The Eucharist: Source of Cultural Renewal

Western Culture needs renewal. This task of ennobling culture is vast indeed, and requires each of us to be a part of it. There are no sidelines or bystanders. It has been said that “Culture is the root of politics, and religion is the root of culture.”[i] To go a step further, religion rests upon the worship of God, and the Eucharist is at the center of true worship. Therefore, the task of ennobling culture requires ennobling religion and, correspondingly, ennobling worship, at the center of which we find the living God present in the Eucharist. Christian disciples must set Jesus Christ in the Eucharist at the center of their lives, as the Eucharist truly is the source and summit of that life,[ii] from whom flows rivers of living water (Jn 7:38), and apart from whom they cannot have life (Jn 6:53). The Eucharist celebrated and the Eucharist lived can transform our lives, the lives of others, and our culture itself.