A. My Body and Blood for You (Option 1)We admire great men and women who dedicated their lives to the good of
others and were even willing to die for them. This is precisely what we
celebrate whenever we come together for the Eucharist. We celebrate Jesus' life
and death for us, but also his resurrection, for he is alive here among us, in
his Church, in our world. But when we do what he told us to do, "Do this
in memory of me," we must also learn to give ourselves to God and to
people, the way Jesus gave himself. In this Eucharist he gives us this
disposition.
Do we commit ourselves to the good of others, even when the cost is
high? Let us examine ourselves before the Lord.(PAUSE)
=Jesus Christ, you said: ''This is my blood of the covenant shed for you
and for all people": Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
=Lord Jesus, you said, ''This is my body for the life of the world. Anyone
who eats this has eternal life. "Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, and let the Eucharist bring us the forgiveness
of all our sins and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Fill us with his Spirit, that we too may live for you and for one
another with a generous, self-forgetting love that unites all, loves all,
serves all. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Let us encounter you and bind us closely to you through him who is our
food of unity and our drink of joy, Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord, who
lives with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. R/ Amen.
First Reading Introduction: Blood
Relatives of God: God chooses
himself a people and shares its destiny. He unites it to himself by ties of
blood and by eating and drinking with them.
Let us pray with the fullest trust to God our Father, for he has chosen
us as his partners in life set free by the blood of his Son. Let us say: R/
Lord, be close to us, your people.
- For the pope, for bishops and priests, that they may give to their
people not only the bread of the Eucharist and the word of God but also the
bread of themselves, let us pray: R/ Lord, be close to us, your people.
- For all Christian Churches, that they may become one at the table of
the Lord, let us pray; R/ Lord, be close to us, your people.
- For the nations who have more than others in food and human resources,
that they may consider it a task of justice to share with others peoples that
have less and to help them forward on the road of human and economic
development, let us pray: R/ Lord, be close to us, your people.
- For our Christian communities, that rich and poor, high and low,
tenants and landlords, may share alike in the Eucharist and become responsible
for one another in one covenant of justice, love and peace, let us pray: R/
Lord, be close to us, your people.
- For all of us, that the Eucharist may become more and more the source
of our strength and unity and of our commitment to one another, let us pray: R/
Lord, be close to us, your people.
Lord God, be close to us. Keep nourishing us with the body and blood of
your Son, that we may grow in your everlasting life, now and forever. R/
Amen.
Lord our God, you are present wherever people welcome you and allow you
to be one with them. Let us encounter you in your Son. Make him today our bread
of fidelity and the wine of life and joy, that you may be our God and we your
people, now and forever. R/ Amen.
In the Eucharistic prayer that follows let us express our joyful thanks
to the Father for giving us Jesus in the Eucharist. This is God's way of
staying today with us, the people he loves.
Introduction to the Lord's Prayer
Before receiving the Bread of life, let us bless the Father for his
kindness and pray the table prayer which Jesus himself has taught us: R/ Our
Father...
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil through Christ, the Lamb of God, who
shed his blood for us. Unite us in the body and blood of your Son as the people
you have chosen as your own. Prepare us for the coming in glory of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, the Lamb of God who shed his blood to take our sins away and
to make us the people of God. Happy are we to be invited to the meal wherein
the Lord gives us his body and blood. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Note. It would be most fitting today to give
communion under both kinds.
God, our Father, you have bound us to yourself through the body and
blood of your Son in one common destiny. Accept our thanks and, as we are one
in your Son, make us share with one another the bread of ourselves and pour for
one another the wine of partnership and hope, that we can journey together to
you as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord for ever. R/
Amen.
Blessing
Our Lord found a way to stay always by our side and to accompany us on
the road of life. He became our flesh and blood. Let us too find ways to
support one another in dark days and to rejoice together in bright days and may
God go all the way with you and bless you: the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.