Christian Prayer: Seeking

Greater Intimacy with Jesus in

the Holy Eucharist
Intimacy 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.