#46 The Communion Rite Part 6: Communion in the Love of God. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

The receiving of Holy Communion in the Mass is a communion and participation in God’s love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Scriptures tell us that "God is love" (1 John 4:16) I have noted previously the magnificent passage in the Catechism which teaches us the implications of this:

 

"St. John goes even further when he affirms that ‘God is love’: God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." (#221)

 

This "eternal exchange of love" between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is the Communion of Love which is the Holy Trinity. Our receiving Holy Communion in the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ is "to share in that exchange." The Catechism also teaches:

 

"The sacraments are ‘of the Church’ ...[they] manifest and communicate to men, above all in the Eucharist, the mystery of communion with the God who is love, One in three persons." (#1118)

 

This manifestation of God’s love in the Eucharist inspired St. Augustine to say about the Eucharist:
"O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! O bond of charity!"

 

The Greek word agape is used to name God’s love for us and this divine love shared among us for one another. It was translated into Latin by the word "caritas"

 

"It is not easy to translate [the Church] Latin's sense of caritas with just one word; it means ‘spiritual love’, or ‘love in action’, the love which is born from a profound respect of the other (or the Other)...and we obtain the English word charity from caritas." (Link)

 

Caritas is God’s kind of love, and its link with the English word "charity" reminds us that God has  a profound love for those in need, especially the poor. God’s love is more than charity, but it also is not less than charity for the poor.

 

So, in Holy Communion, the Church teaches that "the Eucharist [in Communion] strengthens our charity [caritas]..." (Catechism #1394) The Church goes on to make (in my opinion)  a remarkable connection between the poor and Holy Communion:

 

"The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren..." (Catechism #1397)

 

This teaching is restating what Jesus himself said about recognizing him in the poor and those in need and assisting him (See Matthew 25:31-46 HERE ). With this criteria will we be judged. But here the Church is also saying that if we neglect to recognize Christ in the poor and not help them, then we are not receiving the Body and Blood of Christ "in truth." I would interpret this to be about the objective and subjective dimensions of receiving Holy Communion. Objectively speaking, Christ is absolutely Real in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood regardless of any action or lack of it on our part. However, if our reception of Holy Communion doesn’t affect us—indeed, change us—to be more like Christ, then we have not truly received the full grace of the Sacrament in our lives. A person who is a devout Communicant and yet has a hard heart toward the poor is in a contradictory situation.

 

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whose mission was to serve the poorest of the poor, once said:

 

"Like Mary, let us be full of zeal to go in haste to give Jesus to others. She was full of grace when, at the Annunciation, she received Jesus. Like her, we too become full of grace every time we receive Holy Communion. It is the same Jesus whom she received and whom we receive at Mass. As soon as we receive Jesus in Holy Communion, let us go in haste to give Him to our sisters, to our poor, to the sick, to the dying, to the lepers, to the unwanted, and the unloved. By this we make Jesus present in the world today."

Next time you receive Holy Communion think how you are receiving the love of God as a gift which softens our hearts to be changed into his loving children and the result of that love is to make us more loving, especially for those in need and the poor.

 

Next Week: The Communion Rite Part 7: Communion with Creation.

 

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#44 The Communion Rite Part 4: Communion in the Trinity. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

Mosaic of the Three Angels Who Appeared to Abraham at Mamre
Often used to depict the Holy Trinity

Having said that Christ and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable, and so both are received in Holy Communion (see last week's entry HERE), what about God the Father? The Father is also inseparable from the Son and the Holy Spirit, though each of the Divine Persons are still distinct from One another:

"Inseparable in what they are, the divine persons are also inseparable in what they do." (Catechism #267)
 

We can recall from the Gospel of John: "Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.’" (14:23; emphasis added) So for the sake of fullness, we see that our Communion is with the Holy Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is called the Indwelling of the Holy Trinity, i.e., the Three Divine Persons, One God, dwell in the soul of the Baptized.

Recall that the entire Eucharist is begun "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer is also a doxology to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are finally blessed and dismissed from the Mass in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The entire Eucharist is a work of the Triune God, a mystery and sacrament of the Trinity. As one Orthodox Christian source states:

"Finally, the 'mystery of mysteries,' the Holy Eucharist, is the actual experience of all Christian people led to communion with God the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit through Christ the Son who is present in the Word of the Gospel and in the Passover Meal of His Body and Blood eaten in remembrance of Him. The very movement of the Divine Liturgy—towards the Father through Christ the Word and the Lamb, in the power of the Holy Spirit—is the living sacramental symbol of our eternal movement in and toward God, the Blessed Trinity."
 

Angels at Mamre from Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy

Now we can also add that the very act of Holy Communion in the Mass is also Communion in the Trinity. The Catechism has this to say about the personal Communion of the Triune God:
 

"But St. John goes even further when he affirms that ‘God is love’: God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." (#221)
 

This "exchange of love" is another way of saying that God is a "Communion of Love" and the divine love "circulates" between the Three Persons. Moreover, we are destined to be in this Communion of Love shared by the Holy Trinity! If God is a Family, we are called to be part of that Family! We know the Church is born from the Font of Baptism, when we were immersed into the Holy Trinity, into that Communion of Love, in the very Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus the Catechism also teaches that the Church "is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity's communion with men." (#747)

 

We are also created in the image of God, who is One yet Three in a divine Communion and Community of Love. Anytime that we live in communion and community with others we are living according to the image of God within us, being "like God." The Church teaches us that we have a vocation to be in communion with other persons (See Catechism # 2419 HERE)
 

The next time you receive Holy Communion, think about how Christ brings the Holy Spirit and  God the Father in love to dwell within you. You are receiving Communion and you are to build communion in this world, to the glory of God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
 

Next week: The Communion Rite Part 5: Communion in the Paschal Mystery of Christ.
 

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#36 The Conclusion of the Eucharistic Prayer: The Final Doxology. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

The Eucharistic Prayer ends with the Final Doxology and the Great Amen.There will then be 2 more parts of the Mass to examine: the Communion Rite and the Final Blessing and Dismissal.

 

A doxology acclaims the glory of God and often comes at the end of a longer prayer. It is different from the "Glory to God" hymn that is in the Introductory Rite of Sunday except in Lent and Advent. (See my previous discussion about glory HERE) The early Church adopted adding  a doxology to the end of psalms and certain prayers based upon  Jewish Synagogue practice.

 

The word "doxology" is derived from two Greek words: "doxa" meaning "glory" and "logos" meaning "speaking" or " word," Thus, a doxology speaks words of glory about God.

 

The Intercessions of the Eucharistic Prayer (examined last week) usually end with some reference to Christ that is then taken up in the Eucharistic Doxology. For example, in Eucharistic Prayer III, the final Eucharistic Intercession mentions the deceased, saying:

 

"To our departed brothers and sisters and to all who were pleasing to you at their passing from this life, give kind admittance to your kingdom. There we hope to enjoy for ever the fullness of your glory through Christ our Lord through whom you bestow on the world all that is good."

 

Then the Priest raises with one hand the ciborium with the Consecrated Hosts and with the other hand raises the Chalice with the Consecrated wine above the altar and says or chants:

 

"Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever."

 

This Final Doxology in many ways sums up our worship and prayer at Mass.  The Catechism says: "...the Church celebrates public worship to the glory of the Holy Trinity, hears the word of God and sings his praise, lifts up her prayer, and offers the sacrifice of Christ sacramentally present in the midst of the assembly..." (#1199)



Icon of the Three Angels who visited Abraham:
Traditional Depiction of the Trinity
Icon by Peter Murphy

The Eucharistic Doxology is Trinitarian

 

We can note that this Final Doxology is Trinitarian: it hymns the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We began the Mass invoking the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This also recalls our Baptism in the same Triune Name.

 

The Catechism highlights the significance of the Trinity in our life as the People of God:

 

"But St. John goes even further when he affirms that ‘God is love’ [1 John 4:16]: God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." (Catechism #221)

 

The Church "is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity's communion with men" and women. (Catechism #747) The Trinity reveals that God is loving relationship between the Three divine Persons who are one God. We are called personally and as members of the Church to foster the same kind of loving relationships in this world.

 

The Ancient Pattern of Prayer

 

This Final Doxology also reveals the ancient pattern of prayer that is still reflected in the Mass today. We give glory to God the Father, through–with–and in the Son and in the union (the unity) of the Holy Spirit.

 

Time does not permit an extensive discussion of this, but God sent his Son to be our Mediator and High Priest between the Father and the Church, God’s People and the Body of Christ. God the Father  wants to have communion with us through the Son made human, with the Son and in him. The Holy Spirit "facilitates" this communion. Our relationship with God is one of union, not just imitation.

 

Liturgical Prayer is Christ and His Body the Church at Prayer

 

This Doxology also underscores the teaching that at Mass it is first of all the Crucified and Risen Christ who worships the Father in the love of the Holy Spirit. Only Christ alone is worthy and able to worship God in an eternal act of total self-giving love.

 

Now we are united to Christ in our Baptism, and given the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. In the Mass this union makes us one with Christ in his worship, the supreme expression of his love. Does it seem strange that the Son would worship the Father when both are equally God? The worship of Christ is his worship in our human nature.

The Meaning of the Glory of God

 

Finally, what is this glory of God the Father through the Son and in the unity of the Holy Spirit? In the Old Testament the glory of God is revealed as God’s Presence in his actions to save us. This glory is often represented by radiant light: "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." (Isaiah 60:1)

 

 In the New Testament, this glory of God is revealed in the saving Presence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God in his humanity and divinity. God is revealed to us in Christ’s humanity and as St Paul writes:

 

"For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6)

 

Jesus reveals the glory of God to be God’s love, "for God is love" (1 John 4:16), and this love shines forth in goodness, beauty and truth. Jesus prays:

 

"Father, I glorified You on the earth,

having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.

Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself,

with the glory which I had with You before the world was...

so that they may see My glory which You have given Me,

for You loved Me before the foundation of the world." (John 17:4-5,22)

 

To glorify God, then, is to acknowledge that all glory belongs to God the Father and to live in that glory in union with Christ and the Holy Spirit. It means to "shine" with the love of God, with God's beauty, truth and goodness.

 

Next Week: The Great Amen & a Summary. Understanding the Mass and Its Parts.

 

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