Through the Church the Holy Spirit is calling us to communion, participation and mission. As the holy People of God, we are called to walk together as a community in Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus’ work in the world.
As St. Paul says, we are “ambassadors for Christ,” called to the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5). Through the Liturgy of the Word and the work of the Holy Spirit, we come to see more clearly what our participation in the Christian community and in the world should look like.
But this is more than a call to action.
In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we are joined together “through Him, and with Him, and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,” so that we might become the Body of Christ at work in the world. In a certain sense, we are called to be communion for the world.
As St. John XXIII said, “The Christian is the eighth sacrament, the only one that non-Christians can receive.” By being who we are in Christ, we become a community of believers “‘of one heart and soul’ (Acts 4:32) establishing fellowship from every point of view: human, spiritual and material” (St. John Paul II, “Redemptoris Missio,” 26).
The Offertory of the Mass reminds us that God has given gifts to all of us, and by using these talents rightly as God would have us do, they can be transformed into a means of grace for the world. At each Mass, we pray: “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.” God has also blessed us with “the fruit of the vine and work of human hands” that become our spiritual drink. When we accept our gifts and then offer them to God to do His will, they become a means of grace that will feed a hungry world. Our world hungers for reconciliation and community, for peace and hope, for an end to hunger and the recognition of the dignity of all human life from conception to grave.
When the priest or deacon mixes the water into the wine, he prays: “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled Himself to share in our humanity.” This prayer anticipates what we pray in the Third Eucharistic Prayer: “Grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and
Blood of your Son and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ.” Note that I said, “we pray,” for though the priest leads the prayer and stands in the place of Christ, nonetheless as the Body of Christ we offer the Mass together and ratify the priest’s words with our amen. Note all of the uses of the word “we” in the Eucharistic Prayers: “we make humble petition,” “we offer,” “we ask,” “we pray,” “we celebrate” (Eucharistic Prayer I), “we celebrate,” “we offer,” “we pray” (Eucharistic Prayer II); “we implore,” “we offer,” “we are nourished,” “we rely,” “we hope” (Eucharistic Prayer III); “we give you praise,” “we pray,” “we celebrate,” “we remember,” “we proclaim” and “we offer” (Eucharistic Prayer IV).
As Cardinal Joseph Bernardin said about 25 years ago, “So this Eucharistic Prayer, too, is the work of the assembly. That must be clear in the way we pray it. … In every Eucharistic Prayer the whole assembly joins the proclamation of praise led by the priest. By singing the ‘Holy, holy,’ the Memorial Acclamation, and the ‘Amen,’ we claim the prayer as our own” (“Guide for the Assembly,” 57-58).
Vatican II’s “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy” notes, “Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful be led to that full, conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people’ (1 Peter 2:9; cf. 2:4-5), is their right and duty by reason of their baptism” (14).
Particularly, in the Eucharistic Liturgy, we learn who we are: a people transformed by grace into the Body of Christ for the life of the world. In the Communion Rite, we call on God, our Father, to help us bring the inbreaking of the Kingdom by our living out God’s will in the world. We greet one another with peace, asking for the grace to be reconciled with all and to become ambassadors of reconciliation in our families, communities, workplaces and the world.
We then approach the Eucharistic Table to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Before coming forward, we admit that “Lord, I am not worthy.” But God’s great love calls us to receive the one whose Paschal Mystery works to make us worthy, calling us to become what we receive: the Body of Christ. Only His love and grace can help us “to put on Christ,” as St. Paul loved to say. “By its union with Christ, the People of the New Covenant … becomes a ‘sacrament’ for humanity, a sign and instrument of salvation achieved by Christ, the light of the world and the salt of the earth (cf. Mt 5:13-16), for the redemption of all” (St. John Paul II, “On the Eucharist and Its Relationship to the Church,” 22).
Cardinal Bernardin put well the challenge of the Eucharist: “At this table we put aside every worldly separation based on culture, class, or other differences. Baptized, we no longer admit to distinctions based on age or sex or race or wealth. This communion is why all prejudice, all racism, all sexism, all deference to wealth and power must be banished from our parishes, our homes, and our lives. This communion is why we will not call enemies those who are human beings like ourselves. This communion is why we will not commit the world’s resources to an escalating arms race while the poor die. We cannot. Not when we have feasted on the ‘body broken’ and ‘blood poured out’ for the life of the world” (“Guide for the Assembly,” 70).
Having received the Eucharist, we then sit in silence for some moments to ponder the comfort and the challenge of the One we have received. Only grace can give us the eyes to see as Christ sees, a heart to love as Christ loves, and hands to carry out the Beatitudes and bring justice, reconciliation and peace into our world. The Post-Communion Prayer follows, and then we are blessed. We take that blessing to heart as we, as individuals and a community, are sent out on a mission to “announce the Gospel of the Lord,” to “go in peace,” and “to glorify the Lord by our lives.” United as a community and a communion in Christ, we are sent to participate in the mission of bringing the reign of God into every place, every structure and every people in the world.
“Now to Him who is able to accomplish far more than we can ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph 3:20-21).
Jesuit Father John Michalowski is the parochial vicar of St. Peter Church in Charlotte. This is the second of two commentaries on the Synod theme of “Communion, Participation and Mission.” Part 1 was published in the March 25 edition of the Catholic News Herald.