Tag: Eucharist

10 min read

Church Seasons and Feasts

Celebrating Corpus Christi

Michael R. Heinlein

June 19, 2022 7:00 am June 19, 2022

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10 min read

The fact that the Church celebrates the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ makes good sense, given the Eucharist’s centrality in the life of the Church,…

The fact that the Church celebrates the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ makes good sense, given the Eucharist’s centrality in the life of the Church, neatly described by the Catechism of the Catholic Church as the “sum and summary of our faith” (No. 1327). And there’s the Second Vatican Council’s famous reiteration of this reality in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, calling the Eucharist the “source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen Gentium, No. 11). These truths about the Eucharist seem to be at the heart of why the medieval saint Juliana of Liège was moved to guide the Church toward celebrating this yearly solemnity, more commonly known as Corpus Christi.

Historical Background

St. Juliana, a little-known Norbertine canoness from modern-day Belgium, spent much of her life advocating for a feast to honor and celebrate Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist and all the meaning it holds for the Church. St. Juliana was prompted to advocate for the feast in response to not only her own personal devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, but also in response to private revelations.

Interpreted later, in consultation with spiritual guides, the visions of St. Juliana that began when she was 16 years old indicated the necessity of a liturgical feast in honor of the sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood. Given the culture of the early 13th century, she felt there was nothing she could do about instituting such a feast. However, she had confided in two individuals, other than a few members of her monastery, about the visions — both of whom proved to be helpful in bringing its establishment to fruition.

The young monk who served as St. Juliana’s confessor, John of Lausanne, collaborated with her to compose an office by which to celebrate this divinely inspired liturgical feast. Eventually their diocesan bishop approved the texts and authorized its celebration in his diocese in 1246.

Bl. Eva of Liège, an anchoress attached to the parish attended by St. Juliana and one of her confidantes, was instrumental in bringing the feast beyond its provincial origins after St. Juliana’s death. Bl. Eva had contacted Pope Urban IV with the request to celebrate the feast throughout the universal Church. The future pope originally was a priest of Liège and already had been familiar with St. Juliana’s visions and their meaning. And so, it seemed, the hand of providence was behind the pope’s 1264 declaration of the solemnity of Corpus Christi — the first universal feast to be imposed obligatorily by a pope. He assigned papal theologian St. Thomas Aquinas to compose new liturgical texts for the feast. This promulgation came at a time when scholastics debated the corporeality of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, chief among the defenders of which was St. Thomas, who supplied the philosophical backbone of the Church’s Eucharistic doctrine by defining transubstantiation.

Many of the original texts for Corpus Christi composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, including Adoro te Devote, remain an essential part of the Church’s sacred hymnography. The Pange Lingua, for example, is often sung during the Eucharistic procession after the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, to which the last two stanzas are referred separately as Tantum ergo and sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Eucharistic Processions

One of the key liturgical facets of Corpus Christi is its procession. Of course, processions have great biblical, liturgical and popular pietistic importance. In the Old Testament, think of the processions with the Ark of the Covenant, or the innumerable accounts of festal pilgrimage processions to Jerusalem — praising God with music and dance — of which the Psalms speak. Or in the New Testament, think of the procession of Christ through those first Palm Sunday crowds who shouted his praises. Processions of the faithful enable Christians to give public witness to their faith, give glory to God, and they symbolize our earthly pilgrimage to the heavenly Jerusalem.

Eucharistic processions began shortly after the institution of the solemnity of Corpus Christi. Often splendid and regal, the practice was encouraged by the Council of Trent so as to reiterate the Church’s belief in the real presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

The medieval Eucharistic processions on Corpus Christi were grand and stately affairs, involving entire towns and cities. They were particularly glorious in European Catholic monarchies, where sovereigns and nobility, other civic officials and military guards took part. The faithful knelt in place outside their homes as the procession came by. This is still seen today in the few vestiges of Catholic monarchy, such as in the Principality of Monaco, where the prince and members of his family kneel in adoration on the Galerie Hercule of the Prince’s Palais during the Corpus Christi procession led by their archbishop.

In recent decades, a papal celebration of Corpus Christi winds its way through the streets of Rome to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, after the Mass at the pope’s cathedral — the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Pope St. John Paul II restored this custom early in his pontificate. As cardinal archbishop of Kraków the future pope was known to clash with Communist leaders as he sought to restore the full Corpus Christi processions known in Poland in his youth.

St. John Paul said of Eucharistic processions: “Our faith in the God who took flesh in order to become our companion along the way needs to be everywhere proclaimed, especially in our streets and homes, as an expression of our grateful love and as an inexhaustible source of blessings” (Mane Nobiscum Domine, No. 18). And, Pope Benedict XVI said, Corpus Christi processions allow us to “immerse [Christ], so to speak, in the daily routine of our lives, so that he may walk where we walk and live where we live.”

Parish Celebrations Today

The practice of Eucharistic processions are encouraged today. They provide us with, as Pope Benedict said, “a renewal of the mystery of Holy Thursday, as it were, in obedience to Jesus’ invitation to proclaim from ‘the housetops’ what he told us in secret (see Mt 10:27).” Many parishes continue this venerable tradition in a variety of different ways. When parish churches are in a residential area, perhaps altars are set up, adorned with flowers and candles in front of homes, for the faithful to stop and adore the Eucharistic Lord along the procession route. In cities, the processions may stretch blocks, or in some cases even a mile or more — likely concluding at a different church.

While the Roman Missal gives little information about the Corpus Christi procession, the Ceremonial of Bishops sheds more light as it aims to provide bishops and their clergy with a model for its organization, etc.

The Ceremonial provides information about the organization of the procession, including the order of the ministers. The directives leave room for creativity and expression of the local community’s culture and customs. Many parishes choose to include particular groups and associations of the faithful in their processions, which is especially illustrative of many parts of and gifts found in the mystical Body of Christ. Groups often included are the choir, fraternal organizations such as the Knights of Columbus or, perhaps, those who recently received their first holy Communion. It’s typical for liturgical accoutrement, such as a canopy, to be held over the sacred minister as he carries the monstrance, or there could be lit torches alongside of him to accompany the Blessed Sacrament. Bells may be used or flowers may be spread along the path the Lord travels. While a procession can be anywhere between simple and elaborate, it is key to remember that properly trained volunteers and organization are needed.

During the procession, hymns of praise and thanksgiving or a simple chant are typical, although litanies and other prayers like the Rosary may be integrated. The Ceremonial of Bishops envisions the procession to be most fitting when going from one church to another, and, while that might not always be possible or practical, the procession should properly end with Benediction before reposing the Blessed Sacrament.

The solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ and its Eucharistic procession give us, as Pope Francis notes, “the joy not only of celebrating” the glorious mystery of the Eucharist, “but also of praising him and singing in the streets of our city.” They allow us to “express our gratitude for … nourishing us with his love through the Sacrament of his Body and the Blood.”

Corpus Christi Sequence

One of the hymns composed originally by St. Thomas Aquinas for the liturgical celebration of the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is Lauda Sion. In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, although optional, it remains liturgically as a sequence recited or sung after the second reading at Mass. Since it is lengthy, the Lectionary provides for the following shortened portion of it to be used:

Lo! the angel’s food is given
To the pilgrim who has striven;
see the children’s bread from heaven,
which on dogs may not be spent.

Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
Isaac bound, a victim willing,
Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
manna to the fathers sent.

Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
Jesu, of your love befriend us,
You refresh us, you defend us,
Your eternal goodness send us
In the land of life to see.

You who all things can and know,
Who on earth such food bestow,
Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
Where the heav’nly feast you show,
Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.

Source: Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition

Moving the Feast

The solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ was originally fixed to the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, and still is in many countries. However, in 1969, Pope St. Paul VI gave episcopal conferences the option to transfer the feast to the following Sunday, and that option is currently practiced in the United States in the calendar for the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The significance of this solemnity in the life of the Church is evidenced in Canon 395 of the Code of Canon Law, which states that in addition to Christmas, Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost, the diocesan bishop is to be present in his diocese for its celebration, “except for a grave and urgent cause.”

Michael R. Heinlein is editor of Simply Catholic. Follow him on Twitter@HeinleinMichael. This article originally appeared in The Priest magazine.

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3 min read

Sacraments

Where Should the Tabernacle Be?

Father Francis Hoffman

June 7, 2022 3:10 pm June 7, 2022

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3 min read

Both the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the 1983 Code of Canon Law, as well as the constant Tradition of the Church, affirm that the Eucharist is the “source…

Both the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the 1983 Code of Canon Law, as well as the constant Tradition of the Church, affirm that the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life” and “all the works of the apostolate are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it.” Accordingly, Church regulations pertaining to the holy Eucharist call us to hold the Blessed Sacrament in the highest honor and give it the greatest care. A review of the documents regulating the tabernacle renders the following:

Code of Canon Law (1983): “The tabernacle in which the blessed Eucharist is reserved should be sited in a distinguished place in the church or oratory, a place which is conspicuous, suitably adorned and conducive to prayer.

“The tabernacle in which the blessed Eucharist is habitually reserved is to be immovable, made of solid and non-transparent material, and so locked as to give the greatest security against any danger of profanation. . . .

“The person in charge of a church or oratory is to see to it that the key of the tabernacle in which the blessed Eucharist is reserved is in maximum safekeeping” (Canon 938).

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal: “In accordance with the structure of each church and legitimate local customs, the Most Blessed Sacrament should be reserved in a tabernacle in a part of the church that is truly noble, prominent, conspicuous, worthily decorated, and suitable for prayer.

“The tabernacle should usually be the only one, be irremovable, be made of solid and inviolable material that is not transparent, and be locked in such a way that the danger of profanation is prevented to the greatest extent possible. Moreover, it is appropriate that before it is put into liturgical use, the tabernacle be blessed according to the rite described in the Roman Ritual.

“It is more appropriate as a sign that on an altar on which Mass is celebrated there not be a tabernacle in which the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved. Consequently, it is preferable that the tabernacle be located, according to the judgment of the Diocesan Bishop:

“a) either in the sanctuary, apart from the altar of celebration, in an appropriate form and place, not excluding its being positioned on an old altar no longer used for celebration (cf. No. 303);

“b) or even in some chapel suitable for the private adoration and prayer of the faithful and organically connected to the church and readily noticeable by the Christian faithful” (Nos. 314-315).

Redemptionis Sacramentum (instruction from the Vatican in 2004): “The Most Holy Sacrament is to be reserved in a tabernacle in a part of the church that is noble, prominent, readily visible, and adorned in a dignified manner and furthermore ‘suitable for prayer’ by reason of the quietness of the location, the space available in front of the tabernacle, and also the supply of benches or seats and kneelers. In addition, diligent attention should be paid to all the prescriptions of the liturgical books and to the norm of law, especially as regards the avoidance of the danger of profanation” (No. 130).

In summary, as stated above, there are three recurring themes regarding the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle: visibility, security and beauty. These are the challenges — and opportunities — that both architect and liturgist must face in the design of any sacred space for Catholic liturgy.

Rev. Francis Hoffman, J.C.D., is Executive Director of Relevant Radio. Follow him on his Facebook page “Father Rocky.”

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1 min read

Sacraments

Communion More Than Once A Day?

Father Reginald Martin

June 7, 2022 8:07 am June 7, 2022

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1 min read

The Church’s Code of Canon Law (updated in 1983) allows the faithful to receive communion twice in the same day, provided they attend the Mass at which they receive the…

The Church’s Code of Canon Law (updated in 1983) allows the faithful to receive communion twice in the same day, provided they attend the Mass at which they receive the Eucharist. Thus an individual may receive Communion at a daily Mass, and again at a wedding, funeral or other ritual (see Canon 917).

Insisting an individual attend the Mass at which she or he receives Communion stresses the communal aspect of the Eucharist. At Mass, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, “we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy” (No. 1326). We also unite ourselves with other members of Christ’s Body. The rule also discourages overzealous or superstitious souls from wandering from church to church and taking part in no more of the Mass than the Communion rite.

Deacons who assist at more than two Masses must excuse themselves from receiving Communion after the second, but the law does not apply to the dying, and states, “The Christian faithful who are in danger of death, arising from any cause, are to be nourished by holy Communion in the form of viaticum. Even if they have received Communion in the same day [they] are strongly urged to receive again” (Canon 921).

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3 min read

Sacraments

Why Do Catholics Believe in the Real Presence?

Carl Olson

June 5, 2022 2:07 pm June 5, 2022

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3 min read

As a fundamentalist, and later as an evangelical, I took it for granted that the Catholic Church held to the most un-biblical, illogical and offensive beliefs about the Eucharist. But…

As a fundamentalist, and later as an evangelical, I took it for granted that the Catholic Church held to the most un-biblical, illogical and offensive beliefs about the Eucharist.

But there came a point when I began to wonder, “What do Catholics believe about the Eucharist?” This meant taking Catholic doctrine seriously, rather than mindlessly repeating anti-Catholic rhetoric from questionable sources.

I discovered that Irenaeus of Lyons, writing in the second century, stated, “Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking” (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1327). I read Lumen Gentium, the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, which described the Eucharist as “the source and summit of the Christian life” (No. 11). And I saw that the Council of Trent had declared that “in the blessed sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, after the consecration of the bread and wine, our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, is truly, really, and substantially contained under the appearances of those perceivable realities” (Thirteenth Session, ch. 1).

So, I wondered, “Why do Catholics believe in the Real Presence?” I quickly learned the reasons are many and interrelated, but can be generally described as biblical, historical and theological. The biblical reasons were of primary interest to me and came in large part from the nagging suspicion that Jesus’ insistent, shocking words “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (Jn 6:55) were not metaphorical at all, as I believed as a Protestant. The larger context of John 6 — during the Passover (see v. 4) — and the striking escalation in Jesus’ teaching about His identity and the need to eat His flesh and drink His blood pointed to something far deeper, unsettling and astounding.

If Jesus had allowed some disciples to depart over a misunderstanding regarding metaphors (see Jn 6:66), what sort of teacher and Savior would He be? If the apostle John, writing his Gospel in the late first century, also failed to clarify Jesus’ intentions, what sort of apostle and Evangelist was he? And did it make sense that the Old Covenant could boast of manna — physical food given by miraculous means — but the New Covenant had a physical symbol only? No, it didn’t. In addition, the Catholic (and Orthodox) belief in the Sacrament of the Eucharist helped make sense of other passages of Scripture, such as Jesus’ words at the Last Supper — “Take and eat; this is my body” (Mt 26:26) — and St. Paul’s warning to the Christians at Corinth that “whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:27).

While the biblical evidence cracked the door, the historical evidence blew it open. I recall rather vividly standing in a bookstore reading a passage written by St. Ignatius of Antioch that was penned around A.D. 107, which renounced the Docetist heretics because “they abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ” (Letter to Smyrna, No. 7). Many other passages from many other writers followed, written over many centuries, each professing the same belief that the Eucharist is the true Body, Blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. In fact, no orthodox Christian interpreted the words of Jesus and Paul about the Eucharist in a metaphorical fashion until a thousand years after they were written.

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1 min read

Sacraments

How long is a person supposed to fast before Communion?

Father Francis Hoffman

May 23, 2022 7:12 am May 23, 2022

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The Church asks us to fast for one hour before Communion, but there are no indications of how long to fast after Communion. Growing up, I was taught that the…

The Church asks us to fast for one hour before Communion, but there are no indications of how long to fast after Communion. Growing up, I was taught that the “species” of the holy Eucharist remains in us (in our stomach) for 10 to 15 minutes until digested; for that reason, pious common sense suggests not eating or drinking for 10 to 15 minutes after holy Communion. Here is what the Code of Canon Law states: “A person who is to receive the Most Holy Eucharist is to abstain for at least one hour before holy communion from any food and drink, except for only water and medicine.

“A priest who celebrates the Most Holy Eucharist two or three times on the same day can take something before the second or third celebration even if there is less than one hour between them.

“The elderly, the infirm, and those who care for them can receive the Most Holy Eucharist even if they have eaten something within the preceding hour” (Canon 919).

Rev. Francis Hoffman, J.C.D., Executive Director of Relevant Radio. Follow him on his Facebook page “Father Rocky.”

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11 min read

Environment

Eucharist and Ecology

Msgr. Paul McPartlan

March 29, 2022 7:00 am March 29, 2022

11 min read

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11 min read

“Everything is connected,” Pope Francis tells us in his 2015 encyclical letter on ecology, Laudato Si’ (see No. 91). In particular, as Pope Benedict XVI had said in 2007, caring…

“Everything is connected,” Pope Francis tells us in his 2015 encyclical letter on ecology, Laudato Si’ (see No. 91).

In particular, as Pope Benedict XVI had said in 2007, caring for the earth and caring for one another go together. He called them the “ecology of nature” and “human ecology,” and made a further connection, too: “There is an inseparable link between peace with creation and peace among men. Both of these presuppose peace with God” (Message for the World Day of Peace 2007, No. 8).

We’re becoming more and more aware that something has gone wrong in our relationship with creation — that is what we mean when we talk of an ecological or environmental crisis. And we’ve known for a long time that something has gone wrong in our human relations with one another — that is why there are so many conflicts in society and in the world at large. As Christians, we believe that something went wrong in humanity’s relationship with God at a very early stage — that’s what we call original sin. All of those problems are connected.

The Bible shows us the link very clearly. After the sin in the Garden of Eden, dramatized as Adam and Eve eating the fruit that God forbade them to eat, they hide from God and make clothes to cover their embarrassment with each other at being naked. Then God says to Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you!” (Gn 3:17). It seems that the relationship of Adam and Eve with God, with one another and with the earth have all been broken simultaneously. Why? Because it’s God’s love that holds everything together, and when Adam and Eve defy God and reject His love, everything falls apart around them.

Spiritual Answers

That means that the ecological problem needs a deep spiritual answer, not just a bit of conservation and recycling to solve it. We must renew our love for God if our broken relationships with one another and with creation are to be repaired.

Pope Francis tells us how we need to see things: “We human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth” (Laudato Si’, No. 92). Those words remind us of the famous “Canticle of Creation” composed by St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis’ patron. St. Francis thanks God for all the wonders of creation, and the opening words of the canticle are Laudato Si’, “Praise be to you, my Lord.”

It is sometimes said that Christians bear some responsibility for the damage to creation because, as recounted in the Book of Genesis, God says to Adam and Eve, “Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth” (Gn 1:28). Over the years, some may have regarded these words as a license to exploit creation, but when seen in context that cannot be their true meaning. The verse immediately before that says that God created Adam and Eve in His own image. The dominion that is given to them must be intended as an image of God’s dominion. They are intended to be God’s own representatives in the midst of the creation that He made and loves and delights in. If God found everything He made “very good,” it cannot be that He gave human beings permission to spoil it! Instead, our proper task is to look after it, care for it and nurture it on his behalf.

Having rejected God, we human beings have a sinful tendency to think that everything exists just for our own benefit, so we use creation greedily and selfishly, and St. Paul said that creation groans as a result. Creation waits, he said, “with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God” (Rom 8:19). True children of God will treat creation properly, but sinful children harm it.

Now, there is no truer child of God than Jesus, God’s own Son who came to save us from sin and to save the whole world from the effects of sin. St. Paul recognized Jesus as a second Adam, sent to remedy the faults of the first Adam (see 1 Cor 15:21-22,45-49), and the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World said that Jesus not only reveals God to us, but also reveals us to ourselves (see Gaudium et Spes, No. 22). Being true man as well as true God, He shows us how human life is meant to be lived. We are all made in the image of God, but He is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). In every way, we need to learn from Him and ask His help.

Jesus had a remarkable relationship with creation: He calmed the storm (see Mt 8:23-27), multiplied the loaves and the fish to feed the five thousand (Mt 14:13-21), opened the eyes of the blind (Jn 9:1-7), helped the crippled man to walk (Mt 9:2-8) and performed countless other miracles. It seems that creation was responsive to Him, at peace with Him, its brokenness was mended, and it even became abundant in His hands, the hands of the second Adam, the true child of God, the true image of God.

At the Last Supper Jesus took bread and wine into His hands, and all of the accounts tell us that He gave thanks to God for them. Unlike human beings, who take things without any thankfulness to God, He was full of thanks and praise, and the bread and wine were transformed by His act of thankfulness. They became His own body and blood. Instead of groaning, they rejoiced. They were fulfilled in His hands. Pope Francis says that in the Eucharist “all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation.… Joined to the incarnate Son, present in the Eucharist, the whole cosmos gives thanks to God. Indeed the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love” (Laudato Si’,No. 236).

Jesus said to His disciples, “Do this in memory of me.” Do we ever think that among the many lessons He was teaching us at that moment one of them was how to treat creation? Handle it with love and thanksgiving, not with violence and greed!

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In every Mass, Jesus is among us. The priest represents Him offering up His one sacrifice as our true priest. Jesus offers himself and the whole of creation to God with joy and thanksgiving, and we join in His offering. We offer ourselves and all of our work in the world to God “through Him and with Him and in Him.”

That’s the significance of the procession with the bread and the wine to the altar. We identify them as “fruit of the earth (fruit of the vine), and work of human hands.” We’re bringing samples and symbols of all of our work on God’s earth, and the priest prays in our name: “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread (wine) we offer you.” These words show the full dimensions of what is happening, which we so easily forget. The Mass is not just about Jesus and me as an individual, nor even about Jesus and us as a community; it’s about humanity and the whole of creation being taken up to God in and through the loving sacrifice of Christ. It’s “an act of cosmic love”!

Jesus unites us once again with God and with one another and with all that God has made. All that was broken and scattered is gathered and reconnected in Him. So, Jesus himself is the answer to the ecological crisis. St. Paul tells us that God’s plan is to unite “all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth” (Eph 1:10), and that everything is reconciled with God through the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross (see Col 1:20). That one sacrifice is present in every Mass, a sacrifice of thanksgiving — that’s why we also use the word “Eucharist,” which means “thanksgiving” — and powerful ripples of thanksgiving should spread outward from the Mass into our lives and through us into the world itself.

Thankfulness

The prayers of the Mass teach us to be thankful: “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ Our Lord.” Giving thanks to God “always and everywhere” through Jesus Christ is the path to salvation! And to help us do that Jesus gives himself to us in every Mass. We actually receive Jesus and His own thanksgiving into our hearts and souls in holy Communion, and we then need to put thanksgiving into practice day by day. Grace before and after meals is a particular echo of the Mass, and what could be more appropriate than a morning offering giving thanks for each new day and asking God to help us to use it well, and special prayers when we embark on a new venture, involving the use of resources God has generously given us?

“In all circumstances give thanks” (1 Thes 5:18), St. Paul tells us, because nothing at all can “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39). At all times, good and bad, thankfulness comes from being aware that we are never alone, and that Jesus is with us. Offering everything up to God, especially trials and sufferings, is another precious way to live every moment in the very spirit of the Mass. Consciously bringing our lives and our plans, our work and our worries to Mass, and placing them on the altar together with the gifts of bread and wine is the way to unite our whole lives to the liturgy and the world itself to the sacrifice of Christ.

Sometimes it’s the most obvious things that we fail to see. In this case, the Church is asking us to reflect on the fact that our most sacred act, the Mass, is conducted with bread and wine. By bringing those gifts to the altar to be offered to God, we’re acknowledging that all of creation has been given to us by God; we are saying thank you; we are acknowledging that we’re not masters of the earth, it’s God’s earth and we’re his servants; and we are asking Jesus to feed us and teach us how to live as true and faithful children of God.

We will never fully understand the riches of the Mass. We keep learning and making new discoveries. The ecological crisis prompts us to see links between the Mass and all that God has made. Deep down, the ecological crisis is a spiritual crisis, and the Mass is the key to our response as Catholics. As Pope Francis says, the Eucharist is “a source of light and motivation for our concerns for the environment, directing us to be stewards of all creation” (Laudato Si’, No. 236).

Msgr. Paul McPartlan is a priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster (UK) and the Carl J. Peter Professor of Systematic Theology and Ecumenism at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

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