Growing up Catholic in the 50’s and 60’s, attending church on Sunday meant “going to mass and receiving Holy Communion.”  The focus in my family was receiving worthily.  Every Saturday afternoon my father brought us to confession so that we would be pure enough to receive the Blessed Sacrament.  I’m sure my father’s intentions were good, but the focus on my faults and failings skewed my image of Jesus who came not to denounce sinners but to save them.  Instead of approaching the altar with joy in my heart, I often faced it with dread that I had forgotten to confess some sin and that my unworthiness would damn me to hell for all eternity.   

Now, with the help of people of faith who guided me, and God’s amazing grace, I approach the Eucharistic celebration with thankfulness, joy, awe, and a desire for transformation into the heart of Christ.  Sacrosanctum Concilium maintains that Jesus instituted the eucharistic sacrifice as “a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity” (VCII 135). 

In the book “Christian Symbol and Ritual” Cooke and Macy’s explanation of the commemoration of the last supper of Jesus maintains that “by sharing this meal, we are pledging ourselves to live as Jesus did…it empowers us to be the risen Christ for each other and for everyone we meet” (94).  They also maintain that even in our diversity of worship, “All Christians would agree that somehow the risen Christ is present in the community and in its celebrations” (99).  

Johnson’s chapter on the theology of Eucharist was filled with so many beautiful prayers from the greatest theologians of Christianity, but the prayer that really spoke to me was from Basil of Caesarea, part of his prayer reads, “And we, sinners and unworthy and wretched, pray you, our God in adoration that in the good pleasure of your goodness your Holy Spirit may descend upon us and upon these gifts that have been set before you, and may sanctify and make them holy of holies.  Make us all worthy to partake of your holy things for sanctification of soul and body, that we may become one body and one spirit and may have our portion with all the saints who have been pleasing  to you from eternity” (Sacraments and Worship 206).  No, none of us are worthy, but Christ has made us worthy by his passion and death and has left us the gift of Eucharist where we can participate as community in giving thanks to our God and be “nourished at the table of the Lord’s Body” (SC 135).