Christ is the sacrament of God. The Church is the sacrament of Christ. Through Baptism Christ gives us life and through the Eucharist Christ nourishes life abundantly. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Church’s life. (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 10) Through the Eucharist Christ’s life, death and resurrection are made real, are made present, and are offered sacramentally. In the Eucharist, Christ unites his Church and all her members with his work of salvation. All ministries and sacraments of the Church are bound up with the Eucharist in which Christ, acting through the ministry of the priesthood, gives himself as an offering to the Father. Through Eucharist the faithful individually and communally renew their promise to conform their lives to Christ. Through the Liturgies of the Word and of the Eucharist the events of Christ’s life are made present. It is through the community whose unity is created by the Eucharist that the faithful are commissioned and empowered to evangelize. In Holy Communion, Christ completes the initiation of the faithful, nourishes them throughout their lives, and consoles them at the time of death with Viaticum.
--Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth