14. The Lord’s Prayer and the Sign of Peace
Today we are going to explore two parts of the Mass which follow right after the Eucharistic Prayer:
The Lord’s Prayer and the Sign of Peace
Before we begin, let’s review. From last week you will recall that the Eucharistic prayer ends with something called the “Doxology” and the response of the people, called the “Great Amen.”
These final words are strong expressions of faith and joy
They are the words the Church provides to us as a response to the mystery of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist.
Following the Great Amen, the priest invites us to pray together in the form of the one prayer that the Gospels tell us Jesus taught his disciples, “the Our Father,” or “Lord’s Prayer.”
This prayer is found in both the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew. The version prayed in Mass most closely resembles that which is in the Gospel of Matthew.
The basic thrust of the Lord’s Prayer is to ask God to sustain us until the day when the Kingdom of God fully comes.
While The Lord’s Prayer looks to this glorious future, free from evil and sin…. it recognizes the time in which we live….where we struggle with sin…. and require spiritual nourishment from the Lord to survive.
Ancient Christians clearly associated the request for “our daily bread” ….which we ask for in the Lord’s Prayer ….with the “bread” of the Eucharist. Among the earliest of these ancient Christians was St. Cyprian ca. 251 AD.
Therefore, it has been deemed appropriate to place this prayer almost immediately before we are to receive Holy Communion.
Following the Lord’s Prayer is the Sign of Peace
The Sign of Peace was originally called the “Kiss of Peace,”
This part of the Mass has its roots in the ancient Hebrew idea of “Shalom”
Jesus greeted his disciples with the word “shalom” or “peace be with you.”
Ancient writers, like St. Augustine, tell us that, by the 4th century, this custom of exchanging a sign of peace was already part of the Mass, following the Consecration and the Lord’s Prayer.
The Sign of Peace reminds us of the necessity to receive Communion in a state of peace with the Church.
We also understand that the peace we are wishing each other is that which comes from Faith in the promises of Jesus.
We are wishing nothing less than the “peace” of salvation to our brothers and sisters in addition to expressing our desire to be at peace with them.
