A little over a year ago I attended a Theology on Tap session where a priest was speaking about the Eucharist and he mentioned the idea that while the fullness of the Eucharist existed in the transubstantiated bread and wine, that there was a lesser Eucharist which subsisted in the Catholic community since we as a Church are also Christ’s body. I thought this was interesting and tried to find more about later, but couldn’t really find much information on the concept and wasn’t sure what source he had been drawing the idea from nor could I remember who the actual priest was so contacting him was out of the question. Thus I brushed it off at the time as something interesting, but not worth really bringing up in conversation since I wouldn’t be able to support the idea. …
So is the idea valid? Where does it originate from? Are there any official doctrinal teachings on the idea of a “lesser” Eucharist, or at least famous writings from one of the Popes or saints?
From a sermon by St. Augustine: “… So how can bread be his body? And what about the cup? How can it (or what it contains) be his blood?” My friends, these realities are called sacraments because in them one thing is seen, while another is grasped. What is seen is a mere physical likeness; what is grasped bears spiritual fruit. So now, if you want to understand the body of Christ, listen to the Apostle Paul speaking to the faithful: “You are the body of Christ, member for member.” [1 Cor. 12.27] If you, therefore, are Christ’s body and members, it is your own mystery that is placed on the Lord’s table! It is your own mystery that you are receiving! You are saying “Amen” to what you are: your response is a personal signature, affirming your faith. When you hear “The body of Christ”, you reply “Amen.” Be a member of Christ’s body, then, so that your “Amen” may ring true!" (From
earlychurchtexts.com/public/augustine_sermon_272_eucharist.htm ). I think this sermon is part of the current Liturgy of the Hours, Office of Readings.
Similar to “With the Eucharist, the Church is born.”:
“2. We were born from the Eucharist. If we can truly say that the whole Church lives from the Eucharist (“Ecclesia de Eucharistia vivit”), as I reaffirmed in my recent Encyclical, we can say the same thing about the ministerial priesthood:” (John Paul II, Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday 2004, at
vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/2004/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_20040406_priests-holy-thursday_en.html ).
From the 2003 Encyclical:
“3. The Church was born of the paschal mystery. For this very reason the Eucharist, which is in an outstanding way the sacrament of the paschal mystery, stands at the centre of the Church’s life. This is already clear from the earliest images of the Church found in the Acts of the Apostles: “They devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (2:42).” (At
vatican.va/holy_father/special_features/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_20030417_ecclesia_eucharistia_en.html ).
