Eucharist and justice workshops3. Our common union and being in solidarity (Eucharistic prayer)

Leader: Welcome to all of you. We are going to spend some time exploring the theme of our common union and what it means to be in solidarity, thinking about how this theme links to the Mass and in particular, the Eucharistic Prayer. Let us start by introducing ourselves – our name and why we are here today.

When each person has introduced themselves, the group begins the workshop with the following prayer:

Leader: For the grace to care for the suffering... All: Grant us your mercy. For the grace to feed the hungry... All: Grant us your mercy.For the grace to welcome the stranger... All: Grant us your mercy. For the grace to stand in solidarity... All: Grant us your mercy.For the grace to reject injustice... All: Grant us your mercy. For the grace to love... All: Grant us your mercy. Amen.

Leader: We remember the words of the Eucharistic Prayer for use in Masses for Various Needs IV:

Reader one: It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Father of mercies and faithful God.

For you have given us Jesus Christ, your Son, as our Lord and Redeemer.

He always showed compassion for children and for the poor, for the sick and for sinners, and he became a neighbour to the oppressed and the afflicted.

By word and deed he announced to the world that you are our Father and that you care for all your sons and daughters…..

……Open our eyes to the needs of our brothers and sisters; inspire in us words and actions to comfort those who labour and are burdened. Make us serve them truly, after the example of Christ and at his command. And may your Church stand as a living witness to truth and freedom, to peace and justice, that all people may be raised up to a new hope. (Eucharistic Prayer for use in Masses for Various Needs IV: Jesus, who went about doing good)

Leader: We now listen to a story from CAFOD’s work which highlights the theme of solidarity:

Reader two: “We were hiding in another village for three months because of attacks in the area. We thought our house would still be there but, when we went back, it was burned to the ground. I was crying when I saw my house. My house was big, it was very nice. Now, I come with just the one cloth that I have wrapped around me. The main thing for us is just to save our lives.”

Mohammed took responsibility for literally carrying an elderly neighbour from his village in Myanmar, whom everyone referred to as their collective grandmother, across the water and through the registration process into the camp in Bangladesh. Her son was killed in the conflict, and her two married daughters could not come with them because they were not in a position to pay for the trip. Village community members carried her to the riverfront on the Myanmar side, and asked Mohammed to take her the rest of the way. He will now take care of her and her husband.”

Photo: Mohammed Karin, 24, in Shabrang Harbour at the Bangladesh border, just after arrival by boat from Myanmar.Photo by: Mahmud Rahman/CRS/Caritas Bangladesh

Leader: Let us listen to the words from Scripture:

Reader three: The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

Short silence

Leader: In the light of what we have heard, let us take some time to think about the following questions. When you feel ready, share your thoughts, as much or as little as you want. The questions are:

In the Scripture reading, the lawyer wants Jesus to identify, to put boundaries around, who is and isn’t his neighbour. Jesus turns this question around: “Which of the three was a neighbour to....”. There are no boundaries to who is our neighbour….how do you feel about this?

In the Scripture passage, ‘being a neighbour to’ involves seeing, caring, and restoration, and in fact the Samaritan shares the responsibility of restoration with the innkeeper. How do you see this parable played out in your own life or that of your parish/community?

When it feels like the conversation has run its course, summarise and draw the discussion to a close.

Leader: We are now going to listen to some theological reflections from the Bishops of England and Wales, from Popes Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI and from theologians on the Eucharist and solidarity.

Reader four: “Again, in the Eucharist we join in the self-giving, the sacrifice, of Christ himself, and in this sense the offering of our own lives – time, convenience, money – for the good of others can itself be Eucharist, a ‘sacrifice’ for the good of others.” (Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, The Call of Creation, VI Conclusion)

Reader five: “Really partaking of the body of the Lord in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another. ‘Because the bread is one, we though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread’. In this way all of us are made members of His Body, ‘but severally members one of another’. (Paul VI, Lumen Gentium, #7)

Reader four: “These words effectively remind the Christian community of the duty to make the Eucharist the place where fraternity becomes practical solidarity, where the last are the first in the minds and attentions of the brethren, where Christ himself – through the generous gifts from the rich to the very poor – may somehow prolong in time the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.” (John Paul II, Dies Domini, #71)

Reader five: “The Eucharist is a school of charity and solidarity. The one who is nourished on the Bread of Christ cannot remain indifferent before the one who, even in our day, is deprived of daily bread.” (Benedict XVI, The Eucharist: Spiritual Thoughts Series)

Reader four: “The Eucharistic Prayer is also a call to solidarity that catches us up into the divine reaching out to all people. It is a call to solidarity with the dead, with those who resisted, and with those who gave their lives like Jesus; a

call to solidarity with the living, especially the poor, the marginalised, and the suffering; a call to solidarity with all those who care. It is a call to solidarity for justice. Above all, it offers an alternative vision of the world, a counter-narrative that prioritizes the poor and takes them as its reference point.” (Margaret Scott, The Eucharist and social justice, p78)

Reader five: “The Eucharist is a real, social, historical, and relational reality. It is about participation, communion, and dialogue: about building up of community and creating real human fellowship. We are the Body of Christ and members of one another: ‘For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.’ (1 Cor:12:12) We are called to be a united community with a special commitment to those in need; a body that identifies with the poor and weak, as Christ did. ‘If one member suffers, all suffer together with it: if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.’ (1 Cor 12:26) The real challenge is to be what we are: members of the Body of Christ, responsible for the care of the other members of that body, especially the weakest members. The communal and bodily nature of the Eucharist generates solidarity, as well as the Pauline conviction that the weakest members of the body are ‘indispensable.’ (1 Cor:12:22)” (Margaret Scott, The Eucharist and social justice, p87)

Short silence

Leader: Once again, let us take some time to reflect on what we have heard. When you feel ready share your thoughts, as much or as little as you want, with one another, on the following questions:

Andy Clark, a member of a livesimply group in St John’s Cathedral, Norwich, says: “In the Eucharist each Sunday, we encounter the broken body of Jesus as well as the joy that Jesus brings. In the Eucharist, these two elements come together: brokenness and joyfulness. Both of those elements are within me too: the Eucharist relates to my own brokenness and my own joyfulness. I’m inspired by the verse that says: ‘Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me’. If there’s nothing else you can do for people, you can laugh with them and cry with them, sharing your own brokenness and your own joy.” How do Andy’s words resonate with you?

As a Christian community, how do we show or how do we live out the conviction that the “weakest members of the body are ‘indispensable’”?

Leader draws discussion to a close. Introduces the action:

Action: Take one action in the next month which supports you living out solidarity “with all the human victims as well as the animals and plants that are destroyed and threatened” by climate change.

Leader: Let us say together the final prayer:

God who walks with us,help us to remember that we are one body,

each of us created in your image,and blessed by your love.

Give us the graceto walk alongside one anotherboth in times of great joy,and in times of hopeless distress.

Create in us compassionate hearts,that we may be steadfast in our convictionthat all you have created is holyand all is held in your immense love. Amen.

Susy Brouard/CAFOD

Leader: Thanks everyone for coming. Reminds everyone of the action and the date of the next workshop.

Eucharist and justice workshops4. A kingdom of welcome and hospitality (Our Father)

Photo: Shutterstock.com

Leader: Welcome to all of you. We are going to spend some time exploring how we create a kingdom of welcome and hospitality, thinking about how this theme links to the Mass and in particular, the Our Father. Let us start by introducing ourselves – our name and why we are here today.

When each person has introduced themselves, the group begins the workshop with the following prayer which they say together:

God our refuge, you share the journeywith migrants and refugees,lightening theirfootsteps with hope. For you, Lord, are close to the broken-hearted.

Pour out your Spirit upon world leaders.May they see the tragedies of our human family, and be moved to respond with wisdom, compassion and courage.

Open our eyes and heartsto the God-given dignityof all your people. Move us to welcome our neighbours,and so bear witness to your love.

Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Rachel McCarthy/CAFOD

Leader: We remember the opening words of the Our Father that we say together at every Mass:

Reader one: Our Father, who art in heaven,hallowed be thy name;thy kingdom come,thy will be doneon earth as it is in heaven.

Leader: We now listen to a story from CAFOD’s work which highlights how we can show welcome and hospitality to those who have been forced to leave their homes:

Reader two: In September 2017, Pope Francis launched Caritas Internationalis’ Share the Journey campaign. This campaign promotes the strengthening of relationships between migrants, refugees and communities. It is Caritas’ response to Pope Francis’ call to promote the ‘culture of encounter’ – to see people on the move with humanity, to open hearts and minds, to change perceptions.

As part of this campaign, CAFOD supporters hope to complete a 24,900-mile walk – equal to the distance around the world. They hope to use this walk of solidarity to influence world leaders, who meet in September at the United Nations, to secure new agreements around protecting refugees and migrants.

In response to Pope Francis’ plea, and as part of the Share the Journey campaign, on Saturday 28 April, nearly 150 Birmingham residents gathered to walk from Cannon Hill Park to St Chad’s Cathedral, where they came together for speeches and prayers. Along the way the walk stopped in both the Catholic and Anglican Cathedrals, and in the city’s central Mosque.

Jane Lavery, a volunteer who helped to organise the event, said: “There are currently more refugees around the world than ever before. Both the Old and the New Testament ask us to ‘welcome the stranger’, and during the walk we listened to the stories of those refugees who walked with us. Pope Francis has a particular concern for refugees, and that is why I am so grateful to Archbishop Bernard for joining us on the walk, which we all undertook to help highlight the struggles and difficulties refugees face across the world.”

Refugees from around the world who have now settled in Birmingham also joined the walk. Rasul, from Iran, said: "Sharing peace and love is the best way to have a better place to live." Mika, from Azerbaijan, added: “I just want to say I very much appreciated when I saw so many people who, in such cold weather, support me and many more refugees or asylum seekers.”

The event was co-ordinated by CAFOD alongside Caritas Social Action Network, and local Birmingham charities including; Christian Aid, Restore, St. Chad’s Sanctuary, Hope Projects, The Quaker Peace Hub, Birmingham City of Sanctuary, as well as various churches and faith groups including Birmingham Churches Together, the Missionaries of St. Columban, the Passionists, and Birmingham Central Mosque.

Photo credit: Matthew Neville/CAFOD

Leader: Let us listen to the words from Scripture:

Reader three: Matthew 15:21-28

Short silence

Leader: In the light of what we have heard, let us take some time to think about the following questions. When you feel ready, share your thoughts, as much or as little as you want. The questions are:

What do the words “share the journey” mean to you? Think of a time when you have “shared someone’s journey” or they have shared yours.

What does “a culture of encounter” mean to you? Think of time when you had an encounter with someone who was different in some way to you.

How do you feel called to live out these two messages?

When it feels like the conversation has run its course, summarise and draw the discussion to a close.

Leader: We are now going to listen to some theological reflections from Pope John Paul II and from theologians on the Eucharist and the responsibility it gives us to build a society of welcome and hospitality.

Reader four: “There is one other point which I would like to emphasize, since it significantly affects the authenticity of our communal sharing in the Eucharist. It is the impulse which the Eucharist gives to the community for a practical commitment to building a more just and fraternal society. In the Eucharist our God has shown love in the extreme, overturning all those criteria of power which too often govern human relations and radically affirming the criterion of service: “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mk 9:35). It is not by chance that the Gospel of John contains no account of the institution of the Eucharist, but instead relates the “washing of feet”: by bending down to wash the feet of his disciples, Jesus explains the meaning of the Eucharist unequivocally. Saint Paul vigorously reaffirms the impropriety of a Eucharistic celebration lacking charity expressed by practical sharing with the poor.

Can we not make this Year of the Eucharist an occasion for diocesan and parish communities to commit themselves in a particular way to responding with fraternal solicitude to one of the many forms of poverty present in our world? I think for example of the tragedy of hunger which plagues hundreds of millions of human beings, the diseases which afflict developing countries, the loneliness of the elderly, the hardships faced by the unemployed, the struggles of immigrants. These are evils which are present—albeit to a different degree—even in areas of immense wealth. We cannot delude ourselves: by our mutual love and, in particular, by our concern for those in need we will be recognized as true followers of Christ. This will be the criterion by which the authenticity of our Eucharistic celebrations is judged.” (John Paul II, Mane Nobiscum Domine, #28)

Reader five: “There is room for all around the table – for those whom we expect to meet seated at the table, with whom we feel comfortable, and for those whose presence is inconvenient, rather unsettling, and even shocking. Everyone.” (Margaret Scott, The Eucharist and social justice, p3)“The Eucharist is a meal, a symbol that expresses the hopes of the ‘two-thirds-world’ of the poor who are excluded by famine, illness, and war from the world’s banquet, but who are desperate to share the meal of life with the rest of the world.” (Margaret Scott, The Eucharist and social justice, p117)Reader four: “But an ethic that lapses into responsibility for or duty to the stranger is inadequate. It misses the crucial dimension, that the stranger is a gift to the Church. The stranger is a gift to the Church, not a burden on it. As all the scriptural examples demonstrate, the stranger represents the hand of God, becoming present in the Church to rescue, restore, and remind. The stranger is not the harbinger of scarcity but the sacrament of abundance – not the drainer of resources but the bringer of gifts.” (Samuel Wells, God’s companions: reimagining Christian ethics, p107)

Reader five: “It is not that the Church has a duty to unjustly oppressed or ignored social groups. This would put the Church in an unduly high position of status, ministering unto the needy out of its bounty. It is instead that if the Church is not made up of the full diversity of human existence and experience, it cannot hear all that the Scripture has to say – because it does not mirror the extraordinary diversity that is in Scripture. One might have thought that from

reading Scripture the Church is moved to minister to the poor and needy. But one might first think that if the Church does not include the poor and needy it cannot properly hear the Scripture.” (Samuel Wells, God’s companions, reimagining Christian ethics, p158)Short silence

Leader: Once again, let us take some time to reflect on what we have heard. When you feel ready share your thoughts, as much or as little as you want, with one another:

How can we see the stranger, both in our Church and in our community, as a “bringer of gifts” as opposed to a “drainer of resources”? How can we encourage this culture of seeing the stranger as gift, both in our Church and in our local community?

Do you/we listen to Scripture through the ears of the poor? “Our concern for those in need will be the criterion by which the

authenticity of our Eucharistic celebrations is judged” (John Paul II). How would your own parish fare?

Leader draws discussion to a close. Gives information/instructions about the action:

Action: Find out (if you don’t already know) what your parish and community are doing to ‘welcome the stranger’. Can you be part of this or, if you are already part of this, can you encourage others to be?

Leader: Let us say together the final prayer: God of all humanity, In a world full of fear, open our hearts to your love. Though we walk in desolate valleys, open our minds to your hope. We turn from hatred, towards love. We turn from intolerance, towards understanding. We commit ourselves to compassion. Together, not alone, we pray for peace. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Linda Jones/CAFOD