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15 LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST (i)
The Liturgy of the Word, concluding with the Prayer of the Faithful (or Bidding Prayers), leads immediately
into the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We move, as it were, from word to action; from listening to responding.
Our response to the inspired word of God is to offer gifts - and with the gifts that we offer, to present
our lives.
Bread and wine are brought forward and placed on the altar. These are the gifts of the people of God,
offered to the Lord for transformation and change. If, with the gifts, our lives are presented too, then we
bring to the Lord (and to the altar) the essence of who we truly are for transformation and change.
Clearly, bread and wine are offered in 'imitation' of the Last Supper, but this bread and wine also
represents you and me: our needs, our fears, our hopes and our joys. It stands for our sins and our
fragility, our gratitude and our trust. We can only offer to God what he has first given to us. We have
nothing else after all! He, because he is perfect love, graciously accepts what we offer and then cannot
but help himself – and gives it back to us! This time, however, what we have offered is returned
invested with a new, deeper meaning and purpose.
Bread and wine is truly changed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. Bread and wine, my life
and your life, offered in thanksgiving, ordinary and everyday gifts, are transformed into something
beautiful and precious.
Wow! Now that's the Catholic faith!
into the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We move, as it were, from word to action; from listening to responding.
Our response to the inspired word of God is to offer gifts - and with the gifts that we offer, to present
our lives.
Bread and wine are brought forward and placed on the altar. These are the gifts of the people of God,
offered to the Lord for transformation and change. If, with the gifts, our lives are presented too, then we
bring to the Lord (and to the altar) the essence of who we truly are for transformation and change.
Clearly, bread and wine are offered in 'imitation' of the Last Supper, but this bread and wine also
represents you and me: our needs, our fears, our hopes and our joys. It stands for our sins and our
fragility, our gratitude and our trust. We can only offer to God what he has first given to us. We have
nothing else after all! He, because he is perfect love, graciously accepts what we offer and then cannot
but help himself – and gives it back to us! This time, however, what we have offered is returned
invested with a new, deeper meaning and purpose.
Bread and wine is truly changed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. Bread and wine, my life
and your life, offered in thanksgiving, ordinary and everyday gifts, are transformed into something
beautiful and precious.
Wow! Now that's the Catholic faith!
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