Christian Prayer: Seeking Greater Intimacy with Jesus in

the Holy EucharistIntimacy with God is the core of Christian spirituality. The Holy Eucharist is the greatest intimacy with God that we have available to us. So it makes sense that deepening our participation in the Holy Mass and becoming more open to Jesus presence in the Holy Eucharist would deepen our prayer life - and that a deeper prayer life would deepen our participation in the Holy Eucharist. First God unites Himself to our souls. Then we seek to open ourselves more completely to His presence - and that is what Christian spirituality is all about. Entering More Deeply Into the Holy Eucharist

So how do we enter more deeply into the Holy Eucharist? Well, there are three phases of any sacramental preparation. Again using the Churchs language, we go through remote preparation, proximate preparation and immediate preparation.

Your remote preparation for receiving the Holy Eucharist is mostly learning about the meaning and purpose of the various parts of the Mass, the prayers and the actions we perform. How aware are you of the meaning of each part of the Mass? Why do we make the Sign of the Cross? Why do we cross ourselves with holy water? What do the words of the Eucharistic prayer mean? Where does the consecration actually happen? What are the most important words in the Eucharistic prayer? Why is the Our Father placed where it is in the Mass - and what does it mean in that position? If you dont know the answer to these questions, you will Mind it very difMicult to immerse yourself more deeply into the Sacrament. If you would like some instruction on the answers to these questions, please let me know in the comments for this page. Id be happy to create a video series explaining them. But I only want to put the effort into doing that if I know theres a need. The immediate preparation for receiving the Holy Eucharist is how you approach the sacrament during Holy Mass. When you know why we do the things we do in the Mass, you can more fully participate in it. As you go through the motions of the Mass, there are two things you can do to enter more deeply into the Mass. First, consciously recall the meaning and purpose of each part of the Mass as you go through it. One great way to do this is to identify the frequent and meaningful scriptural references we make during the Mass. Second, enter into a prayerful dialogue with God about each part of the Mass. For example, I usually say (quietly to myself) Come, Holy Spirit during the part of the Mass called the Epiclesis - when the priest calls upon the Holy Spirit to bless the bread and wine that will become the Body and Blood of Jesus. I also say (reMlecting St. Thomas when He Minally recognized the resurrected Christ), My Lord and My God during the consecration. This form of participation will increase your awareness of Jesus presence in the Holy Eucharist. You can then take that awareness home and deepen it in your prayer. How the Holy Eucharist and Our Private Prayer Deepen

Each Other

In the middle of your remote and immediate preparation lies you proximate preparation. Proximate preparation means what you do to deepen your participation in the Holy Eucharist before you go to Mass. It would include your regular prayer life and your regular walk of faith. So heres where we talk about how the Holy Eucharist and your personal prayer life can deepen each other.

Your private prayer life is fed by the intimacy with Jesus. Jesus is now united with you - body and spirit. Your prayer is to open yourself more completely to His presence. The best prayer to do this is meditation, but any prayer is better than nothing. Just try to focus your time of prayer on connecting with the presence of Jesus within you. As you exercise your intimacy with Jesus in your private prayer, you will Mind that your reception of Him in the Holy Eucharist is much more meaningful. In turn, the more intensely aware you are of Jesus intimate union with you in the Holy Eucharist, the more aware youll be of His presence in your prayer. This wont always be an emotional awareness. Dryness in prayer is a universal experience. But your awareness of Jesus intimacy with you can get you through those emotionally dry times. You will know Jesus is with you even when you arent feeling His presence. The Holy Eucharist and a life of prayer are really one and the same movement - Jesus uniting Himself to us and us opening ourselves more completely to His presence. Bottom Line: It's not how holy you are now that matters in your spiritual growth, it's how committed you are to growing in holiness. And a great way to commit yourself to growing in holiness is to establish habits that open your heart to what God wants to do in you through his grace. And an easy way to develop those habits is to use a proven behavioral template. So I'd like to invite you to grab a set of behavioral templates that can help you grow in an important habit in each of Mive key areas of Catholic spirituality. You'll get an easy-to-follow diagram that leads you step-by-step through the formation of the habit.

Click this link to go to www.fromtheabbey.com to Mind the templates. Just click on the icon for the template you want, Mill out the pop-up form, download the template and get started transforming your faith life! Brought to you by Jeffrey S. Arrowood at From the Abbey, dedicated to helping you rediscover the JOY of learning and living your faith so you can grow in intimacy with God.