Great Prayer Of Thanksgiving Is Central To The Liturgy Of The Eucharist

Once the monetary offering from the faithful has been collected and the bread and wine along with the collection have been presented, the assembly shifts their focus from hearing and applying God’s Word in the Liturgy of the Word to the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  The central part of the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the Church’s Great Prayer of Thanksgiving to God.  

Many of us who celebrated the Mass prior to Vatican II remember that the Liturgy of the Eucharist was called “The Mass of the Faithful” – compared to the Liturgy of the Word as “The Mass of the Catechumens.”  Historically the Catechumens were fed upon God’s Word and then, following the homily, were dismissed to continue their formation in the Gospel.  Only baptized Christians were permitted to remain for the “Mysteries” celebrated in the “Mass of the Faithful.”  The dismissal of catechumens and candidates preparing for full communion has been restored to the Church since 1980.  However, some parishes do not yet practice this ritual action, which is not simply a restoration of an ancient non-meaningful rite but can have a powerful impact upon the assembly.

There is a great logic to this custom to which we may not be sensitive to today.  First, we never invite people to our home for a meal and then tell them “Sorry, you may not eat with us; but you may stay and watch us.”  That would be absolutely rude, and our guests would probably never return.  We seldom make the “human connections” between the Mass and our ordinary lives.  The argument is always “Well if they don’t participate in Mass, how will they learn all the symbols and eventually join in the worship of the Church?”  Believe me, there are many ways of doing this during their time of formation each Sunday if we are sufficiently creative.  Just one example – at the beginning of a faith-sharing session, why not celebrate the Penitential Rite used in the Mass?  This familiarizes our new members about our need to seek God’s mercy and to realize that we are “forgiven sinners” according to St. Ignatius of Loyola (a beautiful insight we would all benefit keeping in our awareness).  This may also be done with other parts of the Mass, such as singing the “Sanctus” and then explaining its origin in Isaiah.  

Second, dismissing our catechumens from the assembly has the power to challenge those remaining in the pews: “How are we furthering our formation in the Catholic faith?”  Such was the insight of an 83-year-old parishioner to me back in the 1980s.  RCIA ministers, please do not overlook the Church’s wisdom to restore the Rite of Dismissal.  (Naturally, there may be times when the dismissal is not possible, e.g. Christmas Day, Easter Sunday.  On those occasions mention is made to the Catechumens and Candidates that we welcome them to remain with us and look forward to the day they may participate in Holy Communion.)  The RCIA is calling the entire Church to re-think what we do and why we do it (this is called conversion, which is not necessarily for the new members since conversion is a life-long process up to the very moment of our dying as we entrust our lives into God’s loving hands – something which would be beneficial to start doing every day while we are still walking and breathing!).

Before examining the rich elements found in our Eucharistic Prayers, let us get a greater sense of the origin of this inspiring prayer of praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God in our next column.

Father Sauer continues his look at the Mass in the May 19 issue of The Message.