“Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus … while they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them … Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures … When he was at table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.”
(Luke 24)
This description of the Emmaus journey of the disciples provides us with a good overview of what happens today when disciples of Jesus gather to celebrate the Eucharist.
To begin, the narrative says: “Jesus himself came near and went with them …” In her official teaching the church says, “Christ is present when the church prays and sings” (S.C.#7). In explaining this further the church affirms: “In the celebration of Mass the principal forms of Christ’s presence in his church are manifested progressively. First, he is present in the assembly of the faithful gathered together in his name” (Eucharistica Sacramentum 1973). After all Jesus did say: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20).
Our supreme prayer is the Eucharist. Jesus is present, first of all, in our coming together. All of this reminds us clearly and strongly that when we gather to celebrate the Eucharist Christ is present in and through one another as we gather.
“He interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures”. Again we are reminded, “He is present in his word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the Holy Scriptures are read in the church” (S.C.#7).
In ordinary everyday life we give greater or lesser attention depending upon varying circumstances and the stature of the speaker. Children pay attention to the words of their parents: more or less. In a school assembly students are inclined to give greater attention to the address of the principal than to a supervisor shouting directives on the playing field. Most would give greater attention to an address of the Governor General than to a member of local government. When the Holy Father speaks most Christians, in fact most people, are very attentive.
In the Scriptures “… the invisible God out of the abundance of his love speaks to men and women as friends and lives among them so that he may invite and take them into fellowship with himself” (D.V.#2).
It is for this reason that we are reminded: “The church has always venerated the divine scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since from the one table of both the word of God and the body of Christ she unceasingly receives and offers the faithful the bread of life, especially in the sacred liturgy” (D.V.#21).
What is happening here is that the whole community is hearing God’s word. God’s word is being proclaimed and God’s word is being listened to. God’s word proclaimed and listened to will be the foundation for all else that this church does.
As the hearts of the disciples burned within them as Jesus walked with them and explained the scriptures, so today, our hearts should burn within us as we become more aware of how the risen Lord is equally present to us and speaks the word of life to us. In order for this to happen we need to be present, attentive, open and receptive in a spirit of faith.
Having met Christ in his word we are now better prepared to meet him in the breaking of the bread. The bread and the wine brought to the altar are symbolic of ourselves. They represent our pain and our hope. In the course of the great Eucharistic Prayer Jesus takes all of this upon himself. The Eucharistic Prayer is Jesus’ prayer to the Father for us and with us. Hence it is the greatest prayer we have.
By its very nature this prayer involves three things: blessing, thanksgiving and petition.
Blessing is our response to all that God has shared with us about God’s very self. We can ask: “Who is our God?” Our answer must be that our God is almighty, transcendent, totally beyond us, the God of mystery. But our God is equally our loving, merciful Father; the God who loves us with a motherly love.
Every act of liturgy blesses God. To bless is ‘to say good things about’. When we bless God this includes everything God has created. Blessing God is acknowledging, praising, rejoicing, glorifying, sanctifying God. A great theologian of our century said: “God is just as appreciative of congratulations and celebrations as we tend to be”. The liturgy is a ‘toast to God’. Since it is Jesus toasting the Father for us and with us, it is absolutely accepted by the Father.
The Eucharist is thanksgiving. We give thanks for the fact that God has become our partner. God has pitched his tent among people. God has taken the life of the world on himself. Our God has entered into a bond of intimate friendship with us. “I do not call you servants any longer … but I have called you friends” (John 15:14).
In this prayer of thanksgiving we remember and give thanks for the magnificent deeds that God has done for us especially in Jesus, but also in the church and in our own personal lives.
The kingdom of God, grace, we ourselves, are pure gift: gifts which ask to be accepted as they are by children. The child shows its gratitude by being totally caught up in its gift without any false shame, by being actively involved and fascinated by it. Prayer is that ‘extra thank-you’ to God in a life which in its entirety is pure gift.
The Eucharist is a re-enacting of the Last Supper; a re-enacting and making present of a past saving event. Jesus is inviting all of us to get involved in the Paschal Mystery. Jesus’ Paschal Mystery involves four actions: dying, rising, ascending, pouring out of the Spirit. In this one Mystery Jesus gave himself to the Father and to us. By our getting involved in this mystery we too are to surrender ourselves; we are to become stronger in order to give the Spirit to others.
The Eucharist is also a prayer of petition. In the Eucharist we are begging. Jesus did strongly teach us to ask. In fact, Jesus said: “If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it” (John 14:14).
Asking is a beautiful prayer because in it we admit who God is and who we are. This is adoration at its best. Christian faith is relying on another. Until we learn how to rely on Christ we really cannot begin to be his disciples, his friends. The more we become dependent the more we become fascinated, surprised, by God.
We ask the Father to send the Spirit to build up the People of God. We ask the Father to send the Spirit as a sign of the Father’s acceptance of our gifts and ourselves. Further, we ask for the gift of the Spirit to transform the gifts. “Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” We ask also for the gift of the spirit in order that we may be transformed, changed. “Grant that we, who are nourished by his body and blood, may be filled with his Holy Sprit and become one body, one spirit in Christ.” The Sprit brings forgiveness, peace and a pledge of future life.
The Eucharist is an action and therefore it calls for the full, conscious, active involvement of everyone. This involvement is a manner of “concelebration”. True, the ordained priest has a unique and essential role to play. However, in her official teaching the church repeatedly affirms, “The faithful join in the offering of the Eucharist by virtue of their royal priesthood” (L.G.#10). “By offering the Immaculate victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn to offer themselves too” (S.C.#48).
Looking at the Eucharist with this threefold dimension of blessing, thanksgiving and petition, and looking at ourselves as the celebrants of this action, it becomes clear how demanding it is to celebrate the Eucharist well. Confronted with this challenge we take consolation in the words of Paul: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Sprit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
Having prayed in this way the body of Christ now comes forward to receive the body of Christ. In this Easter banquet Christ himself becomes our nourishment. Sharing in the Lord’s Supper is always communion with Christ, who offers himself for us in sacrifice to the Father.
It is important to be ever mindful that communion with Christ is deeply tied to communion with our sisters and brothers. Sharing in the one loaf which is Christ, we must share in mutual love with one another. We try to do this with the demanding words of Christ in mind: “So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).
Having received the Bread of Life we ready ourselves to undertake with the strength of this Risen Lord and his Spirit the tasks awaiting us in our ordinary life. If we understand the meaning of what we have done we know that the Eucharistic celebration does not stop at the church door. Like the first witnesses of the Resurrection, Christians who gather to experience and proclaim the presence of the Risen Lord are called to evangelize and bear witness in their daily lives.
Mindful of the responsibility that is ours, we return to our everyday surroundings with the commitment to make our entire lives a gift, a spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God. Aware of what we have received in the celebration, we are much like the disciples of Emmaus, who once they had recognized the risen Christ “in the breaking of the bread”, felt the need to return immediately to share with their brothers and sisters the joy of meeting the Lord (Luke 24:33-35).