Dear Parishioners, a team of Russians and Americans were on a common expedition. Among their cabin foodstuff was Russian black bread. It was tasty but hard on the teeth. It happened during a meal that an American bit into a piece and snapped a tooth. He threw the bread overboard and growled: “Lousy Communist bread.” The Russian countered: “Is not lousy communist bread; is rotten capitalist tooth!” If we do not experience the transforming power of the Eucharist, it is probably not on account of a lousy Eucharist but on account of our rotten faith.

The Eucharist is a mystery of faith seeing beyond appearances – this is why it is a sacrament. Through what we see, bread and wine, we gain access to things we do not see. Within the Eucharistic Prayer we proclaim our Mystery of Faith in one of the three formulas:

·   We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your resurrection until you come again.

·   When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again.

·   Save us Savior of the World, for by your cross and resurrection you have set us free.

The death and resurrection of Christ was the crude profession of faith in the early Church. In fact, it was the content of the early catechesis of the apostles who stood as witnesses to the event they preached. The Liturgy of the Word, which is the first part of the Eucharistic celebration, ends with the Profession of Faith and the Prayers of the Faithful. This formula of faith, (Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds) is a summary of the doctrine of the Church. It is also a good summary of the history of salvation.

During Mass there are some highpoints when we celebrate our faith in proclamation and exaltation like during the Gloria and the Sanctus. Other areas such as the Kyrie and the Lamb of God demand that we tune down our moods in a humble position because we are confessing the shortcomings of faith in us. Then the Our Father is the moment when together we pray the Prayer of Faith which Jesus taught his disciples, and which has been handed over to us. These may all be external manifestations of our faith, but the internal disposition is conditioned by what we listen to during the Liturgy of the Word and the highpoint when Christ now actually comes down unto the bread and wine through the words of the priest at consecration, converting them into his own Body and Blood. (to be continued). 

Happy Sunday!