Let us now look at the different stages of prayer that each Eucharistic Prayer goes through. I will use as an example the Third Eucharistic Prayer which is often used on Sundays. We will use as the Preface, the First Preface for Sundays in Ordinary Time.
There are 8 different Prefaces which can be chosen for use on Sundays. It has always been part of the Roman tradition of the Eucharist to have many different Prefaces. There are over 90 in the Roman Missal altogether to cater for different seasons, feasts and occasions.
(I will use the previous translation of the Prefaces for their greater clarity and accuracy.)
The First Preface for Sundays is the following:
Father, all powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through his cross and resurrection
he has freed us from sin and death
and called us to the glory that has made us
a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people set apart.
Everywhere we proclaim your mighty works
for you have called out of darkness
into your own wonderful light.
And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven
we proclaim your glory
and join in their unending song of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
This is a prayer of thanksgiving to God for what he has done for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. He has made of us a people who are his own with a particular purpose in our world – to proclaim what God has done in Jesus Christ and wishes to do for all. Our purpose is to proclaim this not just at Mass of course but by our lives in our world.
Being God’s People comes about in us through our union with the Lord Jesus brought about in communion.
Notice the strong language used to describe US – ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart’. These words need unpacking to understand them well – something we could look at later in this series of bulletin articles.
We matter to God! And we matter as a people, as a union of human beings; a group of human beings that God gathers around him not for their own sakes but for a task and mission he gives them to be a voice for him in the midst of all humankind.
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Laura Facci says:
I am really enjoying this Tour through the Mass , Father Frank. Thank you very much .