#24. What We Give Thanks For in Mass. The Eucharistic Prayer. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

 

 

 

 

In my last post I wrote how the Mass calls us to a lifestyle of gratitude, thankful for the gifts God has given us in love. We hear in the opening Dialogue of the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer the Priest say "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God." The People say "It is right and just." I wrote how then the Preface prays to God: "It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord."

 

What follows in the Preface is itself a thanksgiving to God which is why the Preface is also called the Thanksgiving. What this Preface does is give the reasons why we thank God, for what we thank God. We must also understand that the Priest is praying both for the Church and with the Church and also proclaiming the reasons for thanksgiving. Notice that after the Opeing Dialogue of the Eucharistic Prayer, which is an exchange between the Priest and People, the Preface next speaks to God (as "Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God").

 

The Thanksgiving Preface follows the ancient Jewish pattern of prayer where (1) one invokes God, then (2) gratefully proclaims what God has done, typically in creation and in the saving deeds of God and then (3) makes petition to God. The Jewish pattern of prayer, then, first praises and thanks God and then asks for something.

 

 

 

In the Thanksgiving of the Preface we (the Church) go on to state the reasons we thank God in this Eucharist (root word means "thanksgiving"). I also wrote last week a suggestion in preparing for Sunday Mass that we make a list (on paper, or digitally or mentally) of the things we want to thank God for in the Thanksgiving of the Eucharist.

 

 

 

When the Thanksgiving is prayed in the Preface, we unite our personal thanks (silently) to the "cosmic thanksgiving" of Christ himself. We join our thanks to the Liturgy’s thanksgiving typically for creation and for the Paschal Mystery of Christ. The Paschal Mystery refers to the entire life of Christ lived for us and now in us: "Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us." (Catechism #521)

 

You may read more about the Paschal Mystery HERE, but the essence of the Mystery is the Death and Resurrection of Christ and his Coming again in glory.

 

Consider this Preface of Eucharistic Prayer II which focuses upon both creation and the Paschal Mystery:

 

"It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,

always and everywhere to give you thanks, Father most holy,

through your beloved Son, Jesus Christ,

your Word through whom you made all things,

whom you sent as our Savior and Redeemer,

incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin.

Fulfilling your will and gaining for you a holy people,

he stretched out his hands as he endured his Passion,

so as to break the bonds of death and manifest the resurrection."

 

Common Preface V (one of the prefaces that can be used on Week days) states the Paschal Mystery in its simplest summary:

 

"His Death we celebrate in love,

his Resurrection we confess with living faith,

and his Coming in glory we await with unwavering hope."

 

The Eucharistic Preface sometimes focuses on some aspect of the Paschal Mystery/life of Christ which is celebrated in one of the Liturgical Seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent or Easter. For example, this is a Christmas Preface we pray:

 

"For in the mystery of the Word made flesh

a new light of your glory has shone upon the eyes of our mind,

so that, as we recognize in him God made visible,

we may be caught up through him in love of things invisible."

 

 

 

By having our often humble thanks united to the Great Thanksgiving of the Eucharist, we are "elevated," our hearts truly are lifted up the Lord, and we are given a very dignified role of joining heaven’s eternal Thanksgiving as we will see in next week’s post about the Sanctus.

 

Next Week: Joining the Heavenly Liturgy in the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) of the Eucharistic Preface.

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#23 The Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer: Why we Give Thanks and Worship. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

What follows the Opening Dialogue of the Eucharistic Prayer is the Preface, also called "the Thanksgiving" of the Mass. This is the giving thanks which is expressed in the Greek word for thanksgiving, i.e. eucharistia, from which we have the name for the Mass as Eucharist. This is significant because thanksgiving so predominates the Mass that the early Church called the entire service "Thanksgiving," i.e. Eucharist.

 

As we saw last week, a declaration is made in this Thanksgiving. When the Priests exhorts the People saying "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God," the People respond "It is right and just."

 

Then the Priest continues in these words:

 

"It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,

always and everywhere to give you thanks,

Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,

through Christ our Lord."

 

 

Note that it is "through Christ our Lord" that we give God thanks. Jesus initiated the Eucharist first at the Last Supper when he took bread and wine and gave thanks (eucharistia) to God the Father. All liturgical prayer is made to God the Father, through Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. We enter then, or share, Christ’s thanksgiving.

 

Let us consider the implications of this giving of thanks to God.

 

I will often say in introducing the Eucharistic Prayer to the Assembly gathered for Sunday Eucharist:

 

"My brothers and sisters, now is the time for us to remember all the good gifts that God has given us and give thanks for those gifts..."

 

I say this because it is at this point in the Mass (i.e. at the Preface) that thanks is given.

 

When a gift is given to us, the proper response is thanksgiving, showing our gratitude. There is an appreciation not only for the gift but also for the gift-giver. When we receive some wonderful gift, we will praise the gift-giver. We might say "You are so generous and kind, etc."

 

This is the dynamic of the Eucharistic Prayer: thanksgiving for the gifts of God lavished upon us, the greatest gift being God’s love made fully known to us in his Son, Christ Jesus. We say that such thanksgiving to God is "right and just."

 

 

These two words, "right" and "just," are almost synonymous in Biblical thought. In the Bible the concept of justice does not refer primarily to legal obligations and the punishment for violations of these obligations. Justice in the Scriptures refers primarily to the rich meaning of "right relationships."

 

We have three basic relationships which we must "get right" in life or experience suffering:

 

(1) There is the right relationship with God which is to love God and thank and worship God as God (as above all).

 

(2) There is the right relationship with others, about which Jesus said "Love one another as I have loved you." (John 13:34)

 

(3) And there is the right relationship with creation, which is to be good stewards of it.

 

So when we say it is "right and just" to give God thanks, we are saying in essence "it is in right relationship with God that we give God thanks and recognize God as the giver of every good gift.

 

Moreover, the Priest says in the opening sentence of the Thanksgiving that this is "our duty and our salvation." It is our duty because it is what is due to God because of God’s gifts to us. It is our salvation because to be in right relationship with God produces our well-being.

 

In addition, the Priest declares at Mass that we should give thanks "always and everywhere through Christ our Lord." St. Paul says " And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3:17) This phrase "always and everywhere" could be interpreted as refer to the eternal thanksgiving of the Church, on earth and especially in heaven. Such an eternal thanksgiving goes on always in all places, and it is this cosmic thanksgiving we enter into when we participate in the Mass.

 

I encourage that in preparation for Mass on Sunday you make a list (write it out if you wish) before Mass about what you want to thank God for in the Mass at the Thanksgiving. In the time before Mass when the people are praying silently and preparing, recall what it is you want to give thanks for, in addition to what you may be asking for God’s help.

 

So often we focus on what may be wrong in our life, upon the negative (consider that most news media is about reporting "bad news") and upon what we perceive as lacking in our lives. But when we concentrate and remember the good gifts in our lives, what we have, and what is going right, we experience gratitude and gratitude brings joy. Then we may say with the Prophet Isaiah:

 

"Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth." (Isaiah 12:4-5)

 

 

Next Week: What We Give Thanks For in Mass.

 

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#17 The Liturgy of the Eucharist: Understanding the Mass and Its Parts

 

The first post of this series "Understanding the Mass and Its Parts" discussed some of the actions and meanings of the Mass ( HERE)

I also stated that the Mass has two tables by which the Lord nourishes us: the Table of the Word (corresponding to the Liturgy of the Word) and the Table of the Eucharist (corresponding to the Liturgy of the Eucharist). ( HERE)

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, which regulates the worthy celebration of the Mass, states:

"The Mass consists in some sense of two parts, namely the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, these being so closely interconnected that they form but one single act of worship. For in the Mass is spread the table both of God’s Word and of the Body of Christ, and from it the faithful are to be instructed and refreshed. There are also certain rites that open and conclude the celebration." (GIRM#28)

It may be a bit confusing to speak of the Liturgy of the Eucharist because we can also call the entire Mass the Eucharist. Just note that when the Church uses the specific phrase "Liturgy of the Eucharist" she means the second major part of the Mass.

We have just finished the teaching on the Liturgy of the Word. It was pointed out that Christ speaks to us in the Liturgy of the Word (through the proclamation of the Scripture Readings and Gospel and through the Homily). Though there are certain nonverbal actions which accompany the Liturgy of the Word (such as the gesture and actions which accompany the proclamation of the Gospel: See HERE), mostly Christ is speaking to us in audible words which involve the ear which hears.

In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, Christ is also communicating with us, in words, but also in visible signs and actions. Here the eyes and other senses are involved, including the sense of touch, taste and sometimes smell.

Before examining the various parts of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, I want to give an overview of what happens in this part of the Mass. The Catechism conveniently sums it up for us:

"We must therefore consider the Eucharist as:

 

- thanksgiving and praise to the Father;
- the sacrificial memorial of Christ and his Body;
- the presence of Christ by the power of his word and of his Spirit." (#1358)

The Catechism is actually noting 4 realities here: the Liturgy of the Eucharist is (1) thanksgiving and praise to the Father; (2) the sacrifice of Christ and (3) the memorial of Christ; and (4) the Presence of Christ (under the signs of the Consecrated Bread and Wine).

 

Eucharistic Prayer III of the Roman Missal also refers to these four active realities; after the Consecration of the Bread and Wine whereby Christ is Really Present, the Priest prays:

"Therefore, O Lord,

as we celebrate the memorial
of the saving Passion of your Son,
his wondrous Resurrection
and Ascension into heaven,
and as we look forward to his second coming,
we offer you in thanksgiving
this holy and living sacrifice."

What we give thanks for are all the gifts of God to us: the gift of God’s love, the gift of Christ and the Holy Spirit living within us, the gift of our Faith, spiritual gifts, the gift of our life, the gifts of human relationships, the gift of creation, the gifts of our talents, the gift of our material resources, etc.

We give thanks in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the very name of "Eucharist" means "thanksgiving" in Greek, the original language of the Mass.

The memorial which is made requires a careful understanding. In establishing the Eucharist at the Last Supper Jesus says "Do this in memory of me." The word translated "memory" which Jesus uses is in the Greek  the word "anamnesis." As one source writes:

 

"This Greek word is practically untranslatable in English. ‘Memorial,’ ‘commemoration,’ ‘remembrance’ all suggest a recollection of the past, whereas anamnesis means making present an object or person from the past. Sometimes the term 'reactualization' has been used to indicate the force of anamnesis." (The New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship, p. 45)

More will be said about this when we come to the Eucharistic Prayer in the Mass; however, suffice it to say that the memorial of the Mass refers to re-presenting the saving actions of Jesus in the Liturgy. There is also a sense where God is asked to remember his People as his people are asked to remember him in the present as God has acted in the past and for the future.

 

The Sacrifice of the Mass is naturally part of this memorial presentation of the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. His sacrifice is his sacrificial love offered for us on the Cross and made everlasting in his Resurrection. By the action of the Holy Spirit, we join our lives to Christ’s One Sacrifice so that we may live in his sacrificial love.

In the Liturgy of the Eucharist all this—the thanksgiving, the memorial sacrifice, the Real Presence–is made present by the ordained Priest or Bishop in their ministry through the Word of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. But all the Baptized also make offering united to this objective sacrifice of the Mass. As the Priest invites the Assembly at the Offertory "Pray, my brothers and sisters , that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to the Lord our God."

Next Week: The Liturgy of the Eucharist and the Incarnation

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