Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1505021
30 AUGUST 2023 | DENVER CATHOLIC Everyone now stands. He tells us to pray that his sacrifice and ours may be acceptable to the Father. His sacrifice and ours. We are to offer our- selves on the altar in our baptismal priesthood and the priest is to offer Jesus back to the Father. The Sanctus is chanted as we echo the prayer of those angels closest to the Father: "Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus!" I hear the congregation kneel along with the servers, but I remain standing to tend to the altar. The words of the Eucharistic prayer are being chanted in that tone that lets you know some- thing so ordinary will soon be the real and actual presence of Jesus in our midst. I see the hands of the priest come over the gifts as I pull the pall, preparing for God the Holy Spirit to descend over the gifts and readying them to be transubstan- tiated into Jesus. The bells ring out for the first time as God hovers over the holy altar. The priest holds the host in his hands and is now acting in the person of Christ. He bows with his lips inches away from the bread and speaks the words of institution, "Take this all of you, and eat of it, for this IS my body which will be given up for you." The bells ring out as the host is elevated. This is the moment; Jesus is now here in the hands of his priest being offered back to the Father. Next, he takes the chalice with wine and once again speaks the words that Jesus himself spoke. While I see the priest, it is not only him. I am kneeling next to Jesus himself. I am but a lowly servant called to minister to the altar, and I hear the words spoken again "…this IS the chalice of my blood." I stand up to now replace the pall over the chalice filled with the actual precious blood of Jesus; the most pure and innocent blood, the same blood that flowed in his beautiful heart, the same blood that was poured out on Calvary as he was thrust through. He is inches from me now and the priest finishes the Eucharistic prayer. The prayer is one of pure love. This is a love that comes from only one place: the heart of the Trinity itself. As the prayer concludes it is time for me to hold with my own hands the chalice that con- tains this most exalted and precious blood. I take the chalice and I lift it alongside the priest holding the paten. In my hands is life itself, Love itself. In my hands is the one who is the image of the Father. I hold him up and the priest chants, "Through him, and with him, and in him, O God almighty Father…" This moment always makes my breath catch and by body feel unlike its ever felt before. I hold up the chalice and my heart begs Jesus to allow it to be united to him and offered back to the Father; but first for him to purify it of all my brokenness and sinfulness so that I may be worthy to touch him who loved me first, him who loved me enough to do this for me. The great Amen is sung, and we place Jesus back on to the corporal. The congregation rises. Jesus is literally here with us now, and I must catch myself as I gaze at the great sacrament of love just a foot or so away from me, his unwor- thy servant. I take the chalice and I lift it alongside the priest holding the paten. In my hands is life itself, Love itself. In my hands is the one who is the image of the Father." Photo by James Baca | Denver Catholic