The call for Eucharistic revival we have heard in the church is particularly important to priests. Why? Because we are responsible for presiding and offering the Mass, which priests do in persona Christi. This configuration to Christ as head and shepherd of the church that takes place at our ordination as priests comes to its full expression gradually through our devoted pastoral ministry and care for God’s people. This expression is centered upon Christ present in the sacrifice and offering of the Eucharist that then is extended through the other sacraments and apostolic works that we celebrate and administer to the faithful.
The development and fruition of this configuration is entirely owed to grace. We read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that “the Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life.’ All sacraments, ministries, and works of the apostolate are bound up and oriented to the Eucharist” (No. 1324).
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