St Peters RC Church Hamilton

“LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells.” (Psalm 26 v 8)

Your glory, dearest Father, dwells in Christ Jesus, He in us,

By means of the Spirit of holiness making this possible.

The host of bread waiting to be consecrated,

To feed us on the body of Christ Jesus,

Awaits us in the tabernacle in Your house.

The Lord Jesus waits to impart His glory to us joyously,

As the sacrifice of the †is re-presented in the Eucharist.

“Do not gather my soul with sinners...Redeem me and be merciful to me. My foot stands in an even place....” (Psalm 26 v 9, 11, 12)

That even place in the sacrificed yet risen life

Of my Saviour Brother, my Redeemer, the Lord Jesus,

As made possible by the Spirit of holiness aiding me,

I am invited to a sacred banquet, a joyous feast,

Based upon the sacred mysteries of the Last Supper at Gethsemane and Calvary.

The crucified, risen, ascended, glorified Lord,

Returns to us in the Spirit, in the Eucharist. How wondrous!

“Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.” (Psalm 148 v 13)

“Sing to the LORD a new song, and His praise in the assembly of saints...For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in their glory... sing aloud...let the high praises of God be in their mouth...” (Psalm 149 v 1, 4, 5, 6)

Lord Jesus, my Redeemer, my Saviour, my Brother, my way home to the Father, my grace Giver, as You send Your Spirit of holiness to us, how I praise and thank You for Your Eucharist.

You feed us with the Bread of Life, awaiting in the tabernacle until the priest consecrates the host and the Holy Spirit transubstantiates this man made wafer into a gift, Your gift of holiness.

Oh, how we are blessed, fed on Your holy wisdom and truth as a result of our Father’s compassionate and caring love and mercy, and the continuous, miraculous work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit joins whatever we have to offer our Father through our Lord, to the unique offering our Saviour Brother makes in the Eucharist. Thank You that this is a cause for celebration.

Thank You that the celebration of the Eucharist is happening every minute of every day and night somewhere in the world and will be so until the end of time.

We are united to the Lord Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, by means of the life enhancing Holy Spirit at work to change the world for the better by changing us.

I ask that strengthened by this most wondrous of communions, we are ever of service to You, Father God, praying and striving to consecrate the world in its entirety, to You.

Also, we are believing that the Lord Jesus will return to earth to claim His children one day at the end of time. We must be in a state of continuous preparation. “ ‘Be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an

hour you do not expect’.” (Luke 12 v 40)

May the Spirit make us watchful and ready. There can be no better, fuller, richer way to accomplish this,

than through inviting us to a celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the LORD so comes as a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5 v 2) The apostle Peter repeats this warning (2 Peter 3 v 10), so clearly the teaching is of grave significance and is to be carefully regarded.

Thank You that all the work of the Spirit is beneficial. Thank You that the Lord Jesus comes to us and remains with us to unfold many a blessing, none greater than receiving Him directly in holy communion.

Grace works its way gradually, but we can speed this up by our receiving of the Lord of love, the Word of Life in such a gloriously intimate way, as we pray the Holy Eucharist.

Thank You that thereby we are prepared and strengthened for works which stretch us beyond our norms, to accomplish much in the loving name of Jesus.

We struggle and strive, we make sacrifices, we pray in heartfelt earnest and fruitfulness of service is the blessed result. Thank You so very much, generous Father.

We rejoice to be driven to compassionate action for the love of You, dearest Father, as shown by our serving each other whilst adhering to the loving way of Jesus. May a new world of abundant joy open up graciously.

Come, Lord Jesus, Holy One, Perfect Son, the God of love and compassion, Healer and Saviour, our personal Friend and highly loved Brother, come into our life through Your presence in the Eucharist.

Come, address us and bless us by Your Spirit, ever detailing for us Your love, Your example as an aim to reach for. Your holy presence is invaluable to us, as is Your Spirit.

Daily we struggle to respond to Your call to love as You have loved us. We struggle to give up the clamour of self-will. We struggle to give up our false gods. We wrestle with our conscience.

When we feel at peace with the world, ourselves and the command to love, this is a glimpse of the holy joy which we believe awaits us in heaven.