A Tour through the Mass!

Prayer over the Gifts

The Prayer over the Gifts links the Presentation of the bread and wine by the people to the rest of the action of the Eucharist, that is to the Eucharistic Prayer and Communion.

This prayer is preceded by and invitation by the priest to the people to enter into what is about to happen. The priest says: “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father”, to which the people respond – as we well know – “May the Lord accept….”. In these words, there is an invitation to be part of what is to come.

Then comes the actual Prayer over the Gifts. Here are some samples which show us the link between the bread and wine the people present and what is to become of them as the celebration continues – I have chosen some of those which express this more clearly.

“God of power, giver of the gifts we bring, accept the offering of your church and make it the sacrament of our salvation.” (19th Sunday of Ordinary Time)

One can see in this prayer that what the people bring is to become something else but it begins as the gifts they bring.

“Lord, look with love on our service. Accept the gifts we bring and help us grow in Christian love.” (10th Sunday in Ordinary Time).
“Lord, accept our prayers and offerings. Make us worthy of your sacraments of love by granting us your forgiveness.” (6th Sunday of Easter).
“Lord, make us worthy to bring you these gifts. May this sacrifice help to change our lives.” (1st Sunday of Lent).
“Lord, we are nothing without you. As you sustain in your mercy, receive our prayers ad offerings.” (2nd Sunday of Advent).
“Lord, as we make this offering, may our worship in spirit and truth bring us salvation.” (7th Sunday of Ordinary Time).

The Presentation of the bread and wine moves on onto the celebration of the Eucharist in which we enter into communion with Jesus Christ – those gifts are our means of presenting ourselves and going forward into union with God in and through Christ.

The Prayer over the Gifts is one of the set of three prayers which are characteristic of the Roman Liturgy: the others are the Opening Prayer or Collect and the Prayer after Communion. There is a set of these prayers for every Sunday and for all feasts. The ones for Sundays are repeated on the weekdays following the Sunday if no feast occurs on those days.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin