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Writer's pictureImmersed in Christ

Immersed in Christ: Monday, June 21, 2021

Let Us Pray

Mass is a time when the Church leads us to come out of ourselves and pray for each other – and to pray officially as “priests in the Priest,” anointed in Baptism to the ministry of prayer and sacrifice.


When the presider reads out loud the three “presidential prayers” – the Opening Prayer, the Prayer over the Gifts, and the Prayer after Communion – everyone in the assembly is fulfilling the special duty and desire each member of the Body of Christ has to pray for the whole body.


In the presidential prayers we never ask anything for individuals as such, only for the church and all believers. These prayers are designed to do three things:


  • they express special love for one another that bonds us to one another as a community of faith; and

  • they teach us what to pray for; and

  • they remind us of our identity as priests anointed in Baptism to pray for others and to offer the sacrifice of Christ.


These are not things that it ordinarily seems to us to pray for. The presidential prayers, in teaching us what we should pray for, remind us of what we should live for.


Take Action: During your personal prayer time, read the Opening Prayer, the Prayer over the Gifts, and the Prayer after Communion from last Sunday’s Mass or next Sunday’s Mass. Meditate on the words. Do these prayers help you feel a closer bond to others in the Community of Faith? Why or why not? Perhaps you can write your own prayer for the community of faith, and pray it daily this week.

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