A Reflection on Eucharistic Prayer III

"Father, you are holy indeed, and all creation rightly gives you praise. All life, all holiness comes from you through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, by the working of the Holy Spirit. From age to age you gather a people to yourself, so that from east to west a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name..."



Yesterday for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, our priest selected Eucharistic Prayer III, a portion of which surely expresses some of the most beautiful sentiments of any of the four Eucharistic Prayers. One cannot help but pray with our whole heart and mind and being, these beautiful and poetic words. Along with our priest who stands in the place of Christ for us, we offer our gifts of bread and wine; and our very lives to our Heavenly Father. We surely can do no less, in our thankfulness for all he has done for us.

"From age to age you gather a people to yourself, so that from east to west a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name..."

These words can only bring to mind, the 2000 year history of the Eucharist, during which period, some form of the command of our Lord has been celebrated. "Do this in memory of me," Jesus said. Whether in the catacombs or on the battlefield; in prison or among friends; in a magnificent cathedral or a simple country church, this command has been honored.

From east to west... all over the world, in every language, by every race of peoples, at any given moment in the day, this liturgy is being celebrated. Our God gathers his people to himself.

We, as the parish community of St. Elizabeth, are those same People of God; called to be holy, called to gather in his name, and called to make this perfect offering in his memory.