave Adam the freedom to choose: to obey God or not. At first, Adam

exercised his will toward God and had fellowship with Him. But when Eve was tempted

and Adam also had a bite to the forbidden fruit, both of them fell into sin (Gen. 3:1-24).

After Adam and Eve sinned, both their eyes were opened and they saw themselves as their

16
Fr. Michael Sandalo, Ecological Ethics, (Lectures: Divine Word School of Theology, 2014).

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deed had made them to be, naked and ashamed. Adam and Eve, having sinned had broken

intimate fellowship with God. The effect of sin is always separation from God. This does

not mean that God does not love us, but it means that man breaks his loving relationship

with God. It is man who turned away from God and not the other way around.

Freedom is an act of a “yes” and “no” to God. It is a choice and we have to affirm

the real possibility of such contradiction in freedom.17 So then, man can deny himself in

such a way that he really and truly says “no” to God, and indeed to God and not merely to

some distorted or childish notion of God. God had given man a will. Man was not a robot

programmed to be a performer. He was made a free being able and expected to use his God

given ability to choose to correctly obey God or do contrary to it.

Sin then enters as the wrong use of freedom.18 There was the sin of disobedience

of man to God. As a result, the relationship between man and God was broken. God

separated from man and He moved man out of the garden. Through the sin of Adam and

Eve, sin started to enter the human race. The whole of humanity will suffer the sin that the

first parents fell into – the Original Sin. The Fall of Adam and Eve is the original sin and

the hereditary fallen nature and moral corruption that is passed down from Adam to all his

descendants. It is called "original" in that Adam, the first man, is the one who sinned and

thus caused sin to enter the world and becomes subject to suffering and death.19 The fall of

the first parents includes or represents all of humanity. Therefore, original sin includes the

falling of all humanity. So, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death

17
Rahner, Foundations of Christian Faith, 99.
18
Moral Theology defines sin as the wrong use of freedom. Freedom always points towards the
good. Sin however is the distorted idea of freedom to be against God.
19
Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma Edited in English by James Canon Bastible, (Dublin:
The Mercier Press, 1962), 107.

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through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." (Rom. 5:12). There is then

the transmission of sin from Adam and Eve and to the following generations of humanity.

Sin cuts the relationship between God and man. It is an offense against God. God

and sin cannot be present at the same time to man. Man is perfectly good for he is created

by God, the fount of goodness and the goodness Himself. Sin however blemished the status

of man in his goodness. Sin then enters human history. Yet, we cannot speak of sin without

speaking of grace because before man went into the state of sin, they were in the state of

sanctifying grace. Sin and grace and interrelated. We can understand the concept of sin

through the concept of grace and grace through sin.20 Even though man made an offense

against Him, God does something to bring that loving relationship back between them

through the sacrament of Baptism which washes away Original Sin.

Yes, I have freedom endowed by God; the freedom to choose Him. Yet, I

sometimes stumble and fall into sin. I am tempted by Satan to do what is contrary to what

God tells me. I disobey God many times and it makes feel guilty. After God has given me

the wonderful blessings I could experience and enjoy, I separate myself to God. It is not

God who distant Himself but it is me running away from him because I sin. I lose the

friendship and the union I have with God every time I sin. However, the Sacrament of

Reconciliation makes me able to return to God and be sorry for the sins I committed. More

so, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, I am moved more than ever to be union with God

in His body and blood, to partake Him in me, for I am a Eukaristi-ko.

This is the story in the beginning, the greatest love story ever told, the love of God

to His creation, of which I fully partake as a Eukaristi-ko.

20
CCC, 386-389.

17 | P a g e
II. The Readings: Revelation of the One Triune God

In the continuation of the story of God and creation, I, the Eukaristi-ko, wonder and

continue to seek the truth. Listening to the readings during the celebration of the Holy

Eucharist made me to reflect and understand. The readings of the Holy Scripture do not

merely provide exhortations for moral living and reflections about spiritual life. More so,

it does not simply talk about God. But, it is God’s own speech. In the readings, the Liturgy

of the Word, I encounter the words of God spoken personally to me. Indeed, it is God

speaking.

The God who is revealed revelation through the Sacred Scriptures is only one God

and none other (Deut. 6:4; Ex 20:1-3). But in the one God, there are three distinct Persons

– the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Mt. 3:16-17; 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14). All three have

the same divine nature- the Father is God (Is. 9:5; Eph. 4:6), the Son is God (Jn. 20:28) and

the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). And yet there are no three gods but only one God. This,

the Church teaches us, is a mystery which our human intellect cannot easily be understood.

Nevertheless, it is a doctrine, which every believer must accept in faith.

When I was a kid, I could not really understand the notion of God. My mother told

me that there is one God in the heavens but they are three actually she said. The Father, the

Son, and the Holy Spirit form one God. I told her that if we were to use math then, it would

not be, 1+1+1=3. It would be 1x1x1=1 instead, she said. God is a triune God. I was arguing

with my mom about that for I could not think of three being one. We always ended up the

discussion every time she said that God is really a mystery and we cannot truly understand

God. End of argument. Even catechist in school would say to us about the God the Father,

18 | P a g e
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We have three Gods but they are one. And that is a

mystery – the safest statement my mother and our catechist said.

The mystery of the Godhead we cannot truly fathom. We cannot utterly understand

the Godhead. We can however have the idea of the One and Triune God in the eyes of our

faith. Thus the term: "Tri" meaning three, and "Unity" meaning one, Tri+Unity = Trinity.

It is a way of acknowledging what the Bible reveals to us about God, that God is yet three

Persons. In the Trinity there is no uniformity but unity in diversity. Each person is unique

but they all share in the divine essence in perfect unity.

The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit. Nothing could ever

divide the eternal and divine unity of the Trinity. The real distinction of the persons from

one another resided solely in the relationships which relate them to one another (CCC,

255). What differentiates the Father to the Son and to the Holy Spirit therefore is the Person.

It is a term which differentiates the Father, the Son and the Spirit within the unity of the

one divine essence. In the relational names of the persons, the Father is related to the Son,

the Son to the Father, and the Holy Spirit to both. They are therefore called Three Persons

in view of their relations but one in nature and substance (CCC, 255).

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the three distinct persons, have also distinct

tasks which each one fulfills - the Father is the Creator (Gen 1:1); the Son is the Redeemer

(Mt 1:21) and the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier (Rom 15:16). The three Persons, though they

have distinct tasks to fulfill, do not act in isolation but in unity. In Genesis 1:26: God said,

“Let us make humankind in our image and likeness. God refers to Himself as “Us” and

speaks of “Our” image. The same principle is used in Genesis 3:22: Then the Lord God

said, “See, the man has become like us.”

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 We find the same thought in the New Testament. In John 14:23 Jesus said, “If a

man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto

him, and make our abode with him.” In this verse we read of “We” and “Our.” Surely “We”

and “Our” are plural. Are the “Father” and “I” two Gods or one? Indeed, they should have

been one. Then why does the Lord say “We”?

The Persons in the Trinity however work together not separately even from the start

of history of salvation. The Father, who is the Creator, for instance, did not create the world

single handed. He created everything through the power of the Word, that is Christ himself

(Col 1:16). The Holy Spirit too, who was present at the time of creation was "hovering over

the face of the waters" (Gen 1:2).

The Baptism of the Lord at Jordan River by John the Baptist (Lk 3:21) also speaks

of the union of the three Persons. Jesus is present and is baptized by John, the Voice from

Heaven who is the Father, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove (Lk 3:22). The Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit all exist at the same time. In John 14:16-17: “And I will pray

the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;

even the Spirit of truth.” In these two verses, the Son praying to the Father that He would

send the Spirit. Hence, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all present and work

collectively as one. And the very often that we hear of Paul’s greetings to the Corinthians,

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy

Spirit, be with you all (2Cor 13:14).” Here are mentioned the grace of Christ the Son, the

love of God the Father, and the fellowship or communion of the Holy Spirit.

According to St. Augustine, the Three Persons in One God speaks of a community

of love: The Father who is the Lover, the Son who is the Loved, the Holy Spirit who is the

20 | P a g e
Love. They form together as one. Our reflection on the Triune Godhead shows that though

we cannot fathom the mystery of the Trinity with our human intellect, it is still very

justifiable to believe in it. The Trinitarian life offers us the most beautiful model for our

own lives in a pluralistic society. We are many and diverse and yet we can be one; we are

all equal and yet can be subject to one another. Many of the problems that the world faces

today, could be eliminated, if we, as the children of God seriously sought to imitate the

Trinitarian model of life – a community of love and a loving community.

A. Jesus Christ: The Word Made Flesh

In the first table of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the reading of the first is

exhorted and in the end, the lector says, “The Word of the Lord.” This announcement is

like a great shout or a trumpet call, reminding me sincerely how marvelous it is for us

human beings to hear God speak through the Holy Scriptures. And on my amazement, I

responded from the depths of my heart, “Thanks be to God.”

God is Trinity. Trinity is a community of Being, mutually interpenetrating

(“perichoresis” in Greek and “circumincessio” in Latin). The way the Trinity as a

community relates to one another is called “mutual interpenetration:” The three Persons

maintain their distinctive identity. Each penetrates the others and is penetrated by them to

the point that they have become one will. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

mutually indwell with one another.

When we hear about persons we usually think of people like us. When we say that

God has three Persons, we often think of Him almost like three separate people. In 325, the

1st Ecumenical Council was held at Nicaea. The Council Father proclaimed and clarified

that the Son was one in being with the Father (homoousios). Fifty-six years after, another

21 | P a g e
ecumenical council was convoked in Constantinople (381). The council Fathers answered

against the Apollinarian and Macedonian heresies. These heresies denied the Godhead of

the Holy Spirit.

The Church declared the truth that the Holy Spirit proceeded from both the Father

and the Son (filioque). The two great councils clarified that divinity of the Son and the

Holy Spirit for they are consubstantial with the Father. They share with the same divine

essence.21

Christ is God, the Word made flesh (Titus 2:13 and 2 Pet. 1:1. So in Jn. 1:1; Jn.

20:28; Rom. 9:5; Phil. 2:6; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8 and 2 Pet. 1:1). There are many accounts

in the New Testament affirming even that Christ is the Son of God and even the Son and

the Father are one. Christ is the Incarnate Word and the full revelation of the Father. This

is the clear word of Scripture: “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). The Gospel of St.

John completely exposes the pre-existent Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the

Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). In the succeeding verse, the

evangelist points out that all things came into being through the Word and without Him not

one thing came into being (Jn.1:3). God therefore created the world by the eternal Word,

the second person in the Trinity. God creates by his word. It is expanded by various

accounts in the Old Testament. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all

their host by the breath of his mouth (Ps. 33:6); O God…who have made all things by your

word (Wis. 9:1). In the process of creation, there was the Word joining God.

It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known

the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through

21
Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, 52-53

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Christ, the Word made flesh. God who dwells in the highest heavens wants to communicate

his own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons in his

only-begotten Son.22 By revealing himself God wishes to make them capable of responding

to him, and of knowing him and of loving him far beyond their own natural capacity. By

love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man by sending His only begotten Son

(Jn. 3:16) to become man like us so for us to understand God in our “human” way of

knowing Him. There will be no further Revelation.23

B. Christ, the Messiah: Redeemer of All

In the continuing drama that happens during the Holy Eucharist, after the readings

and the psalms is exhorted, I am approaching at the most sacred moment of it. And that

moment finally arrives when the Gospel is read. These Gospel accounts are not simply

stories from the past, a distant record of Jesus’ memories and ministry, but for me it is a

concrete experience of being a Eukaristi-ko, being in communion with God. The Gospel is

God’s own words about Christ’s life for the Scriptures is inspired by God. Therefore for

me, the proclamation of the Gospel, makes Jesus’ life present in the here and now.

The heart of our Christian Faith is Christ’s Paschal Mystery – the suffering,

crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as espoused in the Gospels. Jesus means

in Hebrew: “God saves.” At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus

as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission. Since God alone can

forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus his eternal Son made man, “will save his people from

their sins.” In Jesus, God recapitulates all of his history of salvation on behalf of men.24

22
Michael Schmaus, Dogma: God and His Christ, Vol.3 (New York: Sheed and Ward Inc., 1971), 171.
23
DV, 25.
24
CCC, 430.

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The name “Jesus” signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son,

made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins. It is the divine name that

alone brings salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to

all men through his Incarnation, so that “there is no other name under heaven given among

men by which we must be saved.”25

After God saw Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the Heavenly Father at the

Garden of Eden, stressed out suffering and mortality to mankind. It was also there that the

prophecy concerning the first and second coming of Jesus Christ as the Savior and

Redeemer was first revealed. Genesis 3:14 says , “And the LORD God said unto the

serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast

of the field; upon your belly you shall walk, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her

offspring; it shall strike your head, and you at his heel.” Early at that time, God the Father

thinks already of a Savior who would redeem man from sin.

According to the Holy Scriptures, the Savior (Genesis 3:15, Revelation 12:9,

Genesis 3:15) has a two-fold mission and was prophesied to come in the flesh upon the

earth twice. The first time, He would come to die as an Atonement for the sins of mankind.

At His Second Coming, He would return as a Savior and Deliverer: King of kings and Lord

of lords to establish the kingdom of Heaven on earth. When sin enters the world through

Adam, it is through Christ that mankind will be saved.

According to St. Paul, Christ is the new Adam. The corporate solidarity according

to Paul speaks that when Adam fell into sin, the whole human race is affected and would

25
CCC, 432.

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inherit the sin our ancestors had. But in Christ who is the prototype of the human being

totally in the image and likeness of God, man is being transformed back into the very

moment when God created them, pure and entire. It is in Jesus Christ that salvation comes

in. Jesus died as a form of sacrifice for all people. So for us people who experiencing

suffering, we refer to the coherent aspect of the Gospel – that God through Jesus Christ

emptied himself and embraced the most shameful form of death for love of us. Christ said,

“For this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of

sins (Matthew 26:28).” The blood of Jesus Christ the Son of the Father cleanses us from

all sin (1 John 1:7).

The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does

not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it imply that he is the result

of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He became truly man while remaining

truly God. Jesus Christ is true God and true man.26 It is all of the great love of the Father

to man that He willed His only Son to suffer and die to save man from sin.

“For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from

sinners, and made higher than the heavens; to offer up sacrifice for the people's: for this

he did once, when he offered up himself” (Hebrews 7:26). It is impossible for the blood of

bulls and goats to take away sins as practice by the Jews. When Christ came into the world,

he said: Sacrifices and offerings you have desired but a body you have prepared for me; in

burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, “See God, I have

to do your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:5-7). Christ’s sacrifices his life once for all.

26
CCC, 464.

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 Why did the Word become flesh? With the Nicene Creed, we answer by confessing:

“For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy

Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.” The Word became

flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who “loved us and sent his Son

to be the expiation for our sins”: “the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world,”

and “he was revealed to take away sins”.27 Hence, the painful and humiliating death of

Christ paid all our sins.

When I had my 30-day retreat, I was given the big chance to say my general

confession. After enumerating all my sins, the confessor just asked me to pray 3 Our

Father’s, 3 Hail Mary’s and 3 Glory Be’s for my penance. So I shared the experience to

my retreat master. I was quite doubtful then and so I asked: Does God already forgive my

sins through praying 3 Our Father’s, 3 Hail Mary’s and 3 Glory Be’s? My retreat master

said: You don’t have to pay anymore for all your sins because two thousand years ago,

somebody else did – Christ. That broke my heart and brought me to tears. Indeed, as a

Eukaristi-ko doesn’t mean to suffer as Christ did for He paid the dues already of all my

sins. Christ suffered so much for my sins and for the sins of all. No other greater love can

do side-by-side with that of Christ’s.

Every time, I join in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, I am continually

reminded of myself as a Eukaristi-ko. I see the Cross of Christ, his suffering is a symbol of

His saving love personally. In suffering and death Jesus becomes the free and perfect

instrument of God’s divine love which desires the salvation of all.28 Salvation is made

available through the cross which symbolizes the suffering of Christ and His glory. It is

27
CCC, 456-457.
28
CCC, 609.

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through Christ that I meet the Father. If I want to see, touch and experience God, I have to

see, touch and experience Jesus for his essence is the same as the Father’s. Jesus Christ

leads us to love God. Only in communion, in intimacy with Jesus Christ: only He can lead

us to the love of the Father making us sharers in the life of the Holy Trinity.29 This is what

it takes to be the Eukaristi-ko, to be in communion with Jesus’ Paschal sacrifice.

C. The Holy Spirit: The Advocate and Giver of Gifts

In the experience of the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, I cannot help but to ask

the Spirit to move and touch me to actively and consciously participate in the holy sacrifice.

In Christianity, we believe the Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity, co-equal

with the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit was not created by the Father or

the Son, but has always existed and is eternal (Heb. 9:14). Like the other two members of

the trinity, the Holy Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit has several names in the Bible

including "the Spirit of God" (Rom. 8:9), "the Spirit of Truth" (John 14:17). The Holy

Spirit is sometimes referred to as the Holy Ghost in some older English translation of the

Bible.

Even from the beginning of human history, the Holy Spirit is ever present. In the

Old Testament, the Spirit is an instrument of divine action in nature and in the human heart.

Before the creation of the world, the Spirit was brooding over the waters (cf. Gen. 1:2).

God breathe (in Hebrew ruah) in the nostrils of man signifies the presence of the Holy

Spirit in the Creation story. The Spirit also inspired the artistic skill of Bezaleel (Exod.

36:1), the triumphs of Joshua (Deut. 34:9), and the strength of Samson (Judges 14:6).

29
John Paul II, Catechesis In Our Time Catechesi Tradendae, (16 October 1979), no. 5.

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 The Spirit enabled the prophets (Isa. 61:1) to enable them to communicate divine

truth and empowered human moral purity and holiness (Ps. 51:11). The Spirit also became

associated with wisdom and understanding (Sirach. 39:6; Wis. 7:7,9:17). Of particular

significance for Christians are the predictions that the Spirit would be the possession of the

coming Davidic King (Isa. 11:2) and of the Servant of the Lord (Isa. 42:1), and that in the

future there would be a dramatic extension of the Spirit's activities and power (Ezek. 36:26;

Joel 2:28-32). Even in the long distant past, the Holy Spirit manifests Himself in many

different ways.

In the New Testament, in the Gospel of John, the emphasis is placed not upon what

the Holy Spirit did for Jesus, but upon Jesus giving the Spirit to his disciples. We believe

that it was the Holy Spirit whom Jesus mentioned as the promised "Comforter" in John

14:26, and that it is the Holy Spirit who leads people to faith in Jesus and the one who gives

them the ability to lead a Christian life.

Furthermore, the Spirit dwells inside every true Christian. He is depicted as a

'counselor' or 'helper' (paraclete in Greek), guiding them in the way of the truth. The 'Fruit

of the Spirit' (i.e. the results of his work) should be "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22).

Among the many illustrations of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament are in: John

16:13-15, “Jesus says the Spirit will be with the disciples”; Gal. 4:6, Holy Spirit as "the

Spirit of the Son"; Rom. 8:9 - Holy Spirit as "the Spirit of Christ"; Phil. 1:19 - Holy Spirit

as "the Spirit of Jesus Christ"; John 14:16, 15:26, 16:7 where Jesus sends the Holy Spirit;

John 20:22 where Jesus breathes on the disciples and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit".

28 | P a g e
 In addition to his role as counselor or helper, the Holy Spirit is also believed to give

gifts (i.e. abilities) to Christians. These include the charismatic gifts such as prophecy,

tongues, healing, and knowledge, which some Christians believe were given only in New

Testament times. Almost all Christians agree, however, that most other "spiritual gifts" are

still in effect today, including the gifts of ministry, teaching, giving, leadership, and mercy

(Romans 12:6-8).

After his resurrection, Christ also told his disciples that they would be "baptized

with the Holy Spirit," and would receive power from this event (Acts 1:4-8), which

Christians believe was fulfilled in the events of the second chapter of Acts. According to

this account, after the resurrection, Jesus' disciples were gathered in Jerusalem when a

mighty wind was heard and tongues of fire appeared over their heads. This event is the

Pentecost which believed to be the birth of the missionary Church where the disciples were

able to speak of many languages and started to preach and testify the life and ministry of

Jesus Christ to all. The Spirit of the Lord made it possible for the disciples to do as willed

by Christ. The Trinity is a missionary God. The Missio Dei points to the sending of the Son

to the world and likewise, the sending of the Holy Spirit after the Ascension of Christ to

heaven. In this way, all of us Christians, the Eukaristi-ko that we are who shared in Jesus

mission, are to be sent! We have to go out and preach the Good News of Salvation to all

people as Pope Francis would always say.

The Church professes her faith in the Holy Spirit as "the Lord, the giver of life."30

The supreme and most complete revelation of God to humanity is Jesus Christ himself, and

the witness of the Spirit inspires, guarantees and convalidates the faithful transmission of

30
John Paul II, On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World Dominum Et Vivificantem,
1.

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this revelation in the preaching and writing of the Apostles, while the witness of the

Apostles ensures its human expression in the Church and in the history of humanity.31 It is

he: the Spirit of truth, the Paraclete sent by the Risen Christ to transform us into his own

risen image.

As mentioned earlier what differentiates the Father to the Son and to the Holy Spirit

therefore is the Person. Jesus Christ has revealed to us that God is a community of love.

God does not live in solitary, but in solidarity. This has become a beautiful picture of the

Church in the post-modern world. We are living in a society where there is a convergence

of various cultures, religious and political beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that influence

our capacity to decide. In the Church, not all are called to be ministers of God through the

sacraments. Not all are called to enter into religious life. In the Church’s ministry not all

are given the gifts of preaching, healing and teaching. There is a lot of diversity in our

society and in the Church. Diversity should not be looked at as a threat to unity but the very

foundation of solidarity, unity and fraternal charity. And this makes us, truly a Church after

the image of the Holy Trinity.

31
Ibid., 5.

30 | P a g e
III. The Body and Blood: The Sacraments as the Vessel of God’s Grace

In the second of the Holy Eucharist, called the Liturgy of the Eucharist, Jesus’

Paschal sacrifice is made present. In this sense, the Holy Eucharist is to be understood as a

sacrifice. The bread and wine offered as gifts by the people and consecrated that changed

into the body and blood of Christ. ‘In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new

meaning. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ’s Passover,

and it is made present: the sacrifice Christ offered for all on the cross remains ever

present.”32 And this sacrifice is made present for a salvific purpose that its power may be

applied to our lives as Christians, the Eukaristi-ko and unite ourselves more deeply to

Christ in His total self-giving act of love.

Indeed, in every celebration of the Holy Eucharist, it is an opportunity to experience

first, God’s love in Jesus Christ’s Paschal mystery, the loving gift of Himself to the Father

for the salvation of all. In our own humanity, one of our most basic needs is the need to be

loved as proven by social experiments and our ethereal experiences. But for it to develop

and prosper, it is not enough that one be loved, it must be reciprocated which is manifested

and transmitted through signs and gestures. When I was a kid, I used to go with my mother

every Sunday to attend mass (Holy Eucharist) for I felt being loved there. I had lot of

playmates before and after every masses. Sundays in the church for me then is not actually

attending the mass but making friends and playing with other kids. I really had no idea

what the mass was all about, it is just that I was happy there and I was loved. When I was

in third grade, I fell in love with my classmate. She was cute, morena, smart and very

modest. Honestly, I had a crush on her. During that time though, I could not express my

32
CCCC, 1364.

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feelings to her. I used to share with her my food and even accompany her on her way home.

Those were my concrete gestures to show my feelings to her. I could not utter my intention

but during then I was thinking that perhaps she might appreciate me even more.

When we speak about the sacraments we are actually pertaining to a divine dynamic

love of God touching the lives of the people. Sacraments are visible signs, like my concrete

actions of my feelings to the girl I liked. They reveal the overflowing mercy and love of

God to mankind. God is so deeply in love with humanity. He wants us to feel, touch, smell,

taste and see him through the sacred signs and symbols. Sacraments are therefore concrete

proofs of God’s abundant love for humanity.

In the Old Testament, YHWH uses visible signs to show His protection for the

Israelites. In the New Testament, God has sent Jesus Christ, the primordial sacrament. In

Christ, God comes to us and we come to God. The invisible God, whom no eye has seen,

was seen in the humanity of Jesus. God, whose wonder and love are beyond our

imagination, wished to become visible and close to us. Sacraments are actions through

which the power of God is offered to us. It is God’s way of showing us that he not only

became human in Jesus Christ, but continues to meet us on human terms through the words

and actions of the sacrament.

A. The Son as the Sacrament of the Father

The Son's complete revelation of the Father is grounded in the Father's own love

for the Son and the fact that the Father has not held anything back from the Son. For the

Father loves the Son and shows him all he does (John 5:20). The Father's love is the heart

of everything. God's love for the world (John 3:16) leads him to send the Son so we may

be able to share through the Spirit in the Father's love for the Son (John 16:27; 17:23). This

32 | P a g e
eternal relationship is the source of Jesus' activity for it leads the Father to show the Son

all he does. The Father takes the initiative; he is in control, and he is the source of all. This

passage also emphasizes that the Father has held back nothing of his activity from the Son.

All that God does is revealed to Jesus, and Jesus passes everything on to us (John 15:15).

Jesus Christ is not just the author of the seven sacraments but also their primary

agent. It is not the priest who baptizes, but Christ. Jesus is the goal of every sacrament, the

full expression of sacraments. The words and actions of Christ as they are recorded in the

Gospels reveal that he is the true Son of God. His compassion towards the poor, the sick

and the sinners, his healing ministry and the giving of his life on the cross does not show

the historical existence of the Son of God alone.33 They reveal to us the overflowing

goodness and love of the Father towards humanity.

Jesus Christ makes visible the presence of God in the human history. The author of

the gospel of St. John speaks about Jesus as the “Way” to the Father. Because no one comes

to the Father except through Jesus Christ. He is therefore a perfect sacrament of God since

his divine person which is consubstantial with the Father is revealed through his words and

deeds. St. Paul uses a similar understanding of Jesus as Sacrament. The unbelievers whose

minds have been blinded by the god of this world…cannot see shining the light of the

Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4). The coming of Christ,

for St. Paul, is the coming of the Son of God, who came to bring God into the world. He

is the image of the unseen God, the First Born of all creation, for in him were created all

things in heaven and on earth (Col. 1:15-16). Christ is the visible revelation of God’ plan

for man’s salvation.

33
Schillebeeckx, Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God, (Maryland: Rowman and
Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1963), 13.

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 The historical and concrete life of Jesus Christ here on earth reveals the reality of

the Father. The Son is the symbol of the Father’s love to mankind. The Father who is in

the highest heavens makes the Word Incarnate in Christ Jesus. Yes, sacraments are visible

signs that points to a deeper reality and indeed Jesus Christ is the concrete figure for

humans to see and reflect about the Father. And Jesus Christ, is the Sacrament per se.

B. The Sacraments: The Vessel of Divine Grace

The sacrament is an outward efficacious sign instituted by Christ to give grace. A

Dutch theologian suggests that every sacramental experience is an existential encounter

between persons.34 Edward Schillebeeckx discovers that the celebration of the sacrament

is personal and intimate. When an encounter takes place the two persons discover

something of the mystery that the other person is. That encounter of love reveals a depth

of reality that is ordinarily hidden from the sight.35

Sacraments are outward signs that reveal a divine reality. In the celebration of

sacraments, the love of God for humanity is revealed. Why is it that sacraments are

perceivable by our senses? The institution of the seven sacraments is part of God’s big

dream for the world. Vatican II clearly expresses this reality. God has sent his Son, the

Word made flesh, anointed by the Holy Spirit, so that the gospel may reach the poor and

sinners. His humanity united with the Person of the Word was the instrument of our

salvation. Therefore in Christ the perfect achievement of our reconciliation came forth and

the fullness of divine worship was given to us.36

34
Joseph Martos, Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to Sacraments in the Catholic
Church Revised and Updated Edition, (United States of America: Liguori/Triumph Publications, 2001), 141.
35
Ibid.
36
Sacrosanctum Concilium, 5.

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 Jesus Christ instituted signs and gives them to the Church to serve as a visible

means of communicating His message of life and of hope to the people. He instituted the

sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist,

Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony (CCC, 1210).

1. Baptism: Molded to Christ

Baptism is a gateway to heaven. It is said to be the very first sacrament one should

receive for it is likened to a door which gives access to other sacraments. It brings us into

a new life in Christ. In baptism, we are not only forgiven from our sins (both personal and

original) but we are also configured to Christ. We have become a partaker of the divine

nature and a member of His body, the Church. It makes us new creatures, adopted children

of God (CCC, 1264). Baptism therefore is a birth into a new life in Christ. Consequently,

in baptism we share in the dying and rising of Christ (CFC, 1597). We have been buried

with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory

of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life (Rm. 6:4).

2. Confirmation: Maturity of Faith

It is the Holy Spirit who comes upon us enlightening our faith, enlarging our vision,

and strengthening our will to profess our faith in Christ before others. Confirmation is a

sacrament that seals us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It makes us strong and mature in

faith to be witnesses of Christ in the world. The fearful apostles got out from the dark and

courageously proclaim Christ into the world after the Pentecost event (cf. Acts 2:1-18).

Through the sacrament of Confirmation, we are more perfectly bound to the Church and

are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence we become, as true witnesses

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of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed (CCC,

1285).

3. Eucharist: Celebration of God’s Love

St. Thomas Aquinas said that sacraments are needed to support the spiritual life of

the human person. Baptism means spiritual rebirth, confirmation pertains to spiritual

maturity while the Eucharist provides spiritual food. The Eucharist is the summing up of

the spiritual life; the sum and summary of our faith (CCC, 1327). It shows the offering of

Jesus Christ of himself so that we may live in grace. Through the sacrament of the Holy

Eucharist, Jesus Christ becomes present in the lives of the people. This sacrament is called

the sacrament of charity. The Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus makes of himself, thus

revealing to us God’s infinite love for every man and woman.37

4. Holy Orders: The Sacrament of Celibate Loving

Jesus calls the apostles to receive His command. When he is about to ascend in

heaven, he gives his church represented by the apostles a mission to “..Go… and make

disciples of all nations…” (cf. Mt. 28:19). Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the

mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the

end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry (CCC, 1536). God called and

chose men to proclaim the goodness – Jesus Christ himself who loves and goodness

overflows throughout his ministerial activity. This sacrament then is one of service,

leadership and self-donation founded on love. It is the love of Christ to the Church that

propels a priest to love the community of disciples entrusted to him by God.

37
Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, no. 1

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 The Sacrament of Holy Orders has three degrees – episcopate, presbyterate and

diaconate. The Bishops are the successors of the Apostles. Upon consecration, the bishop

receives the fullness of the sacrament of Orders and together with the office of sanctifying,

teaching and ruling.38 A bishop possesses the powers of servanthood, sanctification and

teaching. Meanwhile, the priests are the co-workers of the bishops. The chief duties of the

priest are the preaching of the Word of God and administering the sacraments especially

the Holy Eucharist. And the third degree is the diaconate. They assist the priest and the

bishop in fulfilling the mission of the Church. Strengthened by sacramental grace, the

deacons in communion with priests and bishops serve the whole people of God in the

service of the liturgy, of the Gospel and the works of charity (CFC, no. 1985). Deacons

like that of the priests receive a permanent character upon ordination which configures

them to Christ.

5. Matrimony: Celebration of Fidelity and Love

A sacrament is a special sign instituted by Jesus Christ; and Christian marriage is

one of the special signs that reflect the love of God. The book of Genesis narrates that God,

after creating man and woman according to His image, makes Adam and Eve one flesh in

mutual love (cf. Gen. 2:18). Hence, in the sacrament of matrimony the couple does not

refer to union of bodies through marital contract. It is a union of two souls. Marriage

reflects the communion of God in man and in nature. Through the sacrament, the Church

gives an effective sign of Jesus transforming the couple’s mutual love into a revelation of

God’s love (CCC, 1602). St. Paul speaks about the bond of marriage that is one of perfect

unity, fidelity and indissolubility.

38
Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium (21 November 1964), 21.
Citations shall be, “LG”.

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 Matrimony is an unending source of the grace needed for the proper exercise of the

functions of marriage. This is the reason why unmarried couples are encouraged to go to

the Church so that their union may be blessed. The couple is to beget a child and bring him

up as a Christian. They are to be bonded with mutual exchange of love, fidelity and

comfort.

6. Penance: Coming Home to God’s Embrace

Forgiveness is the greatest act of love. It manifests how far and deep one loves. In

the Gospel of St. Luke, Jesus narrated the parable of the prodigal son. He illustrated the

infinite mercy of God shown through the forgiveness and discarding of the sin of the

younger son. Sin is a debt from God. It is an illness that separates us from God. It damages

not only the personality of the person but also his relationship with God, with the

community and himself. Sin hinders him to attain the perfect happiness that God intended

for him. Through the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, one obtains pardon from the

mercy of God for offences committed against him and is, at the same time reconciled with

the community.39 This is the sacrament of Jesus, the sacrament of infinite mercy wherein

one finds his way back home to the Father.

7. Anointing of the Sick: Consolation in Illness

The ministry of Jesus is characterized with compassionate loving and healing those

who are suffering from serious sickness and unjust treatment of society. In the gospel

stories, Jesus restores life, heals lepers, brings back the sight of blind, and pardons sins.

His ministry is that of healing, of bringing solace to the heart of the afflicted. This

sacrament enables the sick to encounter God’s healing touch. God does not only allow

39
LG, 11.

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himself to be touched by God but he makes their sufferings his own (CCC, 1505). The

afflicted are no longer alone in times of trial for the Lord makes himself share in their own

sufferings and miseries. Therefore, the sick can now receive spiritual strength through the

reception of this sacrament.

The sacrament of the anointing of the sick does not only bring cure to the sick but

solace and peace to the soul of the afflicted. It gives the person the additional strength,

peace and courage to face the difficulties that he is going through in this life.

The sacramental grace in each sacrament is received once the receiver is in right

disposition to receive the grace. The sacraments are the visible signs so the invisible grace

can be properly disposed by humans. Without the sacraments, grace would not have any

instrument to transport from God to man and the chief way of obtaining sanctifying and

sacramental grace is by receiving the Sacraments.

C. The Fruits: Salvation and Divine Adoption

Every time I congratulate a brother in the seminary for his excellent performance

at school, he would always say: “Biyaya ng Diyos ‘yan.” “Lahat ay biyaya!” This is the

favorite phrase of every religious man and woman to indicate that everything really comes

from God. The life I am enjoying now, the water I drink, the air I breathe, the food I eat,

my family and friends who support me and the vocation to the priesthood which He

entrusted to me are all “biyaya” from God. I did not request these from Him. They are

freely given to me by a generous and loving God.

We are very lucky in the Catholic Church because our priests dispense sanctifying

grace each and every day to the faithful in the sacraments, especially Holy Communion

and Confession. In this very busy and lustful world that we live in today, there is a need

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for more and more grace in our lives if we want to overcome the evil one and get to heaven.

Grace is an absolute necessity in our day-to-day activities. But how many people realize

that? How many people live out their existence and never even once ask God to send more

grace? Grace is a free gift from God to man. There is nothing man can do to merit grace,

because it is a gift, after all.

Ephesians 2:8 speaks that, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and

this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God. Even of the letter of Paul to Titus says

that,” the grace of god brings salvation to all men (2:11). The fruit of grace is to make

salvation available to all sinners. "All men" means all classes of men, from kings to

servants, regardless of color, race, economic and/or social status, all else. All definitely

points to everyone, all-inclusive. Each and everybody can experience the grace of God.

Man then is saved by grace. (Eph 2:8-9) Man's life can be pieced back together after having

been shattered by sin. Because of God's grace, man doesn't have to fear. Salvation is

necessary for one to be: "In the likeness of Christ" (Rom 6), "without condemnation" (Rom

8:1) and “to produce the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5). Grace is not merited by anyone because

he or she deserves it. It is purely a gift coming from the initiative of the generous God. It

is a favor, a free and undeserved help that God gives to us so that everybody may respond

to his call to become children of God and partakers of His divine nature (CCC, 1996).

The grace that comes from the sacraments makes us beloved children of God.

Configuration to Christ in baptism, maturity of faith in confirmation, and the reconciliation

with God in the sacrament of penance were experiences of being loved by God. Grace is a

call to love. It is a call to receive that love which comes from the initiative of God. It is a

call to open our hearts to the immeasurable generosity of God.

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 We are created by God. We need grace because of our finiteness. We have to

receive grace not only for our daily sustenance but also for us to reach the perfection of our

existence in God. There is a popular saying that goes like this: “We cannot save ourselves

by our own merits alone.” We need God, the ultimate Grace and his gifts to reach our final

destination in heaven.

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IV. The Recessional: Commissioning to Live the Gospel of Jesus

There are many films that display the events of the last days. They show us the

horrific and terrible things that would occur. It seems like everything will be devastated

immensely and that all human beings shall witness dead bodies walking. There are many

people who are getting afraid if those films truly capture what will happen in the last things.

There are those however say that no one ever knows when will be the end of days and that

no one has that premonition to see exactly what will happen. We simple know the fact that

everything will come to its end. I am very fearful of what will happen in the last days. Had

Adam and Eve reached perfection, being thereafter insusceptible to sin, they would have

borne good children and founded a sinless family and society in complete concordance

with God's blessings. (Gen. 1:28) They would have founded the Kingdom of Heaven,

which consists of one great family with the same parents. The Kingdom of Heaven has the

form of an individual who has achieved perfection of character.

Our first parents however fell into sin Due to the Fall, human beings could not

become temples of God; instead, they separated from God and in His dwelling places. They

failed to ultivate the divine nature; instead, they acquired an evil nature. People with evil

nature have propagated evil through their children, constituting evil families, evil societies

and an evil world.

This is the hell on earth in which we have been living. In this hell, we cannot

properly form cooperative horizontal relationships with one another because our vertical

relationships with God have been severed. We perform deeds harmful to others because

we cannot feel the pain and suffering of our neighbors as our own. Once people have

accustomed themselves to living in hell on earth, when they end their physical life, they

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naturally enter hell in the spirit world. We have not built the Kingdom of God, but instead

established the sovereignty of Satan. For this reason, Satan can rule the hearts of human

beings.

The sinful world brings humankind sorrow and causes God to grieve. (Gen. 6:6)

Would God abandon then this world in its present misery? God intended to create a world

of goodness and experience from it the utmost joy; yet due to the human Fall, the world

came to be tainted with sin and sorrow. If this sinful world were to continue forever in its

present state, then God would be an impotent and ineffectual God who failed in His

creation. Therefore, God will save this sinful world, by all means.

To what extent should God save this world? He should save it completely. God has

to expel the evil power of Satan from this sinful world, (Acts 26:18) thereby bringing it

back to its original state prior to the Fall of the human ancestors. Salvation must then

continue until the good purpose of creation is fulfilled and God's direct dominion is

established (Acts 3:21). To save a sick person is to restore him to the condition of health

he had before the illness. To save a drowning person is to restore him to the state he was

in before he fell in the water. Likewise, to save a person suffering under the yoke of sin

means to restore him to his original, sinless state. In other words, God's work of salvation

is the providence of restoration (Acts 1:6).

The human Fall was undoubtedly the result of human mistakes. Nevertheless, God

also assumes some responsibility for the outcome because it was He who created human

beings. Therefore, God has felt compelled to conduct the providence to correct this tragic

outcome and to restore human beings to their true, original state. Furthermore, God created

us to live eternally.

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 This is because God, the eternal subject partner, wanted to share eternal joy with

human beings as His object partners. Having endowed human beings with an eternal nature,

God could not, by the laws of the Principle, simply annihilate them just because they fell.

If He were to do that, He would be violating His own Principle of Creation. The only choice

left to God is to save fallen people and restore them to the original, pure state in which He

initially created them.

When God created human beings, He promised to help us accomplish the three

great blessings. (Gen. 1:28) He declared through Isaiah, "I have spoken, and I will bring it

to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it," (Isa. 46:11) meaning that despite the Fall, God

has been working to fulfill His promise to us through the providence to restore these

blessings. He sent Jesus to restore us to our original, ideal state, as we can discern from

Jesus' words to his disciples, "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is

perfect." (Matt. 5:48) An original, ideal person is one with God and has realized a divine

nature; thus, with reference to the purpose of creation, he is perfect as God is perfect.40

There has to be the goal of the providence of restoration. It is the establishment of

the Kingdom of Heaven, which in its totality is God's will and the fulfillment of His purpose

of creation. Although God created the first ancestors with that intention, they fell; hence,

His Will for the earth was not realized. Since then, the primary goal of the providence of

restoration has been nothing less than to rebuild the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Jesus,

who came to complete this goal, told his disciples to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it

is in heaven." (Matt. 6:10) He also said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

(Matt. 4:17) His words testify that the goal of the providence of restoration is the

40
Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, 163.

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establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. It is then the great love of God to

humanity and all of creation that makes Him desire to restore and make all things new.41

God wants everything be restored as He planned at outset.

Theology tells us that Creation and Eschatology is related because God created us

for a purpose. He didn’t leave us alone after creation and entrusted our fate to ourselves.

God has a grand plan when he created. Eschatology is the fulfillment of God’s plan set

forth in creation as an expression of God immense love for all. Eschatology comes from

the Greek word “eschaton” which means “the last things.” In the traditional catechism it is

concentrated on the study of the individual’s last things such as death, judgment, heaven

or hell and Christ’s second coming (CFC, 2029). In the Old Testament, eschatology

concentrates on the future kingdom of God that is to be established by the Messiah. The

Book of the Prophet Daniel expresses the Israel’s hope for the future (Dan. 2:31). The

establishment of the kingdom of the Messiah signifies the coming of the eschaton, the last

period in the history of salvation. The four last things are: Judgment Day or Death, Heaven,

Purgatory, Hell.

A. The Church: The Community of Believers in Journey with Mary, our

Model

B. The Heaven: The Perfection of the Gospel of Love

C. The Purgatory: The Purification of Lost Believers

41
Cardinal Tagle, Philippine Conference on New Evangelization with the theme: God makes all
things new.

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 D. The Hell: The Conscious Refusal of the Divine

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