– It is a Greek word that means thanksgiving, acknowledgment to God:
Wis 18,2 : They gave them thanks, because they did not take revenge for the mistreatment endured, and asked them to forgive their enmity.
2Mc 12,31 : Judas and his companions therefore thanked them and exhorted them to persevere in these dispositions.
Acts 24:3: We recognize you in every time and place, most excellent Felix, with all gratitude.
Rom 16:4 : And for this I thank you, not only I, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
– In the AT, the paschal supper was a memorial that, through gestures and food (paschal lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs), recalled the miraculous liberation of the people of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, and their departure to the promised land:
Ex 12,11 : You will have girded your loins […]. Ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s Passover.
Lev 23,4-14 : These are the feasts of the Lord, holy assemblies which you shall announce at the proper time.
Num 28.1625 : On the fourteenth day of the first month shall be the Passover of the Lord.
– The Paschal Supper is celebrated by Christ and is the occasion of the institution of the Holy Eucharist:
Mt 26,1729 : On the first day of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus.
Mk 14:1225 : On the first day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover was sacrificed, his disciples asked him.
Lk 22,723 : The day of unleavened bread dawned, on which the Passover had to be sacrificed.
Jn 13:14 , 18, 30 : Before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father.
1Cor 11,23-26 : I received from the Lord what I passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread.
– The paschal supper, for Christians, is a figure of the life, death and resurrection of Christ, and it has its full realization there: the paschal lamb is replaced by the Lamb of God; instead of deliverance from the Egyptian yoke, we have deliverance from the yoke of sin; the way to the promised land is the way to heaven; the presence of Yahweh in the midst of his people is the presence of the Eucharistic Christ. Paul will say: “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed”:
1Cor 5,7 : That you may be new dough, because you are unleavened bread, because Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed.
– The Eucharistic Supper is the basis of Christian religiosity:
2Mc 1,11 : Saved by God from unheard of dangers, we give him great thanksgiving.
1Cor 1,14 : Thank God, I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius.
Col 1:12 : Be content and grateful to the Father, who has made you worthy to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
1Th 1,2-3 : We never cease to give thanks to God for all of you, and to remember you in our prayers.
1Th 3,9 : And how could we thank God for you, for all the joy we had in his presence because of you?!
– Expressed as a prayer:
Wis 16,28 : So that it would be known that it is necessary to anticipate the sun to thank you.
2Cor 1,11 : If you also help us with prayers on our behalf.
Col 3:17 : Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
1Th 5:18 : In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you.
– As a memory of benefits received:
Jt 8,25 : They were wounded by the Terminator and perished by the serpents.
Rev 11:17 : We give you thanks, O Lord, God Almighty, who are and who were, because you have taken on the fullness of your royal power.
– And praise:
1Cor 14,16-17 : Otherwise, if you only give thanks with the spirit, how will you say “Amen”.
Rom 14 :6 : Whoever eats everything does it for the Lord, because he gives thanks to God.
1Tm 4,3-4 : The use of foods that God created so that they may be taken with thanksgiving by the faithful.
– Jesus gives thanks:
Mt 15:36 : He took the seven loaves and the fish and blessed them. Then he broke them and gave them to the disciples.
Mark 8 :6: Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, broke them and gave them to his disciples.
Jn 6,11.23 : Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks. Then he distributed them to the people.
– It’s the last supper: take… drink… Jesus goes, but stays:
Mt 26,26-27 : Take and eat, this is my body.
Mk 14,22-23 : He took bread and, after blessing it, broke it and gave it to them, saying: “Take, this is my body”.
Lc 22,19-20 : This is my body, which is given for you; do this in memory of me.
1Cor 11,23-24 : He took bread and, after giving thanks, he broke it and said: “This is my body, which is given for you”.
– Then with the two disciples at Emmaus:
Lc 24,30-35 : It so happened that, as they sat together at the table, he took bread, blessed it, broke it and served it to them.
– The Eucharist is the new sacrifice, the new Easter:
Ex 12,8-9 : That night they will eat the meat roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
– To receive the Eucharist, the blood and body of Christ, the utmost purity of soul is needed:
1Cor 11,26-34 : As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you remember the death of the Lord until he comes.
– The Eucharist was received frequently among the first Christians:
Acts 2,42.46f : They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, in common meetings, in the breaking of bread and in prayers.
Acts 20:7: On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread.
– It is a memorial that renews the death and resurrection of Jesus:
1Cor 10,16-17 : The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?
1Cor 11,24-25.27 : This is my body, which is given for you; do this in memory of me.
Heb 7:25 , 27 : It is possible to complete the salvation of those who go to God through him.
Heb 9,24-25 : This is why Christ entered, not into a sanctuary made by hands.
Heb 13,10-15 : For this reason, Jesus, wanting to purify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gates.
– The Eucharist is food for the soul:
Jn 6,26-58 : You seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate of the loaves and were satisfied.
– Figured in the manna of the desert, the Eucharist is the true bread from heaven:
Ex 16,13-36 : Behold, on the surface of the desert there was a small, granular thing, small as frost on the earth!
Wis 16:20 : It was with the food of angels that you fed your people, and it was from heaven that […] you sent them bread.
Jn 6:31 , 49, 59 : Our fathers ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
– Communion with his body and most precious blood:
Jo 6,51-58 : I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.
1Cor 10,17 : Since there is only one bread, […] we form one body, because we all partake of the same bread.
– Promised by Jesus Christ:
Jn 6,22-71 : I am the bread of life: he who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst.
– Is celebrated appropriately for what it means:
1Cor 11,17-34 : This cup is the New Covenant in my blood; as often as you drink it, do it in remembrance of me.
