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The Eucharist is the source and summit of our prayer life and our whole life
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The Eucharist is the source and summit of our prayer life and our whole life

Spiritual life is rich, beautiful and complex. Nothing can exhaust the spiritual treasure of the Church or the soul seeking union with God. Nothing can quench the desire in the human heart that once awakens to encounter God and share in His fellowship.

As the soul awakens, it wants to be with God and know His closeness. Such a soul is like a person lost in the desert, desperately searching for an oasis.

In response to such a thirst, the Church provides some oases, some resources. Such springs are meant to be succor and resurrection to a thirsty soul.

First source listed Catechism of the Catholic Church It is the Word of God, and shortly thereafter the Church brings forth its sacrament.

The Eucharistic sacrifice is the “peak and source” of the entire Christian way of life. Everything we do as we follow Jesus Christ draws its life from the Mass and at the same time points us back to the Mass. The New Passover, the Holy Sacrifice, is the continual enactment of God’s saving action among us until the Lord returns in glory.

During the service, the prayer constantly encounters and experiences the saving presence of Jesus Christ in a new way. The prayerful heart that flows in and from the liturgy carries forward the mystery of faith.

catechism He explains: “In the sacrament of the church, the mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit announces, presents, and communicates the mystery of salvation that continues in the praying heart.”

The church demonstrates its importance by directing us to the heart, which is the desire and discipline of prayer. catechism this comment: “Spiritual writers sometimes compare the heart to an altar.”

If our heart does not shoulder and absorb the Paschal and Eucharistic Mystery of the Lord, we cannot grow in the inner life. In this way the heart itself becomes a kind of altar from which we follow the Lord as he lives, dies, and lives again.

Thanks to this dynamic, the Eucharistic Sacrifices resonate with the person praying, because the sacrifice on the altar is also the sacrifice in their heart. One can look and say: “Yes, I know this Crucified and Risen Master. “I experience his passion, death and resurrection in my own life every day.”

The Eucharistic Sacrifice therefore becomes familiar and defensible. This is something that happens and is experienced every day. It is not a cold and distant ritual, but the living, vibrant source and summit of our prayer life and our entire life. In this respect, the Mass is an event that connects us to the Lord Jesus and to each other. It is a sacred act of communion, relationship, covenant, worship and education. The liturgy is where our prayer finds its origin, structure, and fulfillment. The Eucharistic sacrifice truly becomes the culmination of prayer and a life lived entirely in the Lord Jesus and his Paschal Mystery.

catechism teaches us: “Prayer internalizes and assimilates the sacraments during and after its celebration. Prayer is always the prayer of the Church, even when lived ‘in secret’; this is unity with the Holy Trinity.”

Our prayer flows through the sacrament, continuing to marvel at and dwell on the sacred mysteries it contains. Our prayer is regulated and guided by the sacrament itself. Thus our prayer matures, grows and develops in the movements and flows of the sacred words and actions of the worship of the Church.

Especially when we incorporate our prayer life into the Paschal Mystery present in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, our prayer becomes more Trinitarian. A prayer that once spoke only to “God” is led by the sacrament to use the special term “Father.” The sacrament also gives us an approach to three divine persons. Our prayer is to the Father in the Son and through the Spirit. What was once a distant greeting to a general God has now become a family affair and the greeting of a son or daughter to their heavenly Father, their divine Elder Brother, and their eternal Advocate and Guide. In this way our prayer is enriched and intertwined with the revealed mystery of God’s identity and presence.

For more spiritual resources, visit Father Kirby’s YouTube channel. Daily Discipleship with Father Kirby.