Message from Fr. Jose Koluthara, C.M.I.
| Lord Jesus, |
My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today’s word from St. Paul about offering our bodies as a living sacrifice offers us an ideal opportunity for some liturgical catechesis. That term can refer both to catechesis about the liturgy and the catechesis that flows from the liturgy.
Those words from St. Paul are echoed in the Fourth Eucharistic Prayer: “… by your Holy Spirit, gather all who share this one sacrifice into the one body of Christ, a living sacrifice of praise.” (Rom. 12:1). That makes this prayer the logical one to use today, of course. Eucharistic Prayer is the central prayer of the liturgy, but it is often the one that people have the most difficulty making their own.
Helping you to understand the unified structure of the prayer and the purpose of its various parts can enable you to make this prayer more fully your own. The current General Instruction of the Roman Missal describes the parts of the Eucharistic prayer in #55.
Beyond the structure of the prayers, Paul’s words offer the opportunity to lead people into the meaning of the Mass, especially into the commitment to daily sacrifice that is implicit in the Amen that we proclaim at the end of the Eucharistic prayer.
Of course, if the Eucharistic Prayer is to exert its full power to form us and to shape our attitudes, it must be proclaimed well. Presiders must examine themselves (and invite feedback from members of the assembly) on how well they proclaim this prayer at every Mass.
Is the variety of Eucharistic Prayers in the sacramentary used well? Are all the prayers used regularly or is one used almost all the time?
A final question to ask is whether the choice of which prayer to use is made on the basis of links to other elements of the liturgy of the day.
Have you ever felt the need to be part of a Liturgical Planning Committee in our parish? If so, will it turn out to be salt and light for our parish liturgical life?
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