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HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE COMMUNION AND CONCLUDING RITES
† Communion and the Concluding Rites
Our great prayer of praise and thanksgiving leads through the Lord's Prayer, our petition for daily bread, into the action of Communion. We sing together even as we rise and move forward in procession to the altar. We must move to receive Communion because the Eucharist is transformative—it demands action of us, internal as well as external. We do not receive the sacrament in silence, but with a dialogue that is a profession of faith: "The Body of Christ." "Amen." "The Blood of Christ." "Amen." Our "Amen" is also a prayer that we may become what we receive, the Body of Christ, living and active in the world. So it makes sense that after Communion we are dismissed—not just let out, but sent forth with a mission "to announce the gospel of the Lord." This leave-taking is joined to a blessing, a prayer for God's continuing protection as we go out on our way.
† New Words in the Communion and Concluding Rites
The priest invites us to come forward to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord by calling us to the "supper of the Lamb" and we will respond: "Lord, I am not worthy / that you should enter under my roof, / but only say the word / and my soul shall be healed." This calls to mind the Gospel story of Jesus healing the centurion's servant (Matthew 8:8).
When we are blessed and dismissed from the Mass to continue living our Christian mission, we recall the presence of the Spirit one more time in the dialogue "The Lord be with you." "And with your spirit." The priest or deacon will have two new options for the dismissal: "Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord" or "Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life." Our response—at Mass and each day—is "Thanks be to God!"
Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.