Parish Calendar

Liturgy of the Word
Communion Rite
The Communion Rite follows the Eucharistic Prayer, leading the faithful to the Eucharistic ta-ble. The rite begins with the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus taught this prayer to his disciples when they asked how to pray (cf. Mt 6:9-13, Lk 11:2-4). In this prayer, the people join their voices to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom and to ask God to provide for our needs, forgive our sins, and bring us to the joy of heaven. The Rite of Peace follows. The celebrant prays that the peace of Christ will fill our hearts, our families, our Church, our communities, and our world. As a sign of hope, the people extend to those around them a sign of peace.
In the Fraction Rite, the celebrant breaks the consecrated bread as the people sing the Agnus Dei or “Lamb of God.” John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). The action of breaking the bread recalls the actions of Jesus at the Last Supper, when he broke the bread before giving it to his disciples. One of the earliest names for the Eucharistic celebration is the breaking of the bread (Lk 24:35; Acts 2:42, 46).
Before receiving Holy Communion, the celebrant and assembly acknowledge their unworthi-ness to receive so great a gift. The celebrant receives Holy Communion first and then the peo-ple come forward. Those who receive Holy Communion should be prepared to receive so great a gift. They should fast (except for medicines) for at least one hour before receiving the Eucharist and should not be conscious of having committed serious sin.
Because sharing at the Eucharistic Table is a sign of unity in the Body of Christ, only those in communion with the Catholic Church may receive Holy Communion. To invite others present to receive Holy Communion implies a unity which does not exist. Those who do not receive Holy Communion still participate in this rite by praying for unity with Christ and with each other.
The people approach the altar and, bowing with reverence, receive Holy Communion. People may receive the Body of Christ either on the tongue or in the hand. The priest or other minis-ter offers the Eucharist to each person saying, “The Body of Christ.” The person receiving re-sponds by saying, “Amen,” a Hebrew word meaning, “So be it” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2856).
All may spend some time in silent prayer of thanksgiving as well. The Communion Rite ends with the Prayer after Communion which asks that the benefits of the Eucharist will remain active in our daily lives.
http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/order-of-mass.
Last week Peter was the rock foundation on which the church was built. This week Peter is an obstacle to God’s plan. Last week Peter was called blessed. This week Peter is called Satan. The truth is Peter is both—both foundation and obstacle, both blessed and seriously flawed.
Peter is both. So are we. We are all a mixture of gifts and deficiencies, talents and liabilities, blessings and flaws. And the sooner we accept this truth about ourselves, the sooner we can get on with living. The truth is that we often delude ourselves into imagining that God is looking for perfect disciples. God is not looking for perfect people. God is looking for real people. Real people often make mistakes and frequently fall short. This is what happened to Peter, and yet the good news is that despite his shortcomings and failures, Peter remained a disciple and ultimately served the Church. Peter continued to serve, and so should we.
To put this in another way: none of our failings or shortcomings can be an excuse for us not to follow Christ. Imperfect as we are, we are still called to be disciples. We are not perfect spouses. We argue; we hurt; sometimes we do not listen. But none of these shortcomings is an excuse to stop honouring the vows we exchanged on our wedding day. We are not perfect parents. We are impatient, demanding, and sometimes selfish. But none of these flaws is an excuse by which we can avoid guiding and caring for the lives of our children which have been entrusted to us. We are not perfect friends. We can be judgmental, jealous, and inflexible. But none of these flaws is an excuse to stop us from trying to keep the relationships that God has given us alive.
God has no illusions. God knows who we are and all of our failings. Yet, God still calls us to love, to forgive, and to grow. If Peter, whom Jesus called Satan, could go on to be the foundation of the Church, then, even with all of our failings, we can still be the disciples Christ calls us to be.