| Like anything else worthwhile, giving thanks is a good habit. It takes practice and repeated action. Those characteristics of the grateful and gracious person don't happen by accident. Little children shout their thank-yous and lavish their hugs on Grandma and Grandpa in order to insure the constant flow of gifts. There are people (grown-ups) who treat God the same way. They couple every gratitude prayer with a request for more of the same.
When the Church gathers on Sunday for Eucharist, everyone is celebrating the same wonderful attitudes that the grateful person exhibits. The elements of the Mass are in many ways a litany of those attitudes. The structure of the service reflects how highly people regard these qualities and how God uses this high regard as a source of revelation for the community.
The very next time you participate in the Eucharist, be aware of these elements. The more aware you are of the importance of gratitude and graciousness for the Christian, the more able you will be to communicate these wonderful virtues to the people you teach.
- A Celebration of Identity: The Eucharist is the family meal of the People of God. The Eucharist both celebrates and fosters the sense of self identity for the members of Christ's Body.
- A Gathering of the Community: The Eucharist is not a solitary act—lonely and isolated. The presider gathers the people in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The community participates actively in the Eucharist.
- A Hearing of the Word: At the Eucharist, the community listens to the Living Word of God. The people listen to that Word broken apart and explained. As the Word is proclaimed and explained, the listeners see their own lives in the Word and the Word in their own lives.
- A Common Memory: At the Eucharist, familiar words and comfortable ritual call to mind the actions of God in history. This great remembering is insurance that this community will never forget the saving events that have brought the people together. "On the night he was betrayed, he took bread, gave thank, and broke it?" This memory is so real—so alive—that what was then is now. Christ is truly present under the appearance of bread and wine.
- A Shared Union: Eucharist is not spectacle. It is a sacrificial meal. And both sacrifices and meals are for sharing. The act of sharing the bread and the cup is healing, unifying, and it is challenging. The Lord's Prayer shows that more than Communion is shared. Forgiveness is essential to the sharing. "Forgive us?as we forgive!
- A Call to Serve: "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord." For the People of God, Eucharist is a way of life. It is not a once-a-week stop at a filling station where the spiritual tank is filled with Eucharistic fuel and the oil and water of initiation are checked. Christians know that they will be judged on how well they recognized needs and met them. The end product of graciousness and gratitude—of being a Eucharistic person—is service. For the person who celebrates gratitude, power is out, service is in.
As a catechist, you stand with the Apostle Peter. In his First Letter, he reminds all Christians of their specialness. "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people God claims to proclaim the glorious works of the one who called you from darkness into marvelous light. Once you were no people, but now you are God's People" (1 Peter 2:9-10)
Peter was a catcher of fish who was called to catch people. You are a catcher of people, too. Through your ministry, young and old join that procession of gracious and grateful people into the celebration of Eucharist. The people you teach don't need so much to be told about being a chosen race and a holy nation. They need to see in your eyes that the precious gifts are theirs. All that remains is the sincerest thank you of all—using those gifts for others.
From The Catechist Companion by Cullen Schippe, Chapter 3, "Let Us Give Thanks" |
