A Tour through the Mass!

Eucharistic Communion

The final action of Jesus at the Last Supper was to give the bread and the cup of wine to his disciples.  Everything before the giving of communion is leading up to it.  It is the purpose of the whole celebration.

The bread and wine which was presented at the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist is now given back to God’s People as the true bread of life.  As the priest prayed in the blessing over the bread at the Presentation of the Gifts, this bread will become ‘the bread of life’ and the cup of wine, ‘our spiritual drink’.

Communion should be received in the same bread and wine presented at the presenting of the gifts to express the rich meaning of the Eucharist.  The people who presented themselves by means of the bread and wine are now drawn into communion with Christ by means of that same bread and wine transformed.  They become the body of Christ as they enter into communion with him.

Receiving Communion

We receive communion, we do not take it.  This is an important part of the Eucharist’s meaning.  It is a gift of God; it is given to us.  Just as we receive the life we live, so we receive the new life that Christ has gained for us.  We do not simply take our lives; they are given to us – given to us through our parents.  We do not take the new life God gives us; it is given to us by the gracious love of God.

So, we put out our hands and receive this great gift and then we take it up and put it in our mouths.  Both these actions are significant: we receive God’s gift but then we have to make it our own, we have to deliberately accept it and take it into ourselves – we say ‘Amen’, that is ‘So be it’ and we take the Eucharist into ourselves.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin