Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Eucharist, Week One

June 19, 2012 St. Francis Prayer Group

 V: O God, come to my assistance.
R: Lord, make haste to help me.

Sacramentum Caritatis

Psalm 40
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
Blessed is the man who makes
the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after false gods!

You have multiplied, O Lord my God,,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
they would be more than can be numbered.
Sacrifice and offering you do not desire;
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.

Then I said, “Behold, I come;
in the roll of the book it is written of me;
I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is written within my heart.”
I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
behold, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.

I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your mercy and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
Do not, O Lord, withhold
your compassion from me,
let your mercy and your faithfulness
ever preserve me!

For evils have encompassed me
without number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
till I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
my heart fails me.
Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!

*****
Day One: Novena Sacramentum Caritatis
(From Treasures Holy & Mystical Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP)
I.                   Opening Prayer
II.                Day One:  Christ Makes a gift of himself: Reading
III.             Meditation:  What do I find amazing in the Eucharist?  What wonders do I experience?  What does it mean for me to know Christ loves us “to the end”?
(take 10 minutes to meditate on these questions, come back and discuss)
IV.             Closing Prayer

:-) Homework: Using the book, Treasures Holy & Mystical, pray the Novena Sacramentum Caritatis. 

Shepherd of Souls
O Sacrament Most Holy

*****
Anything to share?

Food, Glorious Food (chapter 1: Bread of Life, Cup of Salvation by Baldovin)
“ Ever since Eve ate apples, much depends on dinner.”  -- Lord Byron

Eating: fundmental, without food – no life, without sharing food – not much significance in life
Why bother with the Eucharist? 
I believe in God – why can’t I practice my faith at home, in nature, doing service?  Why must I go to church week after week?
Easy answer:  Because Jesus told us to, at the Last Supper “do this in memory of me”
            (Jewish idea of memorial)

The Liturgy Constitution:
            From the liturgy, therefore, particularly the Eucharist, grace is poured forth upon us as from a fountain; the liturgy is the source for achieving in the most effective way possible human sanctification and God’s glorification, the end to which all the Church’s other activities are directed.

Mass is central to Christian living – goes right to the heart of what it is to be Christian

“For Catholics the Eucharist is not simply a way of worshipping God, it is the privileged means of experiencing the presence of Jesus Christ and participating in his work of redeeming the world.” (3)

From what did Jesus save the world?  Is there something about the human condition that needs saving?  (yes) We are trapped in a sinful condition and cannot be united to God through our own efforts.

We are more than our bodies; we have difficulty dealing with our limitations (need to eat, drink – grow old, die).  We know there is more than this, but we cannot escape our physicality:  we cannot escape this as we strive to be more.  Outside the body, there is no salvation.(3-4).  But we never consider enough to be enough – there has to be more.

Origin of sin centers around eating – cannot live without food, nor can we live without meaning.  This story combines eating and significance: they clearly have “enough”, but they want more, and they want it their way, not God’s – so they get more by eating what is not theirs to eat.  So, if eating is the form of the Fall  it is also the form of Redemption – the Eucharist is the powerful antidote to original sin, the antidote to the “apple” taken in Eden.

Could we define sin as: “a radical turning away from God and a turning in toward oneself in a desperate effort to achieve self-significance”? (5-6)  (selfishness….or better, self-centeredness)  We cannot let “God be God” – consider:  is this “first” sin deliberate disobedience? Or a sign of immaturity?

So humankind “grasped” at being like God, and Christ came to undo this.
See Phil 2:5-9

“If sin is grasping, then redemption is letting go.  If sin means symbolically grabbing at food, then redemption means sharing it and giving it away.” (6)  The reality of the Mass is seen in the process of divine self-emptying in ritual.
“Jesus makes himself literally the food of Christians. And so what is potentially the source of sin and self-centeredness becomes the source of reversing sin.” (7)

Eucharist (or Thanksgiving”) – sharing food and drink signifies the sharing of oneself just as Jesus did – important to remember Jesus gave not “something” but gave himself, and the only appropriate response is our own self-giving.

The “Eucharistic sacrifice” – there is difficulty in the idea of sacrifice – free self-sacrifice, for the sacrifice of Christ arose from his own freedom and the same needs to be true of us.  (Rom 12:1)

Jesus showed that true sacrifice is about offering oneself freely to God, others – in faith, hope, trust.

Shared ritual meal – antidote to selfishness: sharing and acceptance = true humanity; “communal sharing in the context of faith in God is the true source of joy.” (9)

Reflection questions:

  1. What moves me or leaves me cold in the celebration of the Mass? Why?
  2. What’s the connection between eating and drinking and the celebration of the Eucharist?
  3. How does Jesus undo the sinfulness of the human condition?
  4. How does the Mass relate to Jesus’ person and activity?
Intercessions, closing prayer

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