Eucharistic Liturgy vs. Communion Service
Our priests are away this week at a priest’s convocation so we will celebrate communion services in the chapel at the regularly scheduled weekday Mass times of 9:00am and 12noon.
In rural areas and mission territories where the shortage of priests is considerable, communion services happen on a regular basis. They take place typically on Sundays, when the community gathers for what would be their regular weekly celebration of Mass.
Some people believe a communion service is a substitute for Mass. Others say that a communion service is a Mass without a priest. Neither is entirely true. A communion service resembles the structure of a Mass in several ways; the community gathers and listens to the Word of God which may be followed by a homily or a reflection. The faithful pray the creed, the intercessions, and the Lord’s prayer and then receive communion hosts that were consecrated at a previous Mass. But communion services also differ from the Mass in many significant ways. In the Mass, the bread and wine are brought forth, prepared, offered and transformed. It is not merely the priest who does all of these actions. The old adage “the priest offers Mass and the people receive communion” misses the broader picture of the Church’s vision of Eucharist. The Eucharist happens because the entire community, priest and people, gather to fulfill the command of Jesus to “do this in memory of me.” Representatives from the community bring the bread and the wine to the altar. In the Eucharistic Prayer, the faithful offer themselves along with the sacrifice of Christ to God. The bread and wine, as well as the gifts of our very lives are transformed by the Holy Spirit. Then we receive what we have offered--the Body and Blood of the Lord, so that we can become all the more that which we already are, the Body of Christ. Our participation in the living sacrifice at the altar--central to the Eucharist--is missing in a communion service.
Pope St. John Paul II, spoke on the topic of Sundays in priestless parishes saying, “This type of celebration does not replace the Mass, but must cause one to desire it all the more.” Pope John Paul II approved the Directory for Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest in 1988, which echoes the words of the documents of the Second Vatican Council, “No Christian community is ever built up unless it has its roots and center in the Eucharistic liturgy.”