Lord, who at your first Eucharist did pray
That all your Church might be for ever one,
Grant us at every Eucharist to say
With longing heart and soul, “Your will be done.”
O may we all one bread, one body be,
Through this blest Sacrament of Unity
For all your Church, O Lord, we intercede;
O make our lack of charity to cease;
Draw us the nearer each to each, we plead,
By drawing all to you, O Prince of Peace;
Thus may we all one bread, one body be,
Through this blest Sacrament of Unity.
We pray then, too, for wand’rers from your fold;
O bring them back, good Shepherd of the sheep,
Back to the faith which saints believed of old,
Back to the Church which still that faith does keep;
Soon may we all one bread, one body be,
Through this blest Sacrament of Unity.
So, Lord, at length when sacraments shall cease,
May we be one with all your Church above,
One with your saints in one unending peace,
One with your saints in one unbounded love;
More blessed still in peace and love to be
One with the Trinity in Unity.
Morning Hymn, on the Feast of Corpus Christi
This hymn, read before mass, set me in the mood for today’s feast. At mass, the readings recalled Melchizedek and how he blessed Abram, who had offered his son Isaac’s life to God the Father (Gn 14:18-20). They then recalled the Last Supper, and the bread and wine offered by Jesus, as He would later offer His own life to the Father (Cor 11:23-26). And finally, the gospel recalled the feeding of the 5000 with the loaves of bread, and: “They all ate and were satisfied.” (Lk 9:11-13).
The feast of Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Eucharist, our Communion, where at every mass, we all eat and are satisfied.
For this great gift, we celebrate today.
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.
(Sequence: Lauda Sion)
I am the bread of Life, he who eats of this bread will live forever. (Jn 6)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Thanks for the link, Jaroslaw. I was aware of much of their background materials, but other links they provided were also interesting -- although I was a bit put off by their comment that we are mostly celebrating our piety this day. Not in my parish we weren't. Perhaps we are an exception, but the Eucharist is an integral part of our parish life, and I would venture to say that we are far above the oft-quoted "only 30% believe" statistic.
ReplyDeleteWe've had 24/7 adoration as long as we've had the church, and have no problem filling the hourly slots with two people from our small parish family -- with lots of drop-in visitors, even during the late night hours.
Myself, I live for my quiet time with Jesus, and look forward to our eternal time together. I have to stifle myself to not pity those who believe themselves to be great thinkers and searchers, who only search the depths of the physical world, when there is so much more to be learned and marveled at in the meta-physical world. God's creation is just a tiny fraction of Who He is, and I want to know Him. The Eucharist is a great point of learning.