A Tour through the Mass!

The Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist

As we are all aware, there are two major parts to the Mass: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. These two parts of the Mass are intimately linked to each other. The Liturgy of the Word leads us into the Liturgy of the Eucharist. 

During his life Jesus proclaimed the word of God as we see throughout the four gospels and he sought to bring about a change of mind and heart in his first disciples. His proclaiming the word was not just a source of information but a means by which he sought to bring those who listened to him to a different way of seeing things, to a way of seeing things which was in accord with the ways of God.

At the Last Supper, he drew them into communion with himself in his death and resurrection. He sought to draw them into his passover to the Father. This was not something which was complete at that moment, but something which had to keep happening and so they were to keep celebrating that Supper and continue being drawn into communion with him as time went on. His words “Do this in memory of me” are of course about continuing to celebrate that Supper.

This is also illustrated in St Luke’s account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Gospel of St Luke ch. 24). In that account, Jesus opens up the Scriptures to them and shows how they point to himself and then going into the house with them, he takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it and gives it to them. And they recognize him in that action. So, at Emmaus there is a ‘Liturgy of the Word’ leading into a ‘Liturgy of the Eucharist’.

As we celebrate Mass, it is not just that there are two separate parts to it, but that the Word leads us into the Eucharist. Unless the word had made a home in us, we cannot recognize Jesus ‘in the breaking of the bread’ as did those disciples on the road to Emmaus. It is through hearing the word and taking it to heart that we come to recognize who Jesus is and to recognize his continuing presence with us. 

And the word stirs up in us the desire to be in communion with Jesus and to be part of his body, the church, which is what comes about in us as we celebrate the Eucharist.

As St Paul says to those troublesome Corinthians: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a fellowship in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a fellowship in the body of Christ? As there is one bread, so we, though many, are one body, for we all share in the one bread.” (I Corinthians 10. 16-17).

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin