{"id":21036,"date":"2025-08-15T18:01:55","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T22:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stpeterstoronto.ca\/main\/?p=21036"},"modified":"2025-09-12T13:14:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T17:14:38","slug":"20th-sunday-ot-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stpeterstoronto.ca\/main\/2025\/08\/15\/20th-sunday-ot-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing Our Hearts for the Greatest Gift of All – A Summer Catechesis – Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DecorativeThe Gospel of Luke today continues the series of parables that we have been listening to these past few weeks with parables about what true discipleship is about and will entail. For the Church, the greatest treasure that it knows of is Christ and the eternal life that He has won for us through His life, death and resurrection. The Christian is to have so much confidence in Christ, and His victory over death, that we are to be willing to give everything to obtain that salvation. Today\u2019s Gospel passage tells us that we should not let even family and friends stand in the way of our relationship with Christ. However, because it is often difficult to remember that Christ has won salvation for us through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus has commanded us to celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday \u201cin remembrance\u201d of Him so that we may be strengthened to live our faith with the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.<\/p>\n

This Sunday, I will conclude the three-part homily on the Mass by speaking about the high point of the celebration of Mass, the Eucharistic Liturgy and the Dismissal Rites, which send us out into the world to bring to others the same Christ whom we have received in the Eucharist at Mass. Let\u2019s start with the Eucharistic Liturgy.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0 The Liturgy of the Eucharist:<\/strong><\/p>\n

i. The Offertory and the Preparation of the Gifts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

We left off last week with the conclusion of the Liturgy of the Word as the Prayers of the Faithful came to an end. The Eucharistic Liturgy begins with the Offertory and the Preparation of the Gifts. In the early Church, the person offering the Mass intention would provide the bread and wine for the Mass. Today, the collection is taken up to provide for the needs of the Church. This is needed to pay the staff that cares for the Church, the hydro, gas, taxes, insurance and many of the same costs that people have in their homes. Although it is a very unpopular way to participate in the Mass, helping your parish pay its expenses is a real obligation for the members of the community. This collection to support the Church is brought up with the bread and wine as a sign of what we hope to offer to God from the many blessings that He has given us. Such an offering is not intended to be the token five-dollar bill that so many give, but a real sign of our offering something back to God from the blessings that He has given us. A tangible and real sign of our thanks.<\/p>\n

As the bread and wine are brought forward, they are offered to God with a prayer that recognizes God as the giver of all the gifts that we have received. The prayer said by the priest follows the form of blessing spoken in ancient Jewish rites, as it proclaims: \u201cBlessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received this bread, this wine\u2026\u201d As the gifts are offered we are all invited to present the troubles and worries of our lives to the Lord that they may be transformed by the Body and Blood of Christ coming to us. Often this part is said silently during the Offertory Hymn. After the gifts are offered the priest bows and prays that the gifts that are offered may be accepted by God for the community. The gifts may be incensed at this time. The priest then washes his hands and prays that he will be worthy to offer the sacrifice. Once he has done that, he invites the entire community to pray that our sacrifice may be acceptable to God the Almighty Father. After the community responds: \u201cMay 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.\u201d What is offered by the priest, is for the whole community. The priest then concludes the offertory with the prayer over the gifts which asks God to accept the offering of the community. That offering is the bread and wine which will be transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ for the spiritual nourishment of the community gathered.<\/p>\n

ii. The Eucharistic Prayer:<\/strong><\/p>\n

a. The Preface:
\n<\/strong>The Eucharistic Prayer is the heart of the celebration. It recounts Christ\u2019s actions and words that He spoke when He instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper and commanded that we celebrate it in memory of Him. The Eucharistic Prayer begins with a Preface that sets the tone for the celebration. At a Jewish ritual meal, prayers known as the Kiddush Prayers are said to indicate the nature of the celebration. So too, the Preface sets the tone for the Eucharistic celebration. There are special Prefaces for different Solemnities, Sundays, Saints celebrations and occasions, like weddings and funerals. The Preface speaks about why we are gathering for a specific Sunday or event. It begins with the dialogue that we are all familiar with, in which we express the reason that the sacrifice is being offered. This dialogue begins with \u201cThe Lord be with you,\u201d and continues on to express the reason for our \u201cthanksgiving\u201d in the celebration of the Eucharist.<\/p>\n

b. The Sanctus:
\n<\/strong>The transition from the Preface into the text of the Eucharistic Prayer takes place through the signing of the\u00a0Sanctus<\/em>. This text which is often sung, proclaims the holiness of God and reminds us that at the Eucharist, we are coming into God\u2019s presence. It is made up of two texts from Scripture. The first from Isaiah 6:3 when Isaiah had a vision of God in Heaven surrounded by the angels calling out: \u201cHoly, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty: the whole earth is full of His glory.\u201d The second text is from Matthew 21:9 when the crowds welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. They shouted, \u201cBlessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.\u201d It anticipates the arrival of Christ on the altar in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. This was added to the Roman Rite in about the late fifth century.<\/p>\n

c. The Eucharistic Prayer Itself:
\n<\/strong>After the\u00a0Sanctus,\u00a0<\/em>we kneel for the praying of the Eucharistic Prayer. This is offered by the priest to the Father on Chris\u2019s behalf for the whole community. The priest acts for the whole community\u00a0in persona Christi<\/em>\u2014in the person of Christ. We should all be attentive to the words of the Eucharistic prayer and quietly pray along as it is offered. There are a number of different Eucharistic Prayers, but there are four main ones that are offered most frequently. Today, I will use the Third Eucharistic Prayer as the model for this discussion.<\/p>\n