Joseph DeGrocco - Take And Eat: Living Eucharistically

TAKE AND EAT:
LIVING EUCHARISTICALLY

TAKE AND EAT:
LIVING
EUCHARISTICALLY

Msgr. Joseph DeGrocco

An Imprint of

CATHOLIC BOOK PUBLISHING CORP.

Totowa New Jersey

First published in September 2010 by

Copyright 2010 by Msgr. Joseph DeGrocco

eISBN 978-1-933066-15-8

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2010928255

Mass texts quoted in this book reflect the most recent translation of the Roman Missal. Although as of this writing the Missal has not yet gone into effect, the new translation of the Eucharistic Prayers has received the recognitio from Rome. The texts of the Roman Missal used herein are taken from http://www.usccb.org/romanmissal/

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover design by Geoffrey Butz

www.catholicbookpublishing.com

Dedication

To my parents, William S. and Marsille DeGrocco,

who taught me about eucharistic living

with the bread and wine

and the

taking, blessing, breaking, and giving

of our family life.

Contents

Introduction

I LOVE liturgy! Ever since my early days in seminary formation studying for the priesthood, I have loved the study of the liturgy. I am thrilled and privileged that I had the opportunity to do graduate studies in liturgy, and I love my current priestly assignment as Professor of Liturgy and Director of Liturgical Formation at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York, teaching both seminarians and lay people about liturgy. I want others to love it and understand it too.

This book is intended to help people enter more deeply into the Churchs liturgical celebration of the Eucharist. The text has been written as a series of spiritual meditations geared toward the people in the pew, not only to help them participate more fully in the Mass, but also to gain a deeper appreciation of how eucharistic spirituality can be integrated into everyday life. I am convinced that one of the great challengesas we continue into the 21st centuryis that of helping Catholics to more deeply understand what true participation in the Mass is all about, a participation that is limited not only to the celebration of the ritual but extends into the way we live our Catholic Christian life.

This book, then, is not a treatise about the theological meaning of the parts of the Mass; it will not walk you through the entire Mass, although certain parts of the Mass will be discussed. Instead, through a series of reflections structured around the eucharistic actions of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving, the reader will, it is hoped, be brought to reflect more deeply on themes such as our full participation in the celebration of the Eucharist, the transformation of our life to reflect the life of Jesus more completely, and the connection between what we celebrate at Mass with the everyday journey of our life.

So this book is really about liturgy and life, specifically, about making the spiritual connections between the two. There will be stories to try to exemplify and highlight relevant spiritual themes; some stories will be humorous and some will be serious. Some will be personal, using examples from my own life as a Catholic and as a priest. Many of the stories will use everyday images, sometimes using images or incidents taken from popular culture to highlight a spiritual point. The reflections are taken from real life because our faith should always be about real life, since, ultimately, that is where real eucharistic living occurs.

I have resisted the urge to do a great deal of teaching in these pages. Although structured around the four eucharistic actions of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving, the content is not so much a systematic presentation as much as it is a deepening spiral, with those four actions as reference points. As a deepening spiral, it will keep revisiting certain themes that run throughout these pages: what it means to live eucharistically; how to connect liturgy and everyday life; what it means to offer ourselves to God the Father in union with Jesus at Mass and in everyday life; how to transform our life into a deeper Christian life; how to unite ourselves with Jesus.

It is hoped these reflections will spur further reflections. Perhaps parts of this book can be used to prepare for Mass; perhaps sections can be used as food for thought after Mass. Discussion and faith-sharing groups might find this book useful for their meetings. Reflections are often broken down using subheadings and can be used either as they appear or in no particular sequence. If these reflections assist homilists in preparing their homilies, then that is all to the good as well.

Everyday life is where it all happens, and so that is the focus of these reflections. The subtext of this work is that we want to get our celebration of liturgy right so we can get our celebration of life right, and in order to get liturgy right, we have to be getting Christian life right. After all, liturgy is life and life is liturgical!

November 9, 2009
Feast of the Dedication of the
Lateran Basilica in Rome

COMING TO THE EUCHARIST

A LLOW me to tell a personal story to get us started.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am, as they say, heavy into Superman. I love everything about the character and the legend, the fantasy and the heroics. This fascination with Superman is nothing new. Even as a child I would play Superman and dream of being faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

In fact, when I was about age 6 or 7, I thought it would be so great to be Superman that I prayed to God to give me superpowers. It would have been wonderful to be able to do the things Superman could do, and the request was not entirely selfish, since I was more than willing to use my powers to fight for truth, justice, and the American way.

Since I could never be sure exactly when God would answer my request, I had to keep checking. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind not to jump off any rooftops to see if I could fly! Instead, I would sit and stare at the wall to see if I could see through it with my newly-acquired X-ray vision. Or, when no one was looking, I would try to lift the living room couch with one hand to test for super-strength.

Well, needless to say, I never was able to see through the wall or lift the couch. Weeks later, in my disappointment, I confided to my mother this secret request to God. Her response was something which was lost on me at the time, but has nonetheless stayed with me ever since. Her response was, Joe, God couldnt possibly grant your request, because if He did, you would no longer be human; you would no longer be YOU.

By now youre probably asking yourself, What does this story have to do with a book about the spirituality of the Eucharist?

Celebrating the Eucharist is the most important thing we do as Catholic Christians. Its something that should be at the center of our life and the center of our prayer and spirituality. The riches and blessings we partake of in celebrating the Eucharist are innumerable. We know that we encounter Jesus as He is present to us in the gathered assembly, in the Word, and in His Real Presence in the Sacred Species of His Body and Blood. We know that intimate union with Him is given to us as He feeds us with the gift of His Risen Body and Blood. We know that we find healing, forgiveness, and new life every time we share in the Eucharist.