Call to prayer: Lord Jesus, be with us here today as we celebrate your gift of the Eucharist. This gift is a continual reminder of the gift of your life for us. We pray that we may be forever grateful. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples said to him,
“Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
He sent two of his disciples and said to them,
“Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him.
Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,
The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room
where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”
Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready,
Make the preparations for us there.”
The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them;
and they prepared the Passover.
While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, gave it to them, and said,
“Take it; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
He said to them,
“This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.
Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine
until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
The Word of our Lord Jesus Christ
Focus: Jesus uses the Passover symbols of blessing the bread and wine and passing them around. But he goes beyond this point to claim this bread as his body and the wine as his blood, a gift to us.
Questions for reflection and sharing:
1. What words are important to you in this gospel?
2. How does the Eucharist nourish your spiritual life?
3. After celebrating the first Eucharist, Jesus and his apostles went out singing songs of praise. What might we do to make our Eucharistic celebration a greater celebration?
Concluding prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us your body and blood in the Eucharist as a sign that even now we share your life. May we come to possess it completely in the kingdom where you live for ever and ever. Amen.
