Saint Joseph’s :: Resources :: GIRM

A white swan at the side of a loke with its wings slightly raised.

GIRM Mission

More than ever, our troubled world ... demands that Christians learn to experience the Eucharist as a great school of peace.

John Paul II - Mane Nobiscum Domine

There was once an Irish bishop who used to recite the following: “Paddy Murphy went to Mass, and never missed a Sunday. Paddy Murphy went to hell, for what he did on Monday”. Perhaps Paddy Murphy was one of those people who always left straight after communion. Maybe he never heard the words, “Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord”. At the Eucharist we renew our covenant with God. We offer ourselves to the Lord, we receive his life at communion, and then we are sent out. The time after communion is not an end, but a beginning.

     The Church teaches that the sacramental presence of Jesus lasts whilst the eucharistic species (the Body and the Blood) remain. So, about ten to fifteen minutes. It’s a precious time, and it’s worth giving some thought as to how best to spend it. Considering the difficulty of our mission as Christians, spending a few minutes quietly asking for strength and determination for the week ahead would be a wise investment. When the Mass has ended there really is no need to rush off. Take your time, you’ll never have it again.

The renewal in the eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and his people draws the faithful into the compelling love of Christ and sets them on fire.
Celebrating the Mass, 10

     Each of us has our own unique mission - a mission that only we are given. In our individual circumstances though, there is something that we all must take from the the Mass: Christ’s peace. We must take it, and we must share it. As John Paul II said, we must learn to experience the Eucharist as a great school of peace. We must forgive those who sin against us, exactly as we have prayed during the Mass. We must work for reconcilliation in our families, and each situation that we find ourselves in. If we do that, we will be teaching people about Jesus, and we will be living out our mission to love and to serve.

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