This Eucharistic Prayer Companion is designed to help you spend thirty minutes to an hour in meditation and silent prayer with Jesus during Eucharistic adoration. Even if you cannot be physically present in a church or adoration chapel with the Blessed Sacrament, you can unite yourself spiritually to Jesus in the Eucharist as you spend this time in prayer. During the Easter Season, we are offering reflections rooted in the tradition of mystagogy. This is an ancient form of liturgical catechesis that invites us to go deeper into the sacred mysteries we experience at Mass and in the sacraments. Each week you’ll be invited to reflect on a rite or part of the Mass and an excerpt from the Sunday Gospel.
THE GRACE I SEEK: To believe that Jesus wants me to be part of his living Body, the Church.
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.
Jesus, the Lord of Life, has given himself to you in the Eucharist. He is gazing upon you, his beloved child, with great love at this very moment. Pause for a few moments and allow yourself to rest in his loving gaze. Thank Jesus for the gift of himself in the Eucharist.
ASK FOR THE GRACE: Jesus, help me to believe that you have a place for me in your living Body, the Church.
Read slowly, allowing your senses to help you enter into this moment of the Mass. Let the Holy Spirit fill your heart with his divine grace, that the hidden mystery from this moment in our memorial of Christ’s sacrifice may be revealed more abundantly to you.
Words cannot express the deep experience of your spirit as you participate in Christ’s sacrifice. You become aware of your participation, in time, in the worship of eternity. You see the priest, you are aware of the assembly gathered, and of the angels and saints. Yet, even this is not enough. Now you join yourself earnestly in intercession—for the Pope, for your bishop, for the clergy, and for the whole Church around the world. You pray for a reunion of all the Father’s scattered children and for the dead. In this Mass, the love of the heart of Jesus is fully revealed—his sacrifice once and for all. You sense your own heart being drawn up into the very same desire of Jesus and realize that you, too, thirst for the complete and total communion Jesus promised, “that when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (Jn 12:32).
Allow yourself to reflect for a while, being attentive to how the Lord is speaking in your heart.
How can your own silence and interior composure (settled-ness) help you enter deeply into the mystery of the Body of Christ? How can your union with the assembly at Mass not be a distraction from Jesus but an opportunity for deeper communion through, with, and in Jesus? How can your own ars celebrandi (art of celebrating/participating) in Mass help reveal the mystery of the worship of the Body (us) for the Head (Jesus)?
Read slowly, 3–4 times. Allow the words of Scripture to wash over your mind and heart. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you through this passage.
All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18–20)
Allow yourself to reflect for a while, being attentive to how the Lord is speaking in your heart.
Jesus’ parting words to his disciples are words of missionary sending. He wants everyone to be part of his Body, the Church. As you sit in silence with Jesus, ask him to help you embrace more deeply your place in his Mystical Body and be filled with zeal for inviting others to be part of his Body, the Church.
Remain in silence with the Lord. Allow him to speak in the silence, in your heart. Receive his presence. If it helps, write down what you sense the Lord communicating to you during this time of prayer.
Gladden us with holy joys, almighty God, and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving, for the Ascension of Christ your Son is our exaltation, and, where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect, Ascension)
At every Mass, Jesus offers himself to the Father for us. We can always join our own offerings with Jesus at Mass. This Sunday, offer your desire to participate fully, actively, and consciously in the Church, the Body of Christ.
Would you like to print a copy of this resource to bring with you to the chapel for prayer? Click here to download the Eucharistic Meditations for the Easter Season in English or Spanish.
