12 Sessions for ADULT Catechesis
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12 Sessions for ADULT Catechesis Contents ANIMA CHRISTI PRAYER .................................................................................................................................... 2 Catechesis #1: What is the Eucharist? Presence, Communion, Sacrifice – Source & Summit! ....................... 3 Catechesis #2: Encountering Jesus in the Eucharist ........................................................................................ 8 Catechesis #3: Praying with Jesus in the Eucharist: ARRR ............................................................................ 13 Catechesis #4: Praying with Jesus in the Eucharist: Lectio Divina ................................................................ 18 Catechesis #5: The Scriptural Basis of the Eucharist...................................................................................... 25 Catechesis #6: The Mass: Sacrifice, Thanksgiving, Memorial, Presence ...................................................... 30 Catechesis #7: The Transcendence of the Mass ............................................................................................ 34 Catechesis #8: Eucharistic Miracles ............................................................................................................... 39 Catechesis #9: Holy Communion ................................................................................................................... 44 Catechesis #10: Worship of the Holy Eucharist: Eucharistic Adoration ....................................................... 49 Catechesis #11: Mary, Mother of the Eucharist ............................................................................................ 53 Catechesis #12: The Pledge of the Glory to Come ......................................................................................... 60 1 ANIMA CHRISTI PRAYER Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me. Within thy wounds hide me. Suffer me not to be separated from thee. From the malicious enemy defend me. In the hour of my death call me. And bid me come to thee, That with thy saints I may praise thee for ever and ever. Amen. 2 The Year of the Eucharist Catechesis #1: What is the Eucharist? Presence, Communion, Sacrifice – Source & Summit! ADULT LESSON Event Catechesis: What is the Eucharist? Presence, Communion, Sacrifice – Source & Summit! Event Category Catechesis Brief Description of Event This is an introductory lesson on the Eucharist, meant to cover the 3 aspects of the mystery of the Eucharist in brief – each of these aspects will be addressed in more depth in future lessons. Length of Time Needed 1 hour, or, if a meal or snacks are included: 1.5-1.75 hours Schedule of the Event • Meal, with the whole community (optional, 30-45 minutes) • Break into age levels (PS-2; 3-5, MS, HS, adults) • Lesson, with activities or discussion (45 minutes) • Gather the whole community in the chapel for a testimony (5-7 minutes) • Closing prayer and blessing in the chapel (5 minutes) • Snacks and fellowship (optional, and possible alternative to a meal, 15-30 minutes) Goal Deeper understanding of what the Eucharist is, love for Christ who gives himself to us in the Eucharist, a desire to receive him in the Eucharist Age level(s) Adults Review NA Preparation Speaker begins with an opening prayer. Proclamation Jesus comes to us in the Holy Eucharist, so that he can be with us. Explanation • What is the Eucharist? • Definition: The true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, who is really and substantially present under the appearances of bread and wine, in order to offer himself in the sacrifice of the Mass and to be received as spiritual food in Holy Communion. It is called Eucharist, or "thanksgiving," because at its institution at the Last Supper Christ "gave thanks," and by this fact it is the supreme object and act of Christian gratitude to God. Although the same name is used, the Eucharist is any one or all three aspects of one mystery, namely the Real Presence, the Sacrifice, and Communion. As Real Presence, the Eucharist is Christ in his abiding existence on earth today; as Sacrifice, it is Christ in his abiding action of High Priest, continuing now to communicate the graces he merited on Calvary; and as Communion, it is Christ coming to enlighten and strengthen the believer by nourishing his soul for eternal life. (Etym. Latin eucharistia, the virtue of thanksgiving or thankfulness; from Greek eucharistia, gratitude; from eu-, good + charizesthai, to show favor.) (From Catholic Dictionary, by Fr. John Hardon SJ) • The Son of God became a man, so that he could be with us, to save us by reconciling us with God, that we might know God’s love for us, to be 3 our model of holiness, to make us “partakers of the divine nature” (cf. CCC 456-460, 2 Pet 1:4). • His love for us is so great that he joined us, by becoming a man, not just for a temporary visit to earth, but he is and will be a man for all eternity. He did this so that he could be with us. • But he goes further than that — he suffers and dies on the cross to free us from slavery to sin, so that he can be with us. • But he goes further than that — he comes to us now, in the form of bread and wine, so that he can be with us. He comes to us in the Eucharist so that we can be with him in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, and so that he can be united with us in Holy Communion. He doesn’t want to wait for heaven. He wants to be with us now. He has great joy in being with us. • “Although the same name is used, the Eucharist is any one or all three aspects of one mystery, namely the Real Presence, the Sacrifice, and Communion”: • Real Presence: “As Real Presence, the Eucharist is Christ in his abiding existence on earth today”; The Eucharist is the “true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, who is really and substantially present under the appearances of bread and wine”: • Christ is present in many ways to us — he is present in the word (Scripture), in the community - the Body of Christ, in the priest who stands in persona Christi, but “he is present... most especially in the Eucharistic species” (CCC 1373, cf. SC 7). • We can’t point at the Scriptures and say “There is Jesus”; and we can’t point at the community and say “There is Jesus”; and we can’t point at the priest and say “There is Jesus”; but we CAN point at the Eucharist and say “There is Jesus.” • In the Most Blessed Sacrament, “the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained” (CCC 1374, cf. Council of Trent (1551): DS 1651). • This is called the Real Presence. “...it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present” (CCC 1374, cf. Paul VI, MF 39). • (This will be covered more fully in a future lesson) • Sacrifice: “as Sacrifice, it is Christ in his abiding action of High Priest, continuing now to communicate the graces he merited on Calvary”; Christ makes himself present in the Eucharist “in order to offer himself in the sacrifice of the Mass”: • “The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit” (CCC 1366). “The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice” (CCC 1367). Here the Paschal Mystery, Christ’s work for our redemption, is made present to us. • (This will be covered more fully in a future lesson) • Communion: “as Communion, it is Christ coming to enlighten and strengthen the believer by nourishing his soul for eternal life”; Christ makes himself present in the Eucharist in order “to be received as spiritual food in Holy Communion”: • When we receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, under the form of bread and wine, we are in communion 4 with him — union with — we are united to him. We receive him into our bodies and are nowhere else more closely united with him than we are here. • (This will be covered more fully in a future lesson) • Source & Summit: • “The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life’” (CCC 1324, cf. SC 47). • The other sacraments, the ministries and apostolate of the Church, are all connected to the Eucharist and oriented toward it — it all points to the Eucharist and flows from it. The whole good of the Church is found in the Eucharist because this is Christ himself. • The Eucharist is the sign and the cause of our communion, our union with God, and our unity with the whole People of God. The Eucharist brings us into union with God. • Here Christ’s sacrifice for our salvation is made present to us. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are united with the heavenly liturgy and we look forward to eternal life with God. • The Eucharist is the heart of the life of the Church. Application Spend some time in discussion, either in small groups, or if the group is already small, stay together. Discussion questions: 1) Have you ever thought about why Jesus gives us the Eucharist? 2) It’s easy to forget who this is when we go up to receive Communion. How can we remember that he is giving himself to us and drawing us close to him? 3) The speaker said that the Eucharist refers to three aspects of one mystery: the Real Presence, the Sacrifice, and Communion. He is truly and substantially present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the Eucharist; He offered himself in sacrifice on the cross, a sacrifice that is made present to us on the altar at the Mass (not sacrificed again, but the one sacrifice is made present there); He is united with us in Holy Communion and nourishes us. How can we enter more fully into that mystery? 4) The speaker said that the Eucharist is the Source and Summit of the Christian life. This is where I have union with Christ. How can I make the Eucharist the Source and Summit of my life? 5) Where and how can I encounter Jesus more often in the Eucharist? Invite some people to share their thoughts form the discussion time.