Romana

The Eucharist and Christian Life

A new book by Bishop Javier Echevarría

In the year of the golden anniversary of his priestly ordination, which also coincided with the Year of the Eucharist proclaimed for the whole Church by Pope John Paul II, the Prelate of Opus Dei has published a book of reflections on the Eucharistic Mystery. Its title is Eucaristía y vida cristiana (The Eucharist and Christian Life). In the words of its author, it tries to show “how the primacy of this divine gift is intimately related to the gift of divine filiation.”

These words also show that “Christian life” in this book means not only a set of pious practices or a certain moral conduct, but the ordinary life of a son or daughter of God, made up of work, dedication to one’s family, rest, the experience of suffering…. In each chapter, the Prelate of Opus Dei considers these varied elements of daily life in light of the great “mystery of faith and of love” (as St. Josemaría called it) that is the Eucharist.

For example, in connection with the topic of the family, the reader is invited to relive the miracle of the wedding feast at Cana, a prefiguration of the Eucharist (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1335), finding there a moving manifestation of Christ’s benevolence.

The book was published in Madrid by Ediciones Rialp.