When I was writing the posts on the different stages of spirituality, I was entertaining writing what I thought might be a Eucharistic prayer which reflected a more Stage IV spiritual understanding of the Eucharist. Instead I found that St. Mary's in Brisbane, Australia had already undertaken such a project----thus saving my readership exposure to my own pathetic attempt. Believe me, it was pathetic relative to the following:
Liturgy of the Eucharist at St. Mary’s in South Brisbane, Australia
Presider: What do you bring to Christ's table?
All: We bring bread, made by many people's work, from an unjust world where some have plenty and most go hungry
Presider: At this table all are fed and no one is turned away.
All: Thanks be to God
Presider: What do you bring to Christ's table?
All: We bring wine, made by many people's work, from an unjust world where some have leisure and most struggle to survive.
Presider: At this table all share the cup of pain and celebration and no one is denied.
All: Thanks be to God. These gifts shall be for us the body and blood of Christ. Our witness against hunger, our cry against injustice, and our hope for a world where God is fully known and every child is fed. Thanks be to God.
HYMN CONSCIOUSNESS WAKING by Jan Novotna
Consciousness Waking
Holy and Whole
Creation's stirring
Birthing anew
Now is the time
We are the space
For the Holy
To rise in our midst.
Presider: You have woven an intimate tapestry and called it life and called it good.
All: Our God, all creation calls you blessed and so do we.
Presider: In love you have formed a universe, diverse yet related. To you, each of us, as each blade of grass and each star, is an irreplaceable treasure, a companion on this journey of love
All: Our God, all creation calls you blessed, and so do we. Creator God, let your holy spirit move in power over us and over our earthly gifts of bread and wine, that they may become the body and blood of Christ. On the night before he met his death Jesus came to table with those he loved. He took bread and blessed you God of all creation; he broke the bread and said: Take this, all of you, and eat it, this is my body, which will be given up for you
Elevation of the Bread
When supper was ended, he took the cup of wine and gave thanks to you God of all creation: he passed the cup among his disciples and said: Take this, all of you, and drink from it. This is the cup of my blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.
Elevation of the Wine
MEMORIAL ACCLAIMATION - I AM Hymn By Jan Novotka
I am Inner Stillness
Deep within I am
I am Pure Love
Deep within I am
Presider: The table of bread and wine is now made ready. It is the table of company with Jesus and with all those who love Him.
All: It is the table of sharing with the poor of the world, with whom Jesus identified himself. It is the table of communion with the earth in which Christ became incarnate.
Presider: So we come to this table to renew our communion with the earth and our interwovenness with the broken ones of the world.
All: We come to this table to renew our unity with one another and with all those who have gone before us.
(A Moment of Silence)
Presider: Come! It is the risen One who invites us to meet him here.
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One of the best parts of this Eucharistic prayer is that the entire congregation and the presider say the words of the Consecration. Needless to say this co mingling of the roles of priest and laity has St. Mary's under investigation for their orthodoxy.
Apparently some Stage II folk aren't really convinced this form uses enough of the correct magic words to make Jesus actually be present in the bread and wine. (Like Jesus doesn't have a choice or something.)
In any event it still remains to be seen whether St. Mary's will have to clean up their act and become more orthodox, and hence less inclusive. St Mary's is also gay and women friendly and therefore not exactly using a communion litmus test for admission to the table. I suppose one could tell that from reading the above.
I really like this prayer very much, especially the last sentence which is about the Risen Christ. It speaks far more to where I am spiritually than any of the current four Eucharistic prayers. Too bad it's probably not long for the Catholic world.
