March 2008
As we prepare to celebrate Holy Thursday and Easter, and as we continue to prepare for the celebration of the International Eucharistic Congress in Canada, it is well for us to continue to reflect more deeply and intimately on our celebration of the Eucharist.
When the Gospel of John introduces the washing of the feet it does so by saying, “Having loved his own who were in the world he loved them to the end”.
We are “his own”; we are the ones he knows and loves. “He loved them to the end”. This means that he loved them (us) fully and completely. Jesus’ love for his own will be demonstrated in the foot washing, but it will receive its full and final expression in his gift of life, which is present in the Eucharist.
It is in our celebration of the Eucharist that we hear the Lord’s request of us, “Do this in memory of me”. As we listen to this request of Jesus in our regard, we are faced with questions:
- What are we to think was Jesus’ deepest desire in asking this of us?
- How deeply and earnestly does he want us to do this?
- Why did he want us to do this?
- What should be our disposition as we “do this in memory” of him?
One way of beginning to answer the questions is to look at what it is we do when we celebrate the Eucharist.
To begin the Eucharist involves blessing. To bless is to “say good things about”.
In every Eucharist we bless God, we say good things about God. This is our response to all that God has shared with us about God’s very self. We bless God, and this includes everything God has created.
Blessing God is acknowledging God, praising, rejoicing, glorifying, sanctifying God. Notice how we pray in the Eucharistic Prayer:
- “We come to you Father with praise and thanksgiving through Jesus Christ your Son”
- “Father, you are holy indeed, and all creation rightly gives you praise”
- “God of power and might, we praise you through your Son, Jesus Christ, who comes in your name”
In all of this we bless the Father through Jesus.
When we do this in memory of Jesus, it is Jesus who prays; it is Jesus who blesses the Father for us and with us. We join Jesus in his prayer of blessing the Father. As we think of this, is it any wonder that Jesus invites us to do this in memory of him?
The Eucharist involves thanksgiving; thanksgiving for the fact that God has become our partner, thanksgiving that our God has entered into an intimate covenant with us, a bond of intimate friendship with us.
We are remembering the magnificent deeds of God, especially those done in Jesus. We also remember the deeds done in the church, in the community and in our own personal lives.
For all of this we give thanks. Again, notice some of the ways in which we pray.
“Father, calling to mind the death your Son endured for our salvation, his glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven, and ready to greet him when he comes again, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice.”
Notice what we offer in thanksgiving. We pray further,
“We come to you Father, with praise and thanksgiving, through Jesus Christ your Son.”
Many of the prefaces begin,
“Father, all powerful and ever living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.”
It involves petition, begging. We ask for the Spirit to build up the church, the People of God.
We ask the Father to send the Spirit, first of all as a sign of the Father’s acceptance of us. We ask the Father to transform the gift, to transform the people who receive the gifts, and to transform them into the church, the community, the union of one heart and one soul.
The Spirit brings forgiveness, peace, the pledge of future life.
And so we pray:
- “And so, Father, we bring you these gifts. We ask you to make them holy by the power
of your Spirit …” - “Have mercy on us all; make us worthy to share eternal life with Mary, the virgin Mother of God …”
- “Grant that we, who are nourished by his body and blood, may be filled with his Holy Spirit, and become one body, one spirit in Christ.”
- “Lord, remember those whom we offer this sacrifice … those who take part in this offering … those who have died in the peace of Christ.”
As we pray in this way we need to remind ourselves of the true nature of this prayer.
The church teaches us that “the liturgy is rightly seen as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ.” In other words, all the while we are praying in this way, it is really Jesus who is praying.
In the Gospel of John we hear Jesus promise, “I will do whatever you ask in my name … if in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it”.
In our prayer we are praying with Jesus and in Jesus’ name. In our prayer Jesus is praising the Father for us and with us. Jesus is thanking the Father for all the blessings we receive, and asking the Father for all we need.
When the church speaks of us praying at Mass it says, “Offering the immaculate victim, not only through the hands of the priest but also together with him, they should learn to offer themselves.” By this we are reminded that in virtue of our baptismal priesthood, we offer the immaculate victim to the Father.
We are empowered to pray along with Jesus, to offer Jesus and ourselves to the Father. Jesus makes his prayer our prayer. What does the Father do with Jesus’ prayer?
We are also reminded by the church that the very nature of the liturgy is such that it demands full participation. More than that, in virtue of our baptism we have the right, the duty to celebrate the liturgy.
It is in light of all of this that we need to ponder carefully and prayerfully.
In the Eucharist Jesus is bringing us the saving grace of his passion, death, resurrection and Spirit. Jesus is praying to the Father on our behalf and with us, offering praise, thanks and petition.
It is in the midst of all of this that Jesus says to us gently, earnestly, with deep desire and eager longing, “Do this is memory of me”.