Thursday, June 14, 2007

A Gift from the Year of the Eucharist


J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R.*

Prayer before Jesus Christ
in the Eucharist


1. God our Father, we believe that you are the creator of all things and that you have made us for yourself close to the face of your Son, who was born of the Virgin Mary by the work of the Holy Spirit, to be our means and guarantee of eternal life.

2. We believe, provident Father, that by the power of your Spirit bread and wine become transformed into the body and blood of your Son, the finest wheat that eases the hungers of our journey.

3. We believe, Lord Jesus, that your Incarnation is continued in the wheat-grain of your Eucharistic body, in order to nourish our yearning for light and life, love and forgiveness, grace and salvation.

4. We believe that in the Eucharist you inserted yourself into history in order to sustain pilgrims in their weakness and all who dream to reap the fruits of their toil. We know that at Bethlehem, the “house of Bread,” the eternal Father prepared in the womb of the Virgin Mary the Bread that he offers those hungering for the infinite.

5. We believe, Jesus in the Eucharist, that you are really and truly present in the consecrated bread and wine, extending your saving presence and offering to your flock abundant pastures and fresh water.

6. We believe that eyes are deceived in seeing bread and our tongue mistaken in tasting wine, because it is all your entire self offered in sacrifice and giving life to the world, paradise for which it is always starved.

7. That night in the Cenacle, Lord, in taking bread and wine in your hands, you offered these gifts to all for all time and infinite ages.

8. With you, Lamb of the Covenant, there is raised up on every altar on which you offer yourself to the Father, the fruits of the earth and the work of human hands, the life of the believer, the doubt of the seeker, the laughter of children, the plans of youth, the pain of those who suffer and the offering of the giver and the one who gives himself to his brethren.

9. We believe, Lord Jesus, that your goodness has prepared a table for the great and little ones, and that at your table we become brothers and sisters by giving our lives for one another, as you did for us.

10. We believe, Jesus, that on the altar of your sacrifice, we receive strength for our weak flesh, which does not always respond to the yearnings of the spirit, but which you will transform into the image of your body.

11. We believe that at the table prepared for all, there will always be a place for those who seek, room for those at the fringes of our society, the signs of death being overcome, a new heaven and a new earth opening up.

12. We believe, Jesus, that you have not deserted your brethren, you remain discretely present in the sanctuary of conscience and in the bread and wine of your table, as light and strength for the weak pilgrim.

13. We believe, indeed, that at the dawn of the Third Millennium you make yourself a companion for our journey.“Put out into the deep” is the mandate at this moment to your Church, so that, filled with hope, it takes a new step forward in history.

14. Thank you, Jesus in the Eucharist, for impelling us to undertake a new evangelization strengthened by you. May your Mother accompany those who are willing to live and announce your word, and, through her intercession, bring its seed to fruition.


Amen.



Sincerely yours in Jesus and Mary I am,
Mike Rizzio, SOLT


Imitate Mary
Become like Jesus
Live for the Triune God

Seek the Light of Our Lord Jesus Christ
See you on the High Ground!


* - J.M.J. + O.B.T. + M.G.R. stands for: Jesus, Mary and Joseph;
O Beata Trinitas; Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel and Saint Raphael






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