The dialogue begins

Lex orandi, lex credendi: the law of prayer is the law of belief.  This ancient credo is still true today, and bears witness when we consider that the prayers we utter have the power to transform us, and to provide wisdom and guidance for those who seek.

In the first part of my reflections on the Eucharistic prayer, particularly the responses of the people which belong properly to the Preface, there is food for thought about how we are called to be examples of faith for our young and for all those who challenge us to be the best, most faith-filled people we can be.

Listen in or just keep reading to find out more:

For the children

Five hundred young women were here for Mass on Wednesday of this past week, all of them students at Marymount Academy.  When we were ready to begin the liturgy, I explained to them that all Catholic churches in English-speaking parts of the world are currently preparing for some revisions to the texts we use for Mass.  I pointed out that we have provided cards in all our pews with responses for the people, and I invited them to follow along as the Mass continued.

It wasn’t all that long ago that I myself was in their place, a student filled with dreams hopes and expectations.  One thing is sure though: the world in which our young people are growing up today is very different from the world in which many of us did, even just a few years ago.  Where once we may have taken it for granted that our children were familiar with routines such as regular attendance at Sunday Mass and the recital of Grace before meals, in many situations today, these habits cannot be presumed.  More and more, it would seem that prayer has been relegated to the domain of private space, but faith is nourished by both private and public prayer.  Faced with the challenge of competition from modern-day society, perhaps even more than ever before, we have a responsibility to be visible and faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, for we have been called by name by one who we did not know.

 

Each day, Christ tries to show and tell us how much he loves us. If we hear his voice, his words resound at the depth of our being.  In fact they beg to be proclaimed for all to hear.  The question is Do we want to hear his voice?  Are we truly listening for it, or are we content to abdicate the responsibility that is ours, preferring to believe that our lives and our destinies are in the hands of a culture that speaks a different gospel?  If we answer yes to the first two of these inquiries, then we have begun to understand the meaning of true discipleship, but while we look to Him to be our strength, we must also be willing to accept the responsibility of evangelizing the world around us.  This was the task entrusted to the first apostles, to our parents, and to their parents before them.  It is the task now passed on to all of us, for the sake of the children and the young adults who are in our homes and in our schools.

Good disciples are good citizens.  None of us present here today would expect to be free of property taxes, or rent payments for the places we call home.  We don’t even think twice about paying the HST on purchases of goods and services.  Give to Caesar, the things that are Caesars.  Jesus’ teaching in today’s gospel is clear, but there’s a second part to this teaching: Give to God the things that are God’s.  Perhaps the most important work that any Christian can hope to accomplish in this life is to find the balance between these two responsibilities.  Living as responsible citizens and good stewards is one way that we can provide an example for our children, and for our neighbours.  We also provide good example for our young and for those who look up to us when we understand and appreciate the gift of our faith and celebrate it well.

The entire liturgy of the Eucharist is an act of thanksgiving to God for all that we receive from Him.  In particular, as we listen to and recite the words of the preface, the first part of this prayer, we enter into a conversation with God, not unlike a dialogue we may have with a friend.  In today’s second reading, Paul greeted his friends at Thessalonica warmly: Grace to you and peace.  Likewise, when we begin the Eucharistic Prayer, the first words spoken are a greeting between the priest and the congregation: The Lord be with you … and with your spirit.  Since the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life, the priest then invites: Lift up your hearts. In other words, Give unto God the things that are God’s and the assembly responds in joyful agreement, We lift them up to the Lord.  With these words, we acknowledge that all we have is a gift from God.  Therefore, when the priest continues: Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God, the people acknowledge that it is right and just.  The priest then speaks on behalf of the gathered community, expressing a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God which ends with an invitation for all those present to unite our voices as we recite or sing together the angelic hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.  Heaven and earth are full of your glory.  Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.

The Eucharistic Prayer is indeed the prayer of God’s people.  Its words are uttered with ever growing conviction as we come to understand them.  What’s more, if we allow these words to truly permeate our hearts, and to find a home there, they have the power to transform us, to help us listen more attentively for the voice of Him who calls us by name.  What better gift than this ability to listen, and to respond in faith, can we offer to our children?