Christ be with us.Christ be within us.Christ be behind us

on the path we take.Christ walk with us,

on the road we tread.Christ go before us,

be a lamp for our stepsand a light for our eyes

through the joys and sorrows of life.

May the presence of Christ be our source of strength and

comfort.Amen

THE EUCHARIST

The centre of our Christian faith is the Eucharist.

The Eucharist is a thread running through our lives, that connect us and brings us together to share ordinary moments, to celebrate special events, to console each other when life is

full of heartache and sadness.

Jesus left us one ritual, the Eucharist.

At the Last Supper Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. During the Supper Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and shared it. He said, ‘This is my body.’ He took the wine, blessed it and shared it. He said, ‘This is my blood.’ He asked the disciples to do what he did in his memory. We celebrate this meal in the Mass. Each week we are invited to leave the busyness of our lives and to come and gather with our parish community to celebrate the Eucharist.

The word Eucharist literally means THANKSGIVING. We gather to thank God for his love for us and especially for the sacrifice of his only son, Jesus.

The Eucharist is divided into five parts:

1. Introductory Rite - we gather as members of God’s family to prepare ourselves for what we are about to take part in. We gather physically as a community and we gather ourselves in body, in mind and in spirit.

2. Liturgy of the Word - we listen to the readings from Sacred Scripture - God’s word.

3. Liturgy of the Eucharist - we bring our gifts of bread and wine to the altar. We remember and we give thanks.

4. Communion Rite - we receive the Body of Christ.

5. Concluding Rite - we are blessed and sent forth to love and serve.INTRODUCTORY RITE

WE GATHER TOGETHER

The Mass begins with the:

Procession

Sign of the Cross

Penitential Rite,

Gloria,

Opening Prayer.

There are different kinds of PROCESSION. A procession may involve a number of people: Ministers of the Word, Ministers of the Eucharist, Altar Servers and sometimes it is the priest on his own. The procession can come from the front door of the church or from the sacristy.

The Mass begins, with the Sign of the Cross, to show that God is present and everything we say and do will be done in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Realising that God is present in our midst, we say sorry for the things we did that were not loving, we ask for forgiveness as we recite the PENITENTIAL RITE.

I confess to Almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Remembering God’s love for us and his readiness to forgive us, we then thank and praise him in the GLORIA

The Gloria is divided into four sections:

1. In the opening part of the Gloria, we remember what the angels said to the shepherds on the night Jesus was born.

Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to peopleof good will.

2. In the next part of the prayer, we name five things that show how wonderful God is:

1. We praise you 3. We adore you 5. We give you thanks for your great glory2. We bless you 4. We glorify you

We finish this second part of the prayer with the words, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father.

3. At the beginning of the third section of the Gloria, we talk directly to Jesus and say:

Lord Jesus Christ,Only begotten son.

Lord God,Lamb of God,

Son of the Father.

Then we ask Jesus to forgive us for the times we didn’t love God and didn’t love others.

You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.

4. In the final section of the Gloria we remember that God is the only one worthy of our praise

‘For you alone are the Holy One,you alone are the Lord,

you alone are the Most High,Jesus Christ,

with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen’.

We listen to the readings from Sacred Scripture and this part of the Mass is called the LITURGY OF THE WORD.

The main part of the Liturgy of the Word consists of the First Reading, the Second Reading, the Gospel, the responsorial Psalm and the Gospel acclamation.

The secondary part consists of the Homily, the Profession of Faith, and the Prayer of the Faithful.

Through the reading of Sacred Scripture God speaks to us.

The readings of Sacred Scripture are usually from four parts of the Bible:

1. The First Reading is taken from the oldest part of Sacred Scripture, the Old Testament. In the OLD TESTAMENT we learn that God created the world, we hear about God’s relationship with his people up to the coming of Jesus.

2. At the end of the reading, the reader acclaims: The word of the Lord and we respond by saying: Thanks be to God.

3. The Second Reading is taken from the NEW TESTAMENT that comes after the Gospels. These readings come from the letters that were written by Paul, Timothy, James, Peter, John and Jude or from the Acts of the Apostles.At the end of the reading the reader acclaims: Thanks be to God and we respond by saying: Thanks be to God.

4. Between the first and second reading we pray the Responsorial Psalm. The Psalms come from the Old Testament. The cantor or reader sings or says the Psalm, and we all join in with the response.

5. Finally, we hear about Jesus from the Gospel. The readings from the Gospels are the most special and important stories because they have a message for us from Jesus. We stand to welcome the Gospel by singing or saying “Alleluia”,

SACRED OBJECTSAMBO: The readings are read from this standLECTIONARY: The book that contains the reading from Sacred Scripture at Mass

We make the sign of the Cross on our forehead, so that our minds may be open to hear the message of the Gospel. We make the sign of the Cross on our lips, so that our lips may be open to speak the message of the Gospel.We make the sign of the Cross over our hearts, so that our hearts may be open to live as the Message of the Gospel shows us.

Before the Gospel the priest acclaims: The Lord be with you. We respond by saying: And with your spirit.

The priest acclaims: A reading from the holy Gospel according to N. We respond by saying: Glory to you, O Lord.

At the end of the Gospel the priest acclaims: The Gospel of the Lord. We respond by saying: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

The homily, Creed and Prayer of the Faithful follow the Gospel. In the HOMILY the priest explains the message in the Gospel and suggests ways in which it can be put into practice in our lives.

We then stand to say the Creed, we profess what it is we believe as members of the church. There are two Creeds that can be prayed at Mass: The Apostle’s Creed or the Nicene Creed.

After the Creed, the priest leads the PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL. In these prayers we name to God all that we want to pray for in the church, world and in our community.

ITURGY OF THE EUCHARISTWE GIVE THANKS

During this part of the Mass we move from the Ambo to the Altar. We remember what Jesus did at the Last Supper. We give thanks to God for sending us Jesus to show us how to live our lives and to love one another.

The Liturgy of the Eucharist begins with the Presentation of the Gifts. We bring gifts of bread and wine to the altar. At the consecration, these gifts will be transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Eucharistic Prayer is a prayer of thanksgiving during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We prepare ourselves for this important part of the Mass by singing or saying a prayer called the SANCTUS. The word ‘sanctus’ is Latin and means ‘holy’. The words of the Sanctus remind us of what happened on Palm Sunday, when Jesus came to the city of Jerusalem five days before he died.

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.Heaven and earth are full of your glory

Hosanna in the highest.Blessed is he who come in the name of the lord.

SACRED OBJECTS

ALTAR CLOTH: A white cloth that covers the altar, that the priest celebrates Mass on.

CORPORAL: A square shaped white linen cloth laid on the altar cloth on which the bread and wine are consecrated.

CHALICE: A large cup that holds the wine which becomes the blood of Christ.

PURIFICATOR: A small white cloth used to cleanse and wipe the chalice.

PATEN: A plate, usually of gold or silver, that is used to hold the Eucharist bread that is to be consecrated.

CIBORIUM: A bowl used to hold the hosts which will be used for Communion.

Hosanna in the highest.After the Sanctus, we kneel to show that this is a very important moment of the Mass. During the Eucharistic prayer, the priest asks God’s Holy Spirit to change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. We listen to what Jesus did at the Last Supper, how he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and shared it, saying ‘This is my Body’ and‘This is my Blood’ he asks us to ‘Do this in memory’ of him. This part of the Mass is known as the consecration, the moment at which the bread and wine is changed into the Body and Blood of Christ.

After the bread and wine have been changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, we are invited to say a prayer called the MYSTERY OF FAITH.

How the bread and wine is changed into the Body and Blood of Christ is something we can never fully understand and therefore it is called a mystery of our faith.

There are three different ways we can sing or say the mystery of faith. Each of them is addressed to Jesus.

When we eat this bread and drink Save us, Saviour of the world We proclaim your death, this cup, we proclaim your death, for by your cross and O Lord and profess your O Lord until you come again. resurrection you have set us resurrection until you come

free. again.

The Eucharistic Prayer ends with the priest singing or saying:Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours for ever and ever,

We respond by saying: Amen. ‘Amen’ means, “This is it, this is the truth, so be it”.

COMMUNION RITEWE RECEIVE JESUS IN HOLY COMMUNION

We stand and say the Our Father, the prayer Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him how they should pray. Following the Our Father we share a ‘Sign of Peace’ with one another.

Holy Communion is the most important meal that our parish family shares and in sharing the ‘sign of peace’ we show that we want to be at peace with each other before we receive Jesus in Holy Communion.

The priest says: The peace of the Lord be with you always.We respond by saying: And with your spirit.

At Mass we are sharing in Jesus’ invitation to ‘Do this in memory of me. We remember what Jesus did and we follow his actions. The priest does what Jesus did; he takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and shares it with everyone.

As the priest is breaking the host we sing or say a prayer called the ‘Lamb of God’.

Lamb of God, you take away the sings of the world,have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the World.have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,grant us peace.

We then kneel to show the sacredness of these moments when we are in communion with God and one another. We pray the prayer before Communion.

Lord Jesus, come to me.Lord Jesus, give me your love.

Lord Jesus, friend of children, come to me.Lord Jesus, you are my Lord and my God.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

We approach the altar in a respectful manner - quietly with our hands joined. We hold our hands with our right hand under our right hand to receive Holy Communion.

The priest holds up the hosts to us, saying: The Body of Christ. We respond by saying: Amen.

In consuming the Host, Christ dwells in us and we become what we receive – Christ’s body in our everyday lives. We become Christ’s hands, face and heart to all we meet and help. We become one with all those who celebrate the Eucharist throughout the world.

We say the Prayer after Communion.

Lord Jesus, I love and adore you.You’re a special friend to me.

Welcome, Lord Jesus, O welcome, thank you for coming to me.Thank you, Lord Jesus, O thank you for giving yourself to me.

Make me strong to show your love wherever I may be.Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask you to stay.Close by me forever and love me, I pray.

Bless all of us children in your loving care and bring us to heaven to live with you there.

I am ready now, Lord Jesus to show how much I care. I am ready now to give your love at home and everywhere. Amen.

CONCLUDING RITEWE GO IN PEACE

The end of the celebration of the Mass is called the CONCLUDING RITE. It begins with the priest praying: The Lord be with you. We respond by saying: And with your spirit. Next, the priest says: May almighty God bless you: the Father, and the Son and the holy Spirit. We respond by saying: Amen.

Finally, the priest says:

Go the Mass is endedOrGo and announce the gospel of the Lord.OrGo in peace glorifying the Lord by your lifeOrGo in peace

We respond by saying: Thanks be to God.

We are blessed and sent forth in peace,to bring the message of the Gospel to everyone we meet,

to show them that we are followers of Jesus.

Christ has no body, but mine.

No hands, no feet on earth but mine.

Mine are the eyes with which he looks

with compassion on this world.

Mine are the feet with which he walks to do good.

Mine are hands which he blesses all the world.

Mine are the hands, the feet, the eyes of Christ

in this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but mine.