If you’ve ever sat through a Catholic Mass, you’ve seen it: the priest lifts a small white host and says,

A few minutes later, the chalice is raised, and he proclaims,

For Catholics, these words can become routine. But if you’re new to the faith—or just exploring—you might wonder:

• What’s happening here?

• Do Catholics believe that bread and wine become Jesus?

• And what does it have to do with the New Covenant?

These are great questions. And the answers might change the way you see the Eucharist forever.

Covenants: God’s Way of Saying “You Are Mine and I Am Yours”

To understand the Eucharist, we first need to talk about covenants.

A covenant isn’t just a promise—it’s a sacred bond. Think of a wedding vow or an adoption. In the Bible, whenever God wanted to bring people into God’s family, God made a covenant with them.

• With Noah, God promised never to destroy the world by flood again.

• With Abraham, God promised to make his descendants a great nation.

• With Moses, God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments and a way to live in relationship with Him.

But here’s the key: every covenant in the Old Testament was sealed with an animal sacrifice—because, in ancient times, blood meant life (Leviticus 17:11).

So when Jesus lifted the chalice at the Last Supper and said, “This is my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant,” he was doing something radical:

He was establishing a new relationship between God and humanity—one that wasn’t based on animal sacrifices but on his own life given for us.

Jesus, the Sacrificial Lamb

Early in Jesus’ ministry, John the Baptist saw Jesus and proclaimed:

John identified Jesus as the true Passover Lamb whose sacrifice would bring ultimate salvation.

For centuries, the Jewish people sacrificed animals to atone for sin. The most important of these sacrifices was the Passover lamb, whose blood protected the Israelites from death in Egypt (Exodus 12:3-7).

But the Israelites couldn’t just sacrifice the lamb—they also had to eat it (Exodus 12:8).

This detail is crucial.

At the Last Supper, Jesus did something unexpected. Instead of offering a traditional Passover lamb, he offered himself. He took bread and wine and gave them to his disciples as his body and blood, establishing a new covenant between God and humanity.

Just as the Passover lamb was sacrificed to save the Israelites, Jesus, the Lamb of God, would shed his blood on the cross to save us from sin.

And just as the Israelites had to eat the lamb to complete the Passover, Jesus now invites us to eat his body and drink his blood in the Eucharist—fully uniting us with his saving sacrifice.

The Eucharist: How We Share in the Sacrifice

We don’t just remember Jesus’ sacrifice at every Mass—we enter into it.

The sacrifice of the cross happened once in history, but because it is an eternal sacrifice, it is made present to us in the Eucharist.

That’s why the Mass is called a sacrifice (GIRM 79d). It is not a new sacrifice, but the same sacrifice of Christ made present for us today.

When we receive the Eucharist:

• We are united to Jesus, the Lamb of God.

• We participate in the New Covenant.

• We receive His grace and life within us.

The Eucharist is not just a meal—it is a covenantal act, a moment when heaven and earth come together, and we are drawn into the heart of God’s love.

Why This Matters

As the sacrificial Lamb, Jesus didn’t just die for us—he invites us to share in his life through the Eucharist.

• When we receive Communion, we are entering the New Covenant.

• We are saying yes to Jesus’ sacrifice.

• We are renewing our commitment to live as God’s people.

This is why the Church calls the Eucharist “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1324). Everything we do as Catholics leads to it—and everything we do should flow from it.

So the next time you’re at Mass, and the priest lifts the host and says:

“Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you.”

Remember:

• You are not just witnessing a ritual.

• You are standing at the foot of the cross.

• You are receiving the Lamb of God.

• You are entering the New and Eternal Covenant.

• Jesus says, “Take this,” and gives you himself.

Will you say yes?

Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of the Eucharist, in which you give yourself completely to us. Help me to trust in your real presence, approach the altar with faith, and live my life in response to your love. Amen.