Fr Paulson V Veliyannoor, CMF

"In the Lenten journey..., we are exhorted to come out of ourselves in order to open ourselves in trustful abandonment to the merciful embrace of the Father. Blood, symbol of the love of the Good Shepherd, flows into us especially in the Eucharistic mystery: "The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-oblation... we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving" (Encyclical Deus caritas est, n. 13). Let us live Lent, then, as a "Eucharistic" time in which, welcoming the love of Jesus, we learn to spread it around us with every word and deed" (Holy Father Benedict XVI)

"If we but paused for a moment to consider attentively what takes place in this Sacrament (of Eucharist), I am sure that the thought of Christ's love for us would transform the coldness of our hearts into a fire of love and gratitude." (St Angela of Foligno)

Day ONE

Eucharist as Sacrament: Source and Summit of Christian Faith

Joseph Campbell, speaking on the Power of Myth, speaks about the failure of the modern society to provide powerful mythical stories and sacred rituals for the youth and its consequences... The human society cannot do without rituals. If the society does not provide them, the youth create their own, with disastrous results: the gang culture, tattoos, and late-night party rituals are some of them. Unfortunately, they are not life-giving.

We are Matter and Spirit: the physical and the spiritual intersect in us. And hence, we live at their intersection, the soul-space. Exodus Chapter 3: 5: "The ground you walk is holy. Take off your sandals." We need help to live in two different planes at the same time: Chronos and Kairos. Chronos as historical time, and Kairos as mythical, sacred time.

Ancient religions, tribes and societies understood this. They provided for such moments through their rites of initiations. Christian Faith has been blessed with corresponding, yet unique Sacraments that serve as powerful rites of initiation, connecting us to the divine sources at every significant stage of our lives.

Christian Community is a Eucharistic Community. The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of Christian Faith (Lumen Gentium 11). We do not have an existence separate from the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Sacrament of the Sacraments.

The Emmaus Journey as the Symbol of the Eucharistic Celebration: Luke 24: 13-35. Cf: Mane Nobiscum Domine, the Apostolic Letter by John Paul II.

The Holy Mass, as Sacrament, begins with the Gathering of the Faithful, in the Name of the Trinitarian God, who is a Community of Persons. The Holy Mass is the highest act of adoration offered to God the Father, by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. The Christian community joins this Trinitarian community, and offers the Sacrifice with that of Jesus. Human beings, being essentially and undeniably relational (created in the image and likeness of God who is a community), it is imperative that we begin the Eucharistic Celebration with the Penitential Rite where we confess our failures in loving and caring: we seek to repair our relationship with God, and our brothers and sisters - dead and alive. In the Emmaus story, the two disciples are grief-stricken and heart-broken, wanting new beliefs and spiritual food to sustain them.

The Liturgy of the Word is the story of how God worked in the lives of the people. The story of God-human-world interactions. The failures, betrayals, longings, sacrifices and salvation. The dos and don'ts of this relationship, and Jesus' Teaching on the right way to relate. We are invited to interpret it in the context of our individual and collective lives. As Jesus explained the Scriptures to the Emmaus-bound disciples, their hearts began burning.

The Profession of Faith is a public proclamation and affirmation of our faith in One True God, which is then followed by the Prayer of the Faithful. We pray aloud, for the needs of the community, which are to be answered by the listening community.

In the Offertory, the works of human labor in the form of bread and wine, as symbols of our very lives, are offered by the community, which the priest receives and offers up to God, who then converts them, in the Consecration moments, into the very body and blood of Christ - our lives become once again, infused by the person of Christ, thus transforming our very lives as living Sacrament. The sacrifice of Jesus - his Word becoming the Deed - is re-lived in the moments of Consecration. It is in the Deed of breaking the bread - breaking oneself or others - that the Emmaus disciples recognized Jesus.

Once the Word has become the Deed, we stand together with him as his own brothers and sisters, and pray the universal prayer, 'Our Father'. Once again, we mend our relations with one another by the kiss of peace, and then receive Jesus into our hearts in Communion, thus making our lives Sacraments in the world.

Once we receive the Communion and become the Sacrament, the Rite of Dismissal dismisses the people to walk out under the banner of the Cross, as the Word and the Deed of the Eucharist out into the world, to become the Gospel leaven in the world.

Day TWO

Eucharist as Service: Our Christian Missionary Mandate

The Institution of the Eucharist is such a significant moment in the New Testament that all the Synoptic Gospels mention it (Mt 26: 17-29; Mk 14: 12-25; Lk 22: 14-20), so does Paul (1 Cor 11: 23-29). However, John leaves it out (even though he does give the discourse of Jesus as Bread of Life in ch 6). A serious omission?

In fact, he doesn't. He presents it as the "Washing of the Feet" (John 13: 1-17). In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus seats himself at the center of the table (prominent place), raises the bread and the cup and said, "do this in remembrance of me". In John, Jesus removes his outer garments (signs of privilege), lowers himself to the floor, washes the feet of the disciples and tells them, "as I have done, so shall you do."

John Paul II, writes (Mane Nobiscum Domine # 28): "It is not by chance that the Gospel of John contains no account of the institution of the Eucharist, but instead relates the "washing of feet" (cf. Jn 13:1-20): by bending down to wash the feet of his disciples, Jesus explains the meaning of the Eucharist unequivocally. Saint Paul vigorously reaffirms the impropriety of a Eucharistic celebration lacking charity expressed by practical sharing with the poor (cf.1Cor 11:17-22, 27-34)... We cannot delude ourselves: by our mutual love and, in particular, by our concern for those in need we will be recognized as true followers of Christ (cf. Jn 13:35; Mt 25:31-46). This will be the criterion by which the authenticity of our Eucharistic celebrations is judged."

At the Emmaus Journey, 'Jesus Talk' did not help the disciples recognize him. But his DEED - breaking the Bread - made him recognize, and understand everything. Our Talk does not catch on. It is the ACT that catches on.

What happens at the Communion? We become what we eat.

St Paul tells us: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." In the Eucharist we usually speak of the miracle of the bread becoming the Body of Christ. But there is a greater miracle that happens/should happen. In Communion, we become the person of Christ. Our humanity carries the signature of God. In Christ, God has shared his divinity with us without measure. It is for us to claim it. If we don't, it is our failure. Not God's.

How long does the Eucharist last? For many, the Eucharist lasts for only one hour. But the Eucharist lasts as long as your life lasts. Once we receive the communion, comes the Dismissal Rite. The celebrant asks people to walk out under the banner of the Cross. The exit procession is important: The Cross goes out first. Then the candles, then the priests, and the whole congregation walks out. In some dioceses, the book of Gospels does not go out: The people of God, having received the Word and the Deed, now walk out as the Gospel. Remember the Emmaus journey: The disciples "immediately left their house, and joined the community". To be part of the community and to serve its needs is a Eucharistic Act. The Eucharist now continues in the market place.

A Eucharistic person is incorrigibly service-oriented. Community oriented. He/She cannot be otherwise. Washing of the Feet is the completion of the Eucharist. The test of authenticity of the Ritual celebration is in your DEED.

The story of Mahatma Gandhi: He put on the suit and the stylish cloth of a high class executive in South Africa. "Belonged to the (British) Kingdom". But once he sees his true call, he sheds his cloth, and wears only a loincloth. The Kingdom that called him "half-naked fakir" had to later submit to the power of the loincloth.

Paul's experience of conversion: On the road to Damascus, Paul (then Saul) is felled to the ground. Blinded. Needed a new vision. He was so caught up in the Old Testament vision that he had to be blinded and given a new sight. Three days in blindness. And what did Jesus speak to him? "Why do you persecute the Christians? No. "Why do you persecute ME?"

What is the final Judgment? Matthew 25: 31-46: Jesus DID NOT SAY "Whenever you did this to ME, you did it to your brothers and sisters". But what Jesus actually SAID was: "Whenever you did it to the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to ME." Did you live the Eucharist?

The authenticity and validity of our Eucharistic celebration is in the quality of our service to our fellow brothers and sisters, without distinctions of religion, nationality, language, socio-economic status, human standards of good and bad.

Day THREE

Repentance and Reconciliation: The Time is Now!

There is only one Message in the Bible: All the Prophets in the Old Testament had only one theme to preach: REPENT! CONVERT! When John the Baptist began his ministry, there was only one theme: REPENT! CONVERT! When Jesus began his ministry, there was only one theme: The Kingdom of God is here. REPENT! CONVERT! When Jesus sent his disciples to preach there was only one theme: REPENT! CONVERT! Even today, there is only one imperative that comes out from the Gospel: REPENT! CONVERT!

If this theme is constantly harped on, so great must have been the resistance by the people throughout human history. If there was no resistance, people would have gladly accepted and lived accordingly. Then this theme would not have repeated. But it continues, as an everyday invitation. REPENT! CONVERT!

Christian anthropology: Human beings are GOOD, BUT WOUNDED BY SIN. Human beings are fearfully and wonderfully made... There was an original blessing. God saw it was very good. And blessed them..." Then there is original sin. Sin is the failure in nourishing and honoring our relatedness: the image and likeness of the Trinitarian God who is a community.

The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31): The Rich Man was a good person, by worldly standards: he tolerated 'dirty and stinking' Lazarus to remain at his gate. It might have been a nuisance for any person, but he was 'generous'. Later, when Abraham refused to send Lazarus to hell to cool the tongue of the rich man, the latter thought kindly of his own brothers, and asked Abraham to send Lazarus to them, so that they did not end up with a fate like his - truly concerned about his family. However, his concern and care was not enough for the Kingdom. He did not hurt, but nor did he build the Kingdom.

The Eucharistic Celebration becomes ossified when one gets obsessively and exclusively concerned about its ritual aspect alone, without ever thinking about the need to "do" the Eucharist in the chore of daily life. The incident of a Eucharistic Minister who was obsessed about the number of particles (3.68 on an average, as per his 'studies') that stuck to his hand, and thus thought it was desecration of the body of Christ - it is a greater desecration of the body of Christ when one refuses to extent the hand that received the Body of Christ to help the needy and the marginalized.

The Story of the Prodigal Son Luke 15: 11-31: Both the prodigal young son and the rule-abiding elder son stand in need of repentance and reconciliation. The prodigal son was left home and was distant from his father. The elder son never left home, but was equally distant from the father. And they were distant from each other. Both of them have a distance to travel, to the place where the Father stands, and there, to meet each other and embrace in forgiveness and love.

It is then, the Eucharistic Celebration becomes complete, authentic and valid.

Copyright © 2007 Paulson Veliyannoor

Fr Paulson Veliyannoor can be contacted at: frpaulson@gmail.com