The Eucharist and the Mystical Body of Christ

In another fine article, Quid Est Veritas? distinguishes between the Body of Christ (the Eucharist) and the mystical body of Christ.

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Grace flows from God as from its source. The members of the Church - who are in the state of grace - merely participate in that which flows from God; they do not become its source. The Human nature of Jesus is united to God in such a way that He is the very source of grace; He does not merely receive that which proceeds from God. Jesus is true God and true man because His humanity is united to the Divinity (Hypostatic Union) in the same way that the three persons of the Trinity are united to each other (Hypostasis); therefore Jesus becomes - with the Trinity - the actual cause of, and source of, grace.

When a human person is in the state of grace, he merely "participates" in that which flows from God, as from its source. The sun is the source of light which illuminates the earth, but the earth does not become the sun by participation in its light; in the same way, God is the source of Grace which "illuminates" man, but man does not become God by his participation in Divine grace.

The Eucharist:

The Eucharist - being Jesus - is the source of grace; therefore, we receive the Eucharist not merely to be in union with "each other" but to be in union with the Source of grace - Jesus. We do not have our participation in grace from a union that proceeds from our "brothers in Christ", but from a union that proceeds from the Source. The union with our "brothers in Christ" is merely a secondary effect of our Union with Christ.

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On another website, I found this explanation of "divinization":

When explaining divinization, Thomas Aquinas used the example of an iron poker heated in a fire. Though the red-hot poker never itself becomes fire, yet it participates in every characteristic of the fire. So do we participate in the divine nature through the perfection brought about in purgation and the sacraments. Through these active experiences of the Divine, we are filled to the capacity of our being with divinity.

(I saw the same analogy attributed to Richard of St. Victor here).