Greeting
God’s wisdom has prepared his wine and laid the table. He invites us: ‘‘Come and eat my bread, drink the wine I have prepared!” This is our Lord’s invitation to us. May we answer his invitation and may he always be with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction
1.The Eucharist at the Core of our Faith
We know that the very core of our faith is that Jesus’ body
was broken for us on the cross, that he shed his blood for us, but that he rose
again from the dead and is alive. The deepest way for us to share in his death
and resurrection is the Mass, the Eucharist we celebrate. There the body of
Christ is given to us as our food; there his blood is made present as shed to
forgive our sins and to fill us with Jesus’ life and strength and joy. Let us
celebrate this Eucharist with gratitude, for here the Lord gives himself
totally to us.
2. Come, the Table Is Ready
“Come, the table is ready!” In our homes this is the
invitation that brings us together as a family to share our food and our love.
“Come, the table is ready!” is Jesus’ invitation to us in the Eucharist. He
takes our human bread and makes it into the sign of the giving of himself:
“Take this, all of you, and eat it: This is my body, this is I myself giving
myself for you.” Let us sit at the table of the Lord and break his bread, and
learn from him to become each other’s food and drink of life and joy.
3. Thank the Lord for the Eucharist
How fortunate we are that we have the Eucharist! Here is
Jesus assuring us: I am with you and live among you, and give you not just any
gift but myself to eat on the journey of life. Eat my bread of life and drink
my wine of joy. This is I who give myself for you. In this way he also makes us
capable of giving ourselves to God and to one another. Let this be a
celebration of thanksgiving with the Lord among us.
Penitential Act
1 and 2. The Eucharist at the Core of our Faith. The
Table Is Ready
The Eucharist makes us one with the Lord Jesus. How much are
we one with him? How often do we let sin alienate us from him? Let us examine
ourselves before the Lord. (pause)
Lord Jesus, you invite us to eat your body and drink your
blood: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you invite us to live in you and to be one
with you so that you can be one with us: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have
mercy.
Lord Jesus, you invite us to eat you as our bread that
overcomes death and makes us live for ever: Lord, have mercy R/ Lord, have
mercy.
Lord, let this Eucharist forgive our sins, fill us with your
love and strength and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
3. Thank the Lord for the Eucharist
Have we ever thanked the Lord deeply for staying with us in
the Eucharist? Let us acclaim him as our God-with-us, (pause)
Lord Jesus, all praise and thinks to you for giving yourself
to us in the Eucharist: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, all praise and thanks to you for assuring us
that we have eternal life if we eat your body and drink your blood: Christ,
have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, all praise and thanks to you for making yourself
the food we need on the journey of life: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Forgive us, kind and compassionate God, that we have shown
little gratitude for the life you have brought us in the Eucharist. Let the
food of life lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
1 and 2 Themes
Let us pray that the Eucharist may fill us with the life of
Christ (pause)
Our living God, you let us taste and see how good you are by
giving us your Son Jesus Christ as the bread and drink of life. Give him to us
today as our daily bread, that with him we may pass from death to life. Let his
life flow in us and overflow on our brothers and sisters, that we may become
his body to the world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
3. Thank the Lord for the Eucharist
Let us thank the Father for giving us Jesus in the Eucharist
(pause) Loving Father, how could we know
the depth of your love if your Son had not become flesh of our flesh and blood
of our blood? How could we ever have the courage to live for one another and if
necessary to die if he had not given up his body and shed his blood for us? Thank
you for letting him stay with us in the Eucharist and making himself there our
daily bread. On our journey through life
let this bread be the food that empowers us to live and die
as he did, for one another and for you, our living God, for ever and ever.
R/ Amen.
First Reading:Proverbs 9:1-6: Eating and Drinking Wisdom
Wisdom wants to share itself as food and drink, to give
insight and life. Christ, the Word of God, is true wisdom. In the meal of the
Eucharist he transforms us into God’s image.
Reading 2: Ephesians 5:15-20: Praising the Father through
Christ
Christians learn the true wisdom of life from the Holy
Spirit. In the liturgical assembly they sing out their thanks to the Father
through Christ.
Gospel:John 6:51-58: Sharing Jesus’ Life through the
Eucharist
By eating the Lord’s body and drinking his blood, we share
in Jesus’ life and we are sure he will raise us from the dead.
Intercessions
Our Lord Jesus has nourished us with his words of life and
invites us to his table. Let us bring to him all our cares and those of the
people we love. Let us say: R/ Stay with us, Lord.
– For the Church, that the Eucharist may remain the source
of its vitality and of its ability to witness to the presence of the Lord in
his community, let us pray: R/ Stay with us, Lord.
– For Christians everywhere, that they may hunger and thirst
for justice in the world and give access to every person to spiritual values
and the material goods they need, let us pray: R/ Stay with us, Lord.
– For those in many parts of the world who don't have enough
to eat, that people may unite to help them to earn their own food in dignity,
let us pray: R/ Stay with us, Lord.
– For us and for all Christians who come together around the
Lord’s table, that Christ may unite us heart and soul and make us open tables
to one another, let us pray: R/ Stay with us, Lord.
Lord Jesus Christ, you give yourself to us as the bread of
life. Help us to give ourselves like you, without charge and without regret.
Stay with us, now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, as a Father who cares you invites us to the
table of your Son. He will change our bread into his flesh, our wine into the
drink of life. Make us one with him, appease our hunger with his bread and
refresh us with his drink, that we may live his life of courage and commitment and
that we may live in your love now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
In the Eucharistic prayer we sing out our praise and thanks
to our Father as we join our Lord Jesus Christ, for he has made Jesus our bread
of life.
Invitation to the Lord’s Prayer
One with Jesus our Lord we pray in his own words to our
Father in heaven: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, set us free from our
cowardice and selfishness. Nourish us with the bread of life, gather us
together and keep us united, that the world may recognize that your Son is
alive in us as we go forward in joyful hope toward the coming in glory of our
Savior, Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Breaking of Bread
The bread that we break is the bread of resurrection to a
new life and to new happiness. It is bread to be shared, for it is the bread of
the Lord.
Invitation to Communion
This is the Lord who says: ‘‘My flesh is real food and my
blood is real drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me and I
live in them.” Happy are we to accept his invitation to eat his bread of life.
R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after communion
Thank you, God our Father, for nourishing us on the way to
you with the true bread and drink of life, your Son Jesus Christ. In this and
in every Eucharist, let him take flesh again in us, that we may do for one
another what he has done for us, that we may be present to one another as he is
present and available to us, and that with him we may live your life now and
for ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
We experience day after day that it is not easy to live the
Lord’s gospel. It is not easy to live a life that is worthwhile, to be
unselfish, compassionate, to love and help one another even when it is
uncomfortable, to lead a life of integrity, to build a better world together. It
is true wisdom that prompts us to come to the Lord’s table to seek his
strength. May the Lord accompany us on the road of life and love and may God
bless you all: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go with the Lord on the road
to God and to one another.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Reflection
18 August 2024
John 6: 51-58
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus
Today's passage concludes Jesus' discourse on the Bread of
Life in the synagogue of Capernaum following the multiplication of the loaves
and fishes. During the last four Sundays, we have been reading from chapter six
of John, where Jesus introduces himself to us as the “Life-giving Bread that
came down from heaven.”
But his listeners failed to understand him and all they
wanted from him was to continue performing miracles to satisfy their hunger for
material needs. Jesus explains that those who listen to and absorb his
teachings are receiving the bread of life because it is through “every
Word that comes from the mouth of God” that humanity lives on.
In the passage for today, Jesus states something even more
astonishing. The bread that gives eternal life is not solely his
teachings but his own flesh. “The bread I shall give is my flesh, and I
will give it for the life of the world.” These are the opening words of
today’s passage (v. 51). Pay attention not to be misled by wrong
interpretations.
It is crucial to understand that partaking of the Body and
Blood of Christ is not a quick fix for all the problems in life, and
automatically gives us eternal life. To "eat his flesh and drink his
blood," means to accept the new life proposal that he has put forth
through his Gospel. Whoever agrees to become one with Christ in the sacrament
of the Eucharist must be willing to embrace the life proposal – of the
Beatitudes, which will transform our lives into a new person in Christ.
The change, the miracle of transformation will be
accomplished through embracing His Word and communion with the Body of Christ.
Then we will exclaim, like St. Paul: Now, “it is no longer me; Christ
lives in me” (Gal 2:20).
