Priest: A Eucharistic Minister
[A priest] should not easily give up the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice, without omitting the preparation and the thanksgiving… All his life should be a continual and uninterrupted preparation and thanksgiving for the sacrifice of the Eucharist. (OCL, Vol. II, 348, p. 79)
The priest is a minister of the Eucharist. At the Eucharistic celebration, the priest stands as the mediator between God and his people. He takes the offerings and the lives of the people, which the offerings symbolize, to God, and makes God present in the very offerings thereby allowing the grace of God to flow into the lives of the people. He does this act in the person of Jesus, enacting along with him his sacrifice of himself to the Father on Calvary. In and through the various prayers he offers at the Eucharistic celebration, the priest takes the miseries of humanity and the needs of the people to the throne of God, imploring God’s blessings on the people. Since the priest does such an important task at every Eucharist he celebrates, St. Vincent felt that he should not easily give up the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice. As he does such an exalted task, the priest should take time to prepare himself by bringing to his mind the nature of the task he is going to accomplish, thereby creating within himself the right mind-set to enter the Eucharistic celebration. In the same way, after the Eucharistic celebration, he should spend time thanking God for the marvelous act he has accomplished through him. In this way, the totality of a priest’s life must be spent as constant preparation and thanksgiving for the Eucharistic celebration.
Do I believe that a priest is the minister of the Eucharist? How do I perform the exalted task of the mediator between God and his people? Do I give up the celebration of the Eucharist? Do I enter the Eucharistic celebration with the right mind-set? Do I spend time in thanking God after the Eucharistic celebration? Is the totality of my life spent as preparation and thanksgiving for the Eucharistic celebration?
For as often as you eat of this bread and drink of this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (I Cor. 11: 26)