Community: In Union with Love
This week is Valentine's Day, a day of celebrating expressing our love to another. As we think of those we love and those who love us, remember the one who loves you the MOST....The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Wait....that's three, not one!!!!
And that is the perfect example of union. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all the same in one God. It is the perfect example of the relationship we strive for between ourselves, others and God. We are one in COMMUNION through the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
If we visualize again the Church as St. Paul described being the Body of Christ, the Eucharist is the heart of this Body. The heart is the symbol of love used every Valentine's Day. The heart is central to life. It is where our blood flows into and out of...un-nourished blood comes into the heart, becomes nourished and flows out to work in the body. The Eucharist is much like the heart. We come to the Liturgy of the Eucharist, emptied, weak, and sinful. In receiving the Bread of Life, (Jesus said, I AM the Bread of Life), we are filled with the Spirit, strengthened in our love and forgiven of our sins. We are nourished to that we can then "flow" out to serve in the world. Therefore, through the Eucharist, we as individuals come in COMMUNION with one another to be nourished as a Body of Christ.
Through the Eucharist, we are in COMMUNION with Jesus. The love of Jesus for us is given to us through the Paschal Mystery, his life, his sacrificial death and resurrection. The Presence of Jesus comes to us through the Paschal Mystery of the Eucharist. We hear the words of the Last Supper, when Jesus instituted the First Eucharist. These words, said during the Mass, bring us intimately into the presence of Jesus. Remember the Gospel story from Luke of the two people who journeyed with a stranger. As the stranger took the bread, blessed it, broke it and shared it, the strangers became intimately aware of the presence of Christ. "Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the faithful can in some way relive the experience of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: 'Their eyes were opened and they recognized him. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Lk 24:31-32)" (Catholic Update, October 2003)
Through the Eucharist, we are in Communion with Heaven and Earth. With the Community of Saints and all the Angels in Heaven we join together to worship God. "Have mercy on us all; make us worthy to share eternal life, with Mary the virgin mother of God, with the apostles, and with all the saints who have done your will throughout the ages. May we praise you in union with them, and give you glory through your Son, Jesus Christ."
And, we are in COMMUNION with the universal Church. The whole liturgy unites the Church around the world as we share in the proclamation of the same Gospel, the same Creed and the one Bread of Life.
COMMENT ACTIVITY: Experience the Sacrament of Eucharist in a new way this week. (Don't answer the question until you go to Mass! Experience what is happening with an new persective: 1. listen to the words of the Liturgy of the Eucharist as if you were at the Table of the Last Supper. Jesus is speaking to you as a disciple. 2. Notice all that come to the table, you are united with them. 3. Pray with those who are in heaven and know you are a part of the Community of Saints.
THEN explain in detail what your experience was and how has your understanding of Eucharist changed or deepened.
Through the Eucharist, we are in COMMUNION with Jesus. The love of Jesus for us is given to us through the Paschal Mystery, his life, his sacrificial death and resurrection. The Presence of Jesus comes to us through the Paschal Mystery of the Eucharist. We hear the words of the Last Supper, when Jesus instituted the First Eucharist. These words, said during the Mass, bring us intimately into the presence of Jesus. Remember the Gospel story from Luke of the two people who journeyed with a stranger. As the stranger took the bread, blessed it, broke it and shared it, the strangers became intimately aware of the presence of Christ. "Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the faithful can in some way relive the experience of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: 'Their eyes were opened and they recognized him. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Lk 24:31-32)" (Catholic Update, October 2003)
Through the Eucharist, we are in Communion with Heaven and Earth. With the Community of Saints and all the Angels in Heaven we join together to worship God. "Have mercy on us all; make us worthy to share eternal life, with Mary the virgin mother of God, with the apostles, and with all the saints who have done your will throughout the ages. May we praise you in union with them, and give you glory through your Son, Jesus Christ."
And, we are in COMMUNION with the universal Church. The whole liturgy unites the Church around the world as we share in the proclamation of the same Gospel, the same Creed and the one Bread of Life.
COMMENT ACTIVITY: Experience the Sacrament of Eucharist in a new way this week. (Don't answer the question until you go to Mass! Experience what is happening with an new persective: 1. listen to the words of the Liturgy of the Eucharist as if you were at the Table of the Last Supper. Jesus is speaking to you as a disciple. 2. Notice all that come to the table, you are united with them. 3. Pray with those who are in heaven and know you are a part of the Community of Saints.
THEN explain in detail what your experience was and how has your understanding of Eucharist changed or deepened.
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