Coming to the Lord's Table - The Communion Rite -- #2

The communion rite follows the Eucharistic Prayer. This great prayer ends with the prayer of praise addressed to God the Father through Christ in the unity of the Spirit. The priest and the deacon lifts high the bread and the cup. The priest sings: "Through him (Christ), with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, forever and ever." The entire assembly sings Amen robustly and repeatedly. This is the highpoint of the Eucharistic Prayer. The prayer of praise is called the doxology because the church, in the ritual gesture of raising up the Eucharistic bread and cup on high, offers the sacrifice of Christ to God, the Almighty Father. The gathered church looks upon this offering raised up on high and sings the Great Amen.

God then provides the holy meal of the Eucharist, the body and the blood of the Lord, for this assembly. The communion rite begins with the Lord's Prayer. The prayer spells out our relationship with God. The text is originally found in the gospel of Matthew and another rendition is in the gospel of Luke. The prayer has roots in the Jewish spirituality that the disciples knew.

The prayer is simple. For that reason, it is often the first prayer that we learn. Catechists use the prayer text as a model when adult catechumens and children learn the art of praying. This prayer sums up the entire gospel. If you learn this prayer by heart and etch it in your memory, you will put on the attitudes required of disciples.

Many early Christian writers instructed newly initiated Christians through their sermons and commentaries on the Lord's Prayer. A copy of this prayer is handed over during Lent to those whom God chooses for baptism on the Easter night.

The prayer is simple. Christians do not use a lot of titles nor do we heap up many epithets to address God. We simply say Abba, dearest One. Our relationship with God is one of creature to creator, daughter and son dwelling with a Father who is affectionate, tender, and loving. God, as it were, cradles us as a mother or father cradles an infant in their arms. Our relationship with God is based on trust and on experience. God is not aloof. God- Abba makes a covenant and God remains trustworthy in this relationship. God does not back down from friendship and love. God does not abandon or abuse us.

The Lord's Prayer is at once profoundly personal and communal. We say Our Father. God belongs to all people. God has a large household. People of every continent and climate, of every country and culture are equally children of God.

So what is unique in our relationship with God? We are adopted daughters and sons in Christ. We are given the Spirit and are able to say Abba.

Service at the Table of the Lord says "Because of its themes of bread, forgiveness and mutual peace, the Lord's Prayer has been used in all liturgical traditions as the most appropriate preparation for communion. The Lord's Prayer belongs to the whole assembly for it is the prayer of all God's children and sums up all our prayer thus far in the liturgy (p. 5)."