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 the graces of the Paschal Mystery are always available to me.
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 what you accomplished through your Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension is a gift of grace for me.
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.
As the Sacred Victim lies peacefully upon the altar, you remain kneeling, as moments of silence mingle with the prayers that evoke the drama of redemption. The priest stands in the “orans” position, hands at either side of his body, prayerfully erect. “Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the saving Passion of your Son, his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven … Look, we pray, upon the oblation of your Church, and recognizing the sacrificial Victim by whose Death you willed to reconcile us to yourself … grant that we may become one body, one spirit in Christ.” You know this is real. You know this is true. Not only is the sacrifice of Jesus made present to you so that you may participate in it, but so too is his triumph! Sacred, living memory draws you up and into this mystery, as Heaven truly kisses Earth. That desire deep within you for eternity is awakened, and you are sure in these moments that Jesus makes all things new.
Allow yourself to reflect for a while, being attentive to how the Lord is speaking in your heart.
How can you be more fully, actively, and consciously present at Mass—body, heart, and mind? How can the truth of the Paschal Mystery move your heart and soul to be more engaged with praying the Mass? How can your whole being truly be one in worship of your loving 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.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. (John 14:18–20)
Allow yourself to reflect for a while, being attentive to how the Lord is speaking in your heart.
Jesus wants us to be one with him. It is through the Paschal Mystery—his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension—that he makes this communion possible. What is the next step Jesus is inviting you to take toward a deeper encounter with him through the Paschal Mystery?
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.
Grant, almighty God, that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy, which we keep in honor of the risen Lord, and that what we relive in remembrance we may always hold to in what we do. 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, Sixth Sunday of Easter)
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 be faithful to the graces of the Paschal Mystery.
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.
