Click on the dots in the image above to learn more about how the Eucharist can make a difference in your life.
How does a paschal lens on life shape the way we live?
‘One of the main purposes of the Eucharist is to place a paschal lens on life. When we view all of life through that lens, we are able to evaluate what really matters in life and to put away what detracts from living real life, based on the Gospel, in the faith and life of the Church.’
- The Rev. Monsignor Kevin W. Irwin
For Your Reflection
1
In your own words, outline the meaning of this quote
2
What ‘really matters’ in your life?
3
In your opinion, what ‘detracts from living real life’?
How does celebrating the Eucharist affect the relationships in your life?
‘Worship pleasing to God can never be a purely private matter, without consequences for our relationships with others: it demands a public witness to our faith.’
- The Rev. Monsignor Kevin W. Irwin
For Your Reflection
1
Explain why this is a true claim.
2
Describe the lives of two people in the past and two people living now whose lives witness to their faith. (Instead of written answers, you could present a PowerPoint or video).
3
How does celebrating the Eucharist affect the relationships in your life?
4
How and when do you give ‘a public witness to our faith’?
What is the celebration of the Eucharist about?
‘The celebration of the Eucharist is not about getting us out of life for a respite in order that we might be touched and graced by God. Rather it is more about how this most sacred action helps us to experience the living God in this act and then to rediscover that same God in daily life.’
- The Rev. Monsignor Kevin W. Irwin
For Your Reflection
1
Why is it important not to think of the Eucharist as ‘getting us out of life for a respite’?
2
Describe a time when a liturgy helped you to feel close to God.
3
What led to this experience e.g. was there something special about the celebration or was it the way you were feeling?
4
Have there been other times when you discovered ‘that same God’ in your life? Describe that experience. Did it change your relationship with God and with others? In what ways?
When do you ‘wash feet and collect gifts for the poor’?
‘There can be no more poignant image and reminder of this than the liturgy of the Holy Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. We celebrate the Eucharist with two particular features that bespeak the spirituality inherent in every celebration of the Eucharist – we wash feet and collect gifts for the poor. We can do none of this if we live in isolation. We need to do all of this because we live in communion with one another and in God.’
- The Rev. Monsignor Kevin W. Irwin
For Your Reflection
1
Read the account of Jesus’ washing of the feet of his disciples (John 13: 1-20).
2
Why did Jesus do this? What does the symbolism mean?
3
What effect did it have on the disciples?
4
Why is it true to say that: ‘We need to do all of this’?
5
When do you ‘wash feet and collect gifts for the poor’?
For Reflection and Discussion
Undertake a self-evaluation using the following prompts:
1
What are three things I learnt from these quotations and reflections?
2
What are two questions or comments
I have?
3
What is one thing I’d like to find out more about?