Mass Times

Eucharistic Celebration

The celebration of the Eucharist is not a private devotion but rather a communal gathering much like a family meal. We come together at the same time and in the same place so that we can take part in a common action. We open with a ceremony of pardoning, a way to unburden ourselves of past offenses so that we can rejoice in one another’s company.

The assembled community participates in the celebration by listening to the proclamation of the Word and by bringing their lives to the altar to be offered in union with the Passion and Death of Jesus. The entire community participates through responses, gestures, and song, and some members of the community assume special ministerial roles as ushers, lectors, and Eucharistic ministers.

The participants are filled first with the Word of God and then with the Body and Blood of Christ. Because of his Baptism, the priest participates in the celebration as do the other members of the community. But he has a special role to fulfill because of his ordination. His configuration to Christ in a special way empowers him to preside at the Eucharistic celebration and to pronounce the words that will make Christ present in the Eucharist.