EUCHARIST  IN  TURMOIL

The great challenge today is to convert the sacred bread into real bread, the liturgical peace into political peace, the worship of the Creator into reverence for the Creation, the Christian praying community into an authentic human fellowship. It is risky to celebrate the Eucharist. We may have to leave it unfinished, having gone first to give back to the poor what belongs to them.                                                                 Raimundo Panikkar.

General Background

Over the Christian centuries we have inherited TWO foundational understandings of Eucharist: Eucharist as Sacrifice and Eucharist as Sacred Meal. The former emphasizes the fact that Jesus, on the night before he died, celebrated a special meal exclusively with the twelve, now known as the Last Supper. Early Christians interpreted that event as a reenactment of the Jewish Passover meal with Jesus himself symbolically representing the Paschal Lamb in the shedding of his own blood through his crucifixion. In this way Jesus became the sacrificial victim through which salvation is made possible for all. Each Eucharist is meant to be a reenactment of this fact, with the priest as the primary representative of the sacrificial Jesus.
 

The alternative interpretation, of Eucharist as a Sacred Meal, takes all the meals which Jesus shared with his followers – and not merely one – as emblematic of the God who is poured out in generous nourishment for all people, a God we come to know mysteriously yet intimately every time we share food with loved ones. Eucharist is a formal ritual re-enactment of this experience, known to peoples of every age and culture.

 
In recent decades, the latter understanding is deemed to be the more foundational to the original meaning of Eucharist, and in all probability this understanding is closer to the practice initiated by Jesus in the Gospels. In this approach, it is the people of God, rather than the priest, who become the primary focus. Eucharist comes to be seen as a people’s sacred ritual around the celebration of the gift of food, with the priest acting as a facilitator in a three-dimensional ritual (sacramental) process of gathering the people, to tell their story, in the breaking of bread. Parallels to this approach are found in virtually every great religion and in the faith-practices of indigenous peoples all over the world.

 

Theologically, the second model is much more congruent with the Gospel vision of the Kingdom of God, what is now regarded as the foundational vision which inspired the historical Jesus in his life and ministry. Striving to honour the Jewish background of Jesus, and his use of Aramaic as his native language, the Kingdom of God is sometimes translated today as the Companionship of Empowerment. This illuminates further the significance of the meals Jesus shared with his followers, particularly, with the powerless and outcasts, who were empowered through their participation in the open, inclusive table of N.T commensality.

 

A Meal of Mutual Empowerment

The attached Eucharistic Prayers (hence EPs)seek to honour the second interpretation of Eucharist as a ritual of the open, egalitarian table, to which all are welcome regardless of class or status, and from which nobody should ever be excluded. The priest is a ritual facilitator, very much in keeping with the role of the mother in Jewish Shabat meal, the original model used by Christians in developing Eucharistic celebrations, but also honouring the oldest definition of Priesthood known to all Christian Churches, namely the vision of the priest as the servus servorum Dei (the servant of the servants of God). In this Eucharistic context, the Priest has no power other than that of being a facilitator for empowerment in the ritual context.

 

The primary power in every Eucharistic celebration resides with the living Spirit of God, not with the priest or people. From earliest times the Church has honoured this fact through the notion of the Epiclesis: the invocation of the Holy Spirit. When I studied theology, I was told by my Jesuit professor, that the Epiclesis is the heart and soul of the Eucharistic prayer. It was several years later before I fully internalized that truth.  

 

The Catholic Church uses a double invocation of the Holy Spirit, which I have retained the attached EPs, firstly invoking the Spirit over the gifts of bread and wine, and secondly over the people of God to reinforce their unity as a Christian people. The first invocation comes before the words of Consecration, indicating that the real power for change in the Eucharistic elements (however we understand it) is activated through the invocation of the Holy Spirit and not through any special words uttered by the priest. The second tends to be located as the  second paragraph after the Eucharistic acclamation.

 

Other Christian traditions combine the two into one, with the primary emphasis of invoking the Spirit upon the people, thus making the people of focus of the Spirit’s transformative power. Some commentators (e.g Crockett 1999) suggest that this may have been the original emphasis when the concept of the Epiclesis was first developed. I rather like the notion of the double Epiclesis as it truly highlights where the emphasis should rest. The Holy Spirit, who is the agent of all creativity throughout the length and breadth of creation, logically becomes the primary agent for change and transformation even in the Eucharist itself.

 

Who is meant to invoke the Holy Spirit? My impression is that theologians are quite clear on this matter but may not always state it forthrightly: the baptized people of God gathered in worship. It is both their privilege and responsibility, and should not be taken from them to fulfill clerical power or control. Ritually, it would therefore be ideal for the gathered body to pray aloud and together the two paragraphs related to the Epiclesis. Gestures can also be added and in my experience they enrich the underlying meaning. For the first invocation all can be invited to extend their hands over the gifts of bread and wine. And for the second Epiclesis, with the emphasis on the unity of the gathered group, people can be invited to link hand to shoulder with the person to their right or left.

 

In theological terms, what is needed primarily for a valid Eucharist Prayer is the invocation of the Holy Spirit (Epiclesis), whether done as one articulation or in a two-fold expression. What then of the words of Consecration? These words certainly belong to the inherited tradition, and carry a primordial memory of what Jesus said at the Last Supper, and probably at several other meals as well. In praying these two paragraphs, we are touching into the power of sacred memory. Perhaps, therefore, instead of retaining the words exclusively for the priest, they should be prayed by those in the worshipping group who carry responsibilities around the ongoing life of that particular community, e.g., a parish council in a parochial setting, the staff of a school or Retreat Centre, the leadership team of a religious community.  

Praying the Meal Dimension


Contemporary lay people, especially those versed in, or familiar with, creation spirituality query the wisdom of invoking the Holy Spirit to change the elements into something more holy or sacred. “Are the elements not already holy and sacred?” they rightly ask. They detect a kind of spiritual tautology that certainly requires an adult response. Firstly, when dealing with ritual, humans do occasionally use language in ways that may not make rational sense, perhaps to articulate something akin to Paul Riceour’s surplus of meaning. We acknowledge the Holy Spirit to be the co-creative energy activating every experience of transformation. How to articulate it in an adult and responsible way is the challenge at hand.

 

In the EPs below I have taken on board this concern and created formulations along the lines of invoking the Spirit to awaken in ourselves a deeper awareness of the sacredness inherent in these Spirit-filled gifts, so that in receiving them we too are transformed – i.e, nourished and empowered – for our Christian lives. We invoke the Spirit to make us more aware of the sacredness that is already there in the elements. In other words, it is we ourselves, rather than the gifts, that need to be transformed. By adopting this approach, interestingly, one may be reclaiming at least one line of thought from early Christian times in which the invoking of the Spirit upon the people was seen as the primary aspect of the Epiclesis.  

 

Regarding the issue of Eucharistic change, whether explained as trans-substantiation, trans-signification, or whatever, I do believe that change is activated in a way that is both real and mysterious. I have found the work of Masaru Emoto, a Japanese physicist, immensely helpful on this question. He has conducted several experiments on water, indicating beyond doubt that human intentionality can profoundly affect the essential nature of another life-substance such as water (see his book, The Miracle of Water, 2007). If human intentionality is this powerful, I would imagine the sacramental invocation of the Holy Spirit by worshipping people (particularly if they are aware of what they are doing) would be all the more powerful and transformative.

 

I now come to the two paragraphs popularly known as the “Consecration.” It is widely assumed that these two paragraphs represent respectively the elements of food and drink used in most meals. This is an erroneous assumption. The paragraph related to the bread represents the entire meal, and therefore the words: “Take and eat . . .” should really be “Take eat and drink . . .” as outlined in the attached EPs.

 

The paragraph related to the cup is rich in subversive meaning. This represents not the drink aspect of the meal, but the cup of libation, consumed after the meal in the banqueting tradition of ancient Greece and Rome (see the seminal research of Dennis Smith, in Tausig 2009). A modern equivalent is the aperitif, an after dinner drink usually consumed in the less formal context of a lounge or sitting room.  As used by the Greeks, the participants of the meal, now retired to a less formal space, lifted their cups as a tribute to the Gods, or to some outstanding local hero. The Romans typically paid tribute to the Emperor, widely regarded as a divine figurehead.

 

It seems the early Christians adopted the custom, and re-assigned it a deliberate subversive (and prophetic) significance. They lifted their cups as a tribute to Jesus, the one in whom is sealed a new covenant, more noble and empowering than the covenant of Greek deity or the Roman Emperor. This brings to the Eucharistic celebration a strong political and justice dimension. There can be no authentic empowering without challenging the forces that disempower and undermine creativity. There can be no authentic nourishment of persons without seeking to rectify the systemic forces that starve people of true freedom and dignity.

 

Both priests and people need to be educated on the true meaning of the “consecration” of the cup. It is the cup of libation, the significance of which is well explained by Hal Tausig (2009). The attached EPs reflect this correct understanding. I have also omitted the words “so that sins may be forgiven.” These words, cited only in Matthew’s Gospel, probably do not belong to the earlier tradition, and may be indicative of an atonement flavour already entering into the early understanding of Eucharist.

I also add an alternative Proclamation of Faith, striving to move away from the Passion and Death of Jesus (Eucharist as sacrifice) towards a proclamation of the God who nourishes prodigiously in all the nourishing potential of creation.   

The rest of the Eucharistic Prayer, including the Preface can be prayed aloud by the gathered community, but with partial voices rather than as a whole group. The voice of the whole group is best kept for the double Epiclesis along with the Eucharistic Acclamation and the Doxology (last paragraph). Other parts of the prayer can be prayed in choir (two halves alternating), or by using selected voices from the body proclaiming different parts.

Eucharist as Celebration

 

Every culture that ever existed has rituals that express and explore a perceived sacred meaning in food. And there is an inexplicable mystique when food is shared to mark special occasions of joy and celebration. Meals are widely regarded as precious moments in families and in other groups of close affiliation.

 

Regarding Eucharist primarily as a meal is congruent with the fact that Rites of Passage related to food exist in every sacred tradition known to humankind. And the Christian Eucharist itself first began as an imitation of the Jewish Shabat meal, celebrated in the family home every Friday night – a custom that continues till the present time. In the Shabat meal, there is a key person, playing something akin to a presiding role, and it is the Mother, not the father, who is head of the household. And the Mother’s role is unique precisely in her capacity to facilitate the experience. This I suggest is fertile territory for a revamped understanding of Christian priesthood.

 

I wish to propose that a revitalization of Eucharist needs to start where it originally began, namely in the home, or in small household groups gathering around a common vision or enterprise (house-Churches, or basic Christian communities). In these informal and friendly groups experimentation and exploration can, and should, be normative. And in that context, the use of EPs such as those I provide seems a very adult and responsible thing to do.

 

It was inevitable that Eucharist would become more structured and formalized as numbers grew and celebrations had to be accommodated in big Churches. In the process, we lost something precious and primordial. Rubrics and formal procedures undermined the deeper message. Today, there prevails a great deal of Eucharistic starvation in our world, and the feeding of hungry hearts will require some new ventures to give fresh hope and nurturance to God’s hungering people.

 

References:   Crockett, William R. (1999), Eucharist: Symbol of Transformation.
                   Kilmartin, E.J. (1998), The Eucharist in the West: History and Theology.
                   Mendes Montoya, A.F. (2009), Theology of Food: Eating and the Eucharist.
                   O'Loughlin, Thomas (2015), The Eucharist: Origins and Contemporary Understandings 
                   O’Murchu, Diarmuid (2011), Christianity’s Dangerous Memory, Chapter 6.
                                               (2015), Inclusivity: A Gospel Mandate, Chapter 6.                                 
                   Tausig, Hal (2009), In the Beginning was the Meal.
                    

EUCHARISTIC PRAYERS

(ITALIC print indicates the Invocation of the Holy Spirit, the central feature of a Eucharistic Prayer).

1. EUCHARISTIC PRAYER: CALLING FORTH THE ADULT

Preface:
Gracious God, we gather to acclaim our thanks and praise.
You have called us into birth and gifted our youthfulness.
You have protected our growth and blessed our maturity.
You have graced our transitions, amid the changes of life.
And you have called us as a people of faith, to embrace
our world with faith and new vision.
With gratitude in our hearts we thank you for being our companion
on the journey. And in union with all who lift their voices in joy,
we, too, acclaim our song of praise:  Holy, Holy, etc.

Gracious God, all creation celebrates your empowering presence.
All your creatures hunger for the new life you promise.
In Jesus, our friend and liberator, you reveal our humanity come of age,
the evolutionary fulfillment of many aeons,
the invitation to wholeness and the promise of new life.

First Invocation:
In the power f the creative Spirit, Jesus lived life to the full.
We, too, are blessed in the power of that same Spirit,
which we now invoke upon all gathered here,
to celebrate the transformative energy,
symbolized in our gifts of bread and wine,
given to nourish and sustain us into the fullness of life.

Invoking the memory of the tradition:
While sharing a feast at table, Jesus took bread,
blessed you, God of all good gifts.
Jesus broke the bread, and along with the cup,
shared it among friends and said:
Take this all of you: eat and drink;
this is my body which will be given up for you.

After the meal, Jesus took another cup,
poured out in a spirit of solidarity and empowerment.
Jesus gave thanks and handed the cup to those at table saying:
Take this all of you and drink from it;
this is the cup of my life-blood,
the life of the new and everlasting covenant.
In prophetic solidarity, it is poured out for you and for all.
Sustain one another in sacred memory.

Eucharistic Acclamation
Nurtured by your Word, nourished by your food;
Called anew to be your people, we acclaim your praise.

As a Christian people we inherit a story of liberation and new life.
We remember the blessings of ages past, and we look forward in hope,
knowing that you, our wise and faithful God,
will continue to empower us in our earthly mission.

Second Invocation:
As a people called to mature and adult faith, we invoke upon
all gathered here, the empowering Spirit of courage and wisdom,
so that we, too, are empowered to be agents of Gospel liberation.

We unite in thought and prayer with all who are weighed down by oppression,
trapped in poverty, victimised by violence and exploitation.
We grieve for all who will never reach their full potential,
because of the greed perpetuated by unjust systems.

Bless us, O God of liberation, to work for the freedom of all,
to bring about a world where justice can reign and love can flourish.
In the fellowship of our faith, with all the living and those gone before us,
confirm our hearts in this resolve. May we never betray that fullness of life
to which you invite all your people.

Doxology:
This prayer we make in the name of our Creator God and liberating Spirit,
whom Jesus embodied as our primary model: in with and through whom
we offer our praise, this day and forever. Amen.

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2. EUCHARISTIC PRAYER: NOURISH MY PEOPLE

Preface:
God of life, you nurture and sustain your people.
You bless us with abundance; you gift us with your graciousness;
you know our every need.

In the birthing forth of creation you call us into being.
You gift us with healthy and wholeness; you sustain our every endeavour.
You feed your hungering people.

You call us to work for justice, to share our table with all creation,
to feed the needy at our door, to see nobody left in need.

For the blessing of your gifts, and the challenge of your call to us,
we lift our voices as we acclaim in song your gracious love: Holy, Holy, etc.

The table we share is adorned with the gifts of creation,
gifts given for all to share in equality and justice, a table where all are welcome,
and from which nobody is to be excluded, from the greatest even to the least.

As a Christian people we celebrate the open table,
proclaimed by Jesus our liberator and our friend,
a table of abundant life, inclusive love, and redemptive liberation.

First Invocation:
In the power of the creative Spirit, Jesus lived life to the full.
We, too, are blessed in the power of that same Spirit,
which we now invoke upon all gathered here,
to celebrate the transformative energy
symbolized in our gifts of bread and wine,
given to nourish and sustain us into the fullness of life.

Invoking the memory of tradition:
While sharing a feast at table, Jesus took bread,
blessed you, God of all good gifts.
Jesus broke the bread and along with the cup,
shared it among friends, and said:
Take this all of you and eat and drink:
this is my body which will be given up for you.

After the meal, Jesus took another cup,
poured out in a spirit of solidarity and empowerment.
Jesus gave thanks and shared the cup with his friends,
saying: Take this all of you and drink from it; this is the cup of my life-blood,
the life of the new and everlasting covenant.
In prophetic solidarity, it is poured out for you and for all.
Sustain one another in the power of sacred memory.

Eucharistic Acclamation
Nurtured by your word, nourished by your food;
Called anew to be your people, we acclaim your praise.

As we celebrate this Eucharistic feast, we call to mind that we are a people
nourished throughout the ages; and we look forward in hope to that day
when the justice of our God will guarantee food
for all who hunger for the fullness of life.

Second Invocation:
With grateful hearts we receive the gifts of this table.
May the creative Spirit who energizes these gifts,
activate in our hearts, too, a hunger for that justice
that will guarantee sustenance for every human being.

In the spirit of this celebration, we rejoice and thank our God for all
we have received; but we do so in the painful awareness
of all who are excluded from the table of God’s abundant life.

Awaken in us, O God, a passion for equality and generosity of spirit,
that all may be brought to the table of abundance,
from which our God wants no one to be excluded.

Doxology:
This prayer we make in union with all God’s people, living and dead,
and particularly with those laboring for justice in our world.
May we all know the blessing of our loving God,
Creator, Liberator, and Holy Spirit, in whose power we gather here,
nourished and sustained, now and forever.  Amen.

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3. EUCHARISTIC PRAYER: Wisdom

Preface:
Wise and faithful God, you have birthed us in goodness,
gifted us with life and cherished us in love.
In the heart of our being, your Spirit dwells;
a Spirit of courage and vision, a Spirit of wisdom and truth.

In the power of that same Spirit, we lift our hearts in prayer,
invoking anew the gift of wisdom and enlightenment,
that we may continue to praise and thank you, in union with
all who sing the ancient hymn of praise: Holy, Holy, etc.

Creator God, we see around us the work of your hands,
the fruit of your wisdom and love. The unfolding story of
creation witnesses unceasingly to your creative power.
We, your creatures, often deviate from that wisdom,
thus hindering your creative presence in our midst.

Sending among us Jesus, our Saviour, you birth afresh
in our world the power of Sophia-Wisdom, and in the
gift of the Spirit, your creative goodness blooms anew,
amid the variety and wonder of life.

First Invocation:
That same Spirit we invoke upon the gifts of this
Eucharistic table, bread of the grain & vine of the grape,
that they may become the body and blood of Jesus –
to nurture afresh in us the discerning gifts of
wisdom, light and truth.

Invoking the memory of tradition:
Gathering the disciples around the table of shared wisdom,
Jesus took bread; blessed you God of all good gifts,
broke the bread and along with the cup
handed to those seeking nourishment,
with these words: Take this all of you, eat and drink:
This is my body which will be given up for you.

After the meal, Jesus took another cup,
poured out in a spirit of solidarity and empowerment.
Jesus gave thanks and shared the cup with his friends,
saying: Take this all of you and drink from it;
this is the cup of my life-blood,
the life of the new and everlasting covenant.
In prophetic solidarity, it is poured out for you and for all.
Sustain one another in the power of sacred memory.

Eucharistic Acclamation
In faith and hope we are sustained,
In grace and dignity reclaimed,
In praise, we thank our God.

As we celebrate this sacred meal, we recall the wise and gracious
gifts bestowed on us down through the ages; and we look forward
in hope, knowing that you, our wise and faithful God,
will continue to endow us with abundant blessings.

Second Invocation:
In the power of this Eucharistic meal, bless us afresh
with the gift of the Spirit, that our hearts may be open
and receptive as you invite us into the fullness of life.

In union with all peoples living and dead, we unite our thoughts
and prayers, asking wisdom and courage:
- to discern more wisely your call to us in the circumstances
  of our daily lives;
- to act justly and courageously in confronting the pain and
  suffering that desecrates the Earth and its peoples;
- to take risks in being creative and proactive on behalf
  of the poor and marginalised;
- and to love all people with generosity of heart,
  beyond the labels of race, creed and colour.

And may we ever be aware and alert to the new things the
Spirit makes possible, as our world unfolds amid pain and beauty,
into the fullness of life to which all are called,
participating in the wise and wonderful work of co-creation.

Doxology:
In the wisdom of our triune God, Creator, Liberator, and Holy Spirit,
we are blessed with the gifts of this Eucharistic table, and with all
the good things bestowed upon our world, now and forever.  Amen.

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4. EUCHARISTIC PRAYER: Healing

Preface:
Gracious God, source and sustenance of life, redeeming presence
to the pain and brokenness of our world, Holy Spirit, who
enlivens and inebriates all that exists, we beseech your
healing power upon us and upon all we pray for today.

Down through the ages, you rescue us from darkness.
you light up our ways with wise and holy people. You restore
our lost fortunes and you revive our dwindling hope.

For all you bring to our lives, and for all we seek amid
pain and suffering, we acclaim your love and greatness,
and we join with all creation to sing our hymn of praise: Holy, etc.

Source f our health and wholeness, healer of body, mind and spirit,
we bring before you the darkness of our world,
and the pain and suffering of your people.
We seek to be healed and made whole; we seek to be reconciled
and united; we seek peace in our hearts and in our world.

First Invocation:
We ask you to awaken anew in our hearts the empowering grace
of your abundant Spirit, who infuses these gifts of bread and wine
with the transforming energy of life,
to nourish and sustain us in our time of need.

Invoking the memory of tradition:
That same bread, Jesus took and broke, to restore the unity
of our broken world. Jesus blessed you, God of healing and hope,
then, along with the cup, Jesus shared the bread
with those at table saying: Take this all of you, eat and drink:
This is my body which will be given up for you.

Then offering the cup of libation,
poured out for the liberation of all, Jesus gave thanks
and shared the cup in a spirit of mutual solidarity saying:
Take this all of you and drink from it;
This is the cupof my life-blood,
the life of the new and everlasting covenant.
In prophetic solidarity, it is poured out for you and for all.
Sustain one another in the power of sacred memory.

Eucharistic Acclamation
In faith and hope we are sustained,
In grace our dignity reclaimed,
In praise we thank our God.

As we gather around this Eucharistic table, we recall God’s
blessing and love from ages past, and we celebrate anew
the gift of life which we share among us at this Eucharistic feast.

Second Invocation:
May the Spirit of life and wholeness, who transforms the
gifts we present, transform us, too, that we may be
refreshed in our inner being and be empowered to bring
mercy, love and healing to those whose lives we touch.

The bread we break and the cup we share are symbols of our world
of abundance where all are invited to partake of the fullness of life.
But that life we often impede by our greed and selfishness,
and by our exploitation of other people.

So grant, that in union with all peoples, living and dead, we may
strive to create a world where suffering and pain are diminished,
where justice and peace are restored, and where all people can
live in health and wholeness, united in acclaiming the God of life,
whose abundance is offered to each and to all, ‘til the Kingdom
arrives in the fullness of time.

Doxology:
This prayer we make in the name of our healing and nurturing God,
through, with and in whom we offer these gifts,
sources of life, love and goodness, now and forever.  Amen.

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5. EUCHARISTIC PRAYER: ON THE HOLY SPIRIT

Preface:
In the blessed abundance of creation,we gather to celebrate the nourishing gift of life.
We gather in the power of the Spirit whose breath inspires the primal waters,
calling into being the variety and abundance we see around us.

That same Spirit sustains and animates our every endeavour,
inviting us to act in wisdom and in truth.
In gratitude and joy we embrace our calling and we lift our
voices to proclaim as one the ancient song of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy . . .

As a worshiping people, we gather in the power of the Spirit,
refreshing wind, purifying fire and living breath for the variety and diversity of life.
As a Christian people we seek to live as Jesus taught us, wise and holy
as  Spirit-filled people, courageous and prophetic, ever obedient to the Spirit’s call.
 
That same Spirit we now invoke,to liberate in these gifts of bread and wine,
the nourishing power of holy wisdom, that they may
become for us the Body and Blood of Jesus our Saviour.

Invoking the memory of tradition:
Gathering the beloved community around the table of
nourishing hope, Jesus took the bread, and in grateful
remembrance offered the bread and the cup to each and to all,
uttering these words: Take this all of you, eat and drink;
This is my body which will be given up for you.

After the meal, Jesus took another cup,
poured out in a spirit of solidarity and empowerment.
Jesus gave thanks and shared the cup with his friends, saying:
Take this , all of you and drink from it;
This is the cup of my life-blood,
the life of the new and everlasting covenant.
In prophetic solidarity, it is poured out for you and for all.
Sustain one another in the power of sacred memory.

Eucharistic Acclamation
Nurtured by your Word, nourished by your food;
Called anew to be your people, we acclaim your praise.

We gather as a people of cherished memories
in a creation infused with divine energy from the dawn of time.
And we look forward in hope as the creative Spirit – amid the
chaos and confusion of life – continues to liberate
fresh possibility and enduring hope.

Second Invocation:
That same Spirit we invoke upon all who are gathered here
that our solidarity around the Eucharistic table
may awaken in us a yearning for justice and generosity,
so that all peoples can enjoy the gifts
of God’s abundant nourishment.

We unite our thoughts and prayers with all who yearn for
new life, those who are living and enrich our lives with
friendship and love; those who have died and continue to
sustain us in the cosmic communion of life.

In our daily lives may we be blessed with wisdom and courage,
with vision and resolve, forever committed to God’s reign of
justice, love and peace, faithful to God’s grace
all the days of our lives.

With grateful hearts we acclaim our faith and hope in the
Holy One: Creator, Liberator and Holy Spirit,
nourishing and sustaining us, this day and forever.  Amen.