Editor’s note: The following is the second part of “Walk Through the Mass,” a resource developed for the archdiocese’s Year of Sunday Mass to help the faithful better understand the meaning behind the celebration of the Eucharist each week. The entire resource, including a handout, is available under the “Resources” section of www.archchicago.org/StrategicPastoralPlan/SundayMass. During this Year of Sunday Mass, many people (priests and laypeople) have asked for a tool that will help the faithful understand what it is that we do, and why we do it, when we gather for the celebration of the Mass. Those parishes that have planned and facilitated gatherings in which the Mass is actually gone through and its various parts are broken open for those who are gathered have reported it very beneficial for the participants. This “Walk Through the Mass” (part two) has been developed with that request in mind. It was designed to be userfriendly and developed in such a way that it could be led by various staff members or parish leaders. A Walk through the Mass Part one of two LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST The Liturgy of the Eucharist follows another Jewish tradition, the Passover meal. In the Passover meal prayers are said to remind the people of God’s love and mercy, and where food is blessed and shared. Presentation of the Gifts People from the community bring forth the bread and wine to be shared with everyone. However, the bread and the wine aren’t the only things we offer God in the presentation of the gifts. We also offer ourselves. Each time we go to Mass, we are called to offer to God all that we are. We offer ourselves as “gift” to God. Even though you are not walking forward, you can still “carry” a gift, given to you by God that you bring to this Mass to be blessed, broken and shared with others. During this time you can think about what gifts you have that you will share this week. Washing Hands In ancient times when the gifts were brought forth from the community, those could have included live animals. The washing ritual was a practical step before consecrating the bread and wine to be shared. The ritual remains in our Mass of today as a symbolic washing with a prayer that the priest says for interior purification, “Wash me, O Lord, from my inequity and cleanse me from my sin.” It is a prayer that we can pray with him in our hearts to help prepare to receive the Bread of Life, and the Cup of Salvation. Presider: Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father. All: May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands For the praise and glory of his name, For our good and the good of all his holy church. Everything we experience at Mass can be summed up in this invitation to prayer that the people say. Eucharistic Prayer This is a great prayer of praise and thanks. While the words are different in the 13 different eucharistic prayers, the underlying structure is the same. Each eucharistic prayer acknowledges our need to give thanks to God, offers the bread and wine, asks God to send the Holy Spirit to transform the bread and the wine into the very presence of Christ, and intercedes on behalf of the church, the world, the poor, and those who have gone before us. The eucharistic prayers are based on prayers that we have had in our tradition since the earliest years of the church, as well as more recent prayers. In a very real way, everything that we have done at Mass before this point, has prepared us to enter into this great prayer. The Lord’s Prayer This is the prayer that unites all Christians, the prayer that Christ gave us. Before we share in the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation, we recognize that our daily bread comes from God. Sign of Peace In this ritual sharing of Christ’s peace we use the first words of Jesus after the resurrection: “Peace be with you.” Once we have received Christ’s peace (not just a kind greeting) then we are prepared to receive the fullness of Christ in the Eucharist. Presider: The peace of the Lord be with you always. All: And with your spirit. Presider: Let us offer each other the sign of peace. (The participants share the sign of Christ’s peace.) Communion Rite Once more, we enter into a procession. All processions are outward, physical symbols of inward and spiritual realities. Each one of us, in our own faith lives, is on a procession. Our whole life is one great procession — one great journey — to heaven and to the Father. So now, as we move forward to receive Holy Communion, we are more than simply “in line.” We are in another procession that is a symbol of our pilgrimage to the Heavenly Banquet. As we reach the priest or the extraordinary minister, we are presented with the Eucharist in the very simplest of words: “The Body of Christ.” This most awesome mystery, the very presence of Christ Jesus, given for our lives, and for the life of the world, demands a response from each one of us. And so we respond, “Amen,” another Hebrew word that means, “Yes,” or “So be it.” Similarly, we are presented with the chalice with the words, “The Blood of Christ,” and again we respond with a strong “Amen!” The Eucharist is the spiritual and sacramental nourishment for our life journey. As the Lord fed his chosen people with manna from heaven, so too does he feed us with this Bread from Heaven. As the two disciples at Emmaus recognized the presence of the Lord in the breaking of the bread, so too do we recognize the presence of Christ in our midst, feeding us with his very Body and Blood. When all have received Holy Communion, the priest prays a prayer of thanks, which brings the Liturgy of the Eucharist to a close. CONCLUDING RITES Blessing and Sending Once we have received Holy Communion, there is very little for us to do before we are sent to take the Eucharist — in so many different ways — out into the world. Remember, the Mass is one great prayer. Just as we began it by marking ourselves with the cross of Christ, so now, at the conclusion of the Mass, we do the same. This time, we mark ourselves as we receive the final blessing. The final part of the Mass, the concluding rite, is actually the shortest part. It consists of a blessing and a dismissal — a sending out. We have what we need: The Eucharist. Now we are charged to be Eucharist in every other part of our lives — in our family life, in our work life, in our neighborhood life. We are sent to be the Body of Christ in the World. Presider: “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” or: “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” (You can’t miss the mission that we are given!) All: Thanks be to God.