THE P RTAL
September 2017 Page 19
Offered , blessed , broken and shared
The Mass by Arnold Herron
It was the great Anglican scholar Dom Gregory Dix who said the Eucharist was bound by Offered , Blessed , Broken and Shared . As I contemplated these thoughts of Dix it occurred to me that they capture the whole Catholic Faith .
At Mass bread is offered at the Offertory . The priest places the bread upon the Altar after it has been brought to the Sanctuary by two members of the congregation . He says the Offertory prayers and the bread is placed upon the corporal .
In this action the bread is offered to God the Father without reserve . Bread , the ordinary staff of life . It is food we have for an ordinary meal , but it is food we also have for a special meal . It is this bread that is offered to our Heavenly Father .
During the Eucharistic Prayer , the Canon of the Mass , the bread is blessed by the words of the priest . These words are the Dominical Words : “ This is my body ...” I notice the absoluteness of these words . It is not that the bread stands for His Body , or that it will remind us of His body , the words are total . This is my Body . The bread becomes totally at one with Our Lord Jesus Christ .
The bread becomes His Body . But it becomes His Heavenly Body , His risen Body . It is indeed the Bread of Angels , Panis Angelicus as Cesar Franck would have it . So after these words have been spoken over the bread , it is bread no longer , any more than the wine is wine once the words “ This is my Blood ” have been spoken over it . The Eucharistic elements have become the very Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ . He is on our Altar in our Church .
The Lord ’ s Prayer is said , and as the congregation sing “ Agnus Dei ” the priest breaks the bread into two or more pieces . Just as Our Lord ’ s Precious Body was broken on the Cross , so the Heavenly Body upon our Altar is broken . The Divine sacrifice is as total as is the breaking of the Host on our Altar .
Finally , we all come forward with extreme reverence and receive that Holy Body into ourselves . I always receive directly onto my tongue because it is so holy , so precious . I remember that it is Our Lord ’ s Heavenly Body that I am receiving . The Food of Angels .
Back in my place in the congregation I remember that Our Lord himself was offered to us in His earthly life . In the stable in Bethlehem , He is offered to us unconditionally . With Our Lady and St Joseph , with the Shepherds , and Magi , God offers His Son to us .
At His Baptism , Jesus is greatly blessed . “ This is my son listen to him ,” are the words and with John the Baptist Jesus is greatly blessed . Then , as we have said , His body is broken on the cross . But now , risen ascended and glorified , He is shared among us all .
However , these words do not cease their meaning there . We ourselves are offered to God our Father . At our Baptism and at Confirmation we are offered to Him . V . Do you reject Satan ? R . I do . V . And all his works ? R . I do . V . And all his empty promises ? R . I do .
Then every Sunday when we make our way to the Altar to receive Holy Communion , we too are blessed . Every time the priest gives us the blessing we are – of course – blessed . Having the supreme gift of human life , we are blessed .
We are broken , our sin , our selfishness , our pride is broken , and through the Sacrament of Confession we receive His forgiveness .
Then at the very end of Mass , we leave the church with those words ringing in our ears , that we go in the peace of Christ . We are charged with sharing what we have become in the Mass with those we meet . Not to do so , is a betrayal of our promises and the gifts we have received .
So those four words , Offered , Blessed , Broken and Shared are at the heart of what it is to be a Catholic , for they are at the heart of the Catholic Faith itself .