Passover and the Eucharist

 I find the continuity between the Jewish Passover and the Eucharist to be fascinating.  

The Jewish Passover meal includes unleavened bread, wine, and an unblemished lamb.  Participating in the Jewish Passover meal recalls freedom from slavery in Egypt, and was a necessary component of being part of the Hebrew community.

Similarly, the Eucharist includes unleavened bread (at least in the Latin Rite), wine, and an unblemished Lamb, namely Jesus Christ.  Participating in the Eucharist recalls freedom from slavery to sin.   A Catholic must receive the Eucharist at least once a year (generally during the Easter season) to continue to be in a state of grace; i.e., part of the Catholic community.

The Jewish Passover meal includes four cups of wine: the cup of sanctification, the cup of proclamation, the cup of blessing, and the cup of praise.  When Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with His Apostles in the upper room on Holy Thursday, He only drank the first three cups.  After drinking the cup of blessing, He and the Apostles sang a hymn of Hallel and left to go to the Mount of Olives without drinking the final cup (Matthew 26:26-30).  Jesus didn't drink the fourth and final cup of the Passover meal until He was given wine to drink on the cross (Matthew 27:48).  This fourth cup is also known as the Hallel Cup and  the Cup of Consummation.  We mystically drink from this fourth Passover cup at every Mass.

Thus, the Mass is a direct participation in the sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary, a fulfillment of the Jewish Passover that God directed all generations to celebrate at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, and an anticipation of the eternal Passover in the Kingdom of God as described throughout the book of Revelation.

The Eucharist truly is the source and the summit of the Christian faith.