What specifically is the Eucharist?

[runningdude]

So, the word “Eucharist” literally means “Thanksgiving”

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks [eucharist], he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

The word “Eucharist” is also a synonym the liturgy, ie “Mass”.

A sacrament is defined as:

A rite believed to be a means of or visible form of grace

So, when we speak of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, are we speaking of the mass, through which the Body of Christ is made present, or is the Body of Christ the sacrament?

When we “receive the Eucharist”, is that the act of receiving the Body of Christ (ie, receiving communion), or is it being present and witnessing the mass?

Stipulated, grace is conveyed by directly receiving the Body of Christ through the Host and Precious Blood. But this act of communion can be licitly made outside of the mass (Communion Services such as Good Friday, Viaticum, Communion for the Homebound, etc). Is such lawful reception, technically speaking, “receiving the Eucharist”? Or is the Sacrament of the Eucharist the Mass itself?

 

[Gorgias]

The word “Eucharist” is also a synonym the liturgy, ie “Mass”.

You’ve got to be careful to distinguish between the two meanings here – on one hand, there’s the action (i.e., the ‘Mass’, which is the ‘sacrifice’) and on the other hand, what is produced (i.e., the ‘sacrament’).

So, to your question, we are speaking of both (or one or the other) – the Eucharist is both a sacrifice and a sacrament.

Or is the Sacrament of the Eucharist the Mass itself?

No. The Mass is a sacrifice. In the context of that sacrifice, one might also receive the sacrament.