The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. The Eucharist is a powerful way in which we receive Jesus Christ into our hearts and are united with him as one body. The Eucharist is a source of strength and nourishment, and as we receive it, just as the disciples did at the Last Supper, we are reminded of God’s love for us and of our call to love others.
Day 1 – Head
On the first day of our prayer we will be reflecting on The Word of God to help us to understand our theme.
We begin our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
We have a longer piece of scripture today from John’s Gospel, where Jesus is talking to a group of Jews, mostly His followers, in the synagogue.
As you can see, Jesus is really hammering home the idea of the Eucharist to His listeners. He pulls no punches, and reiterates over and over again (seven times in just seven verses!), the idea that we must eat His flesh and drink His blood if we are to have eternal life.
In the middle of this hammering home about the Eucharist however, Jesus gives us some fantastic promises to those who do eat His flesh and drink His blood:
- we will “live forever”
- we will have “eternal life”
- Jesus will “raise [us] up on the last day”
- we “abide in [Jesus] and [He] in [us]”
- we will “live forever” (again)
This was a very difficult teaching, and right after this many of His followers left Jesus because it was too difficult to accept. But Jesus presents it as positively as He can, with promise after promise of eternal life.
Let’s take a moment now to ask God to help us believe in the Words Jesus spoke, even though they are difficult.
Let us pray,
Dear Jesus,
We ask you to help us, wherever we are on our journey to knowing you better
Guide us towards you that we may partake in your Eucharist
Grant us the belief to accept you into ourselves
We ask this in your name
Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Day 2 – Heart
On the second day of the week we focus on our hearts. How can the scripture that we looked at previously impact our lives, and the lives of others? What themes can we draw from the scripture?
We begin our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
If we have the courage to accept this belief, it changes our entire perspective on life.
If Jesus is willing to give of Himself, not just His Words and Teachings, but give us His Body and Blood, then we must be willing to give to others what little that we have.
We’d like to take a moment now to reflect on what we can give to others, and when we hold back from giving of ourselves.
1. When have I given others my Time?
2. When have I given others my Energy?
3. When have I withheld my Time or Energy for myself?
Reflecting on our ourselves is something a lot of us struggle with, so to encourage this practice, your mission is to do an Examen, more about that later!
For now, let us pray,
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for giving of yourself to us in the Eucharist
Help us to never take it for granted, and to seek it at every opportunity
We ask this in your name
Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Day 3: Hands
On the final day of the week we try to put into action the things we have learnt and reflected on previously in the week, hence the hands link!
We begin our prayer with the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Mission:
To do a Daily Examen (2 mins explanation video)
AND don’t forget the mission from Monday to spend some time in Jesus’ real presence!
The perfect opportunity to cover both missions at once would be to come to the Chapel at lunch time today, and pray your Examen in the presence of Our Lord.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
A lot of us in year 9 have recently given up our time to raise money for charity. We can help one another with our schoolwork/homework. We can offer to help our parents or teachers with chores. We can also spend time with one another to provide company for those who might not get it so much or to help people through difficult times.