The Eucharist - “The Great Sacrifice of Love”

Right Reverend Lawrence Stasyszen, O.S.B., Abbot of St. Gregory’s Abbey in Shawnee, led the third Day of Reflection related to the Eucharistic Revival on Feb. 25, titled, “The Eucharist - The Great Sacrifice of Love.” 

He began the retreat with a quotation from Pope Francis: “In the Eucharist, Christ is always renewing his gift of self, which he made on the Cross. His whole life is an act of total sharing of self out of love.”

The Day of Reflection featured three main subject areas: the history of covenants between God and his people since the original sin of Adam and Eve in paradise, Jesus’ sacrifice of love for the humanity as the new and everlasting covenant and the Eucharist  the meal of love with God, which allows people to participate and share in this sacrificial relationship. 

Abbot Lawrence emphasized the Eucharist as the highest expression, appreciation and participation in the sacred and perfect covenant with God, which was ratified through Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. 

He explained a covenant as a complete gift of self to God, which generates a pleasing, spiritual aroma of thanksgiving and praise to the Creator. 

“What God wants is loving and willing hearts to respond to his goodness with love,” said Abbot Lawrence. “Jesus and his sacrifice inaugurated an everlasting and complete covenant that is truly effective because it came in true authenticity from his heart requiring full trust in the Father and his will, even unto death.” 

He stated that the power of Jesus’ obedient, complete and self-sacrificial love transforms hearts from stone into flesh. 

Abbot Lawrence further discussed the Eucharist as a sacrificial meal shared between God and his children; a banquet of love with Jesus’ body and blood. Prefigured in the Jewish Passover meal in the Old Testament; a meal of commemoration that is real and renewed each time it is celebrated. 

“We are dealing with a profound mystery … In the Eucharist we are stepping out of our human linear way of understanding time and space. We are able to experience the last moments of Jesus’ life in the earthly dimension so that we can be open to our future destiny,” said Abbot Lawrence.

He went on to say, “… each time we receive Jesus in the Holy Communion, we experience the power of his resurrection.” 

Recalling a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Abbot Lawrence said, “It is amazing to visit the empty tomb of Jesus and experience the place where it all happened, but … the same mystery is happening in our hearts.” 

Participants voiced appreciation for the enriching and eye-opening talks of Abbot Lawrence by affirming their commitment to the Eucharist and to adoration of the Eucharist. 

“The Eucharist is love! Who doesn’t want to be loved? The purpose of the Eucharist is to share in God’s love. It means to be loved by God first to be then able to love others,” Marie Stege from Oklahoma City said. “I came here to find out how to share God’s love with others in my daily life. I desire to know God more and to live out this love for him in the world.” 

Speaking about the meaning of Christ’s sacrificial love in the Eucharist, Stege went on to say: “It means everything, really. It is the source and summit of life. It is the closest we can get to heaven on earth ... When I go to church I am at home. Jesus is our friend. You can just sit together with him and be comforted by his love, even if you don’t have anything to say. He works in silence.”

Concluding the Day of Reflection, Abbot Lawrence blessed the participants and said, “As we draw close to the Eucharist in the years of the Eucharistic Revival, I pray that all of us will be touched profoundly by the Spirit each time we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The heart of the Eucharist is the great sacrifice of love that Jesus gives us for salvation so that we may have life in abundance.”

Jad Ziolkowska is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.


Photo: Rt. Rev. Lawrence Stasyszen, O.S.B., Abbot of St. Gregory’s Abbey in Shawnee, led the third Day of Reflection related to the Eucharistic Revival on Feb. 25. Photo Jad Ziolkowska/Sooner Catholic.