Being thoughtful for life, for people and gifts, is a vital part of our relationships with one another. When praise and appreciation are experienced, we are enabled to relate on a deeper level.
Word of God
Where two or three are gathered together in my name I am there among them.
(Matthew: 18:20)
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Believers who respond to God’s word and become members of Christ’s Body become intimately united with him: “In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe, and who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ in his Passion and glorification.” This is especially true of Baptism, which unites us to Christ’s death and Resurrection, and the Eucharist, by which “really sharing in the body of the Lord, … we are taken up into communion with him and with one another.” (CCC790)
The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called:
Eucharist, (Thanksgiving) because it is an action of thanksgiving to God.
The Lord’s Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion.
The Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this Rite, part of a Jewish meal, when as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread, above all at the Last Supper. It is by this action that his disciples will recognise him after his Resurrection.
The memorial of the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection.
The Holy Sacrifice, because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Saviour and includes the Church’s offering.
Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body.
Holy Mass, (Missa) because the liturgy concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the faithful, so that they may fulfil God’s will in their daily lives. (cf 1328-1332)
Prayer and Reflection
Lord Jesus Christ,
in you we know the love of God.
When we gather together in your name
we experience the marvel of your loving presence
which challenges us to live for one another.
Help us to follow your example
so that we may never become complacent.
Help us to listen to your constant call to us
to continue the work you began,
you who lived and died for us.
Grant this through your Spirit of Love.
Amen.
(Prayer for Unity of Christians)