Reflecting on the Eucharistic Prayers: Masses with Children

“The Eucharist: The Gift That Keeps on Giving … and giving, and giving.”

By Fr. Ron Will, C.PP.S.

You have joined number nine in a series of videos on the Eucharistic prayers which we pray during Mass. This series is entitled: “The Eucharist: The Gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving.”

The question is: Are we simply going through the motions of faith, or do we have a personal, living relationship with Jesus Christ? Pope Benedict XVI put it this way:

“Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (Deus Caritas Est, 1).

There 13 different Eucharistic Prayers from which the presider may choose, for various reasons. Using different Eucharistic Prayers is helpful. Monotony is deadly; variety is the solution. God uses the Eucharist to win us, to build us, to send us. With a variety of wording, I believe we understand that message more clearly.

I am recording this video in September, which is the month that many children have returned to school. I’ve chosen to look at Eucharistic Prayer for Masses with Children III, because you may hear this Prayer if you join a school Mass in your parish.

The Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children have the ability to invite children into a deeper participation in the Mass.

It’s one thing to say that we believe in the true presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; it’s quite another to let that belief really sink in and change everything – our thoughts, our actions, our relationships. The challenge for us as Catholics is to make the profound truth of Jesus’ presence a profound reality in our lives. The Eucharist is not “a something,” but a someone, who is living and active in our world and who desires a relationship with us.

The question is: Are we simply going through the motions of faith, or do we have a personal, living relationship with Jesus Christ?

Jesus becomes present, really present -Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, all that is Jesus- in the Blessed Sacrament. He does this so that we can encounter him and so that he can transform us through this encounter.

Thank you for joining me today.

I invite you to join me again next month, as I continue this series on “The Eucharist: The Gift that just keeps on giving, and giving, and giving.”

We will then reflect on another one of the 13 Eucharistic Prayers that may be used during Mass.

May God bless you today and throughout the week.

All of the videos in this series can be found here: Reflections on the Eucharistic Prayers.

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[Fr. Ron Will, a Precious Blood priest and spiritual director, is a graduate of Catholic Theological Union and Creighton University’s School of Christian Spirituality. He has a special interest in helping form intentional disciples of Jesus, encouraging others to go spiritually deep-sea diving to explore a deeper relationship with God, and walking with people as they dive into the ocean of God’s mystery actually experiencing God rather than simply dipping one’s toe into the water.]

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