Reflections on the Mass: The Preface Dialogue

The Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer opens with a short dialogue between the priest and the people. This can go by so quickly that we may miss its importance.

The priest begins with “The Lord be with you.” Think about this for a moment. This is a tremendous blessing, especially since our Lord is about to be with us in an unimaginably intimate way when we receive Him in the Eucharist. But He is always with us, of course. He dwells within us when we are in a state of grace. He holds us in being at every moment. So the priest says these words as a reminder of that reality and as a prayer that we may recognize God's presence and respond to Him by growing ever closer to Him.

We respond, “And with your spirit.” At this point, we should remember what the priest is about to do. He is about to act in persona Christi, in the person of Christ, to consecrate the Eucharist. Through the priest, Jesus becomes present in the Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. What a gift this is! And what a responsibility. So as we say these words, we should mean them in a deep way. We should be praying that Jesus work in and through the priest and that the priest open himself up to the work of our Lord, that he make himself a channel of grace.

The priest then exhorts us, “Lift up your hearts,” and we reply, “We lift them up to the Lord.” As we say that, we should do it, as fully as we can. Our focus should be fully on God and on the prayer and worship we are offering in the Mass. We must prepare ourselves to welcome and receive Jesus in the Eucharist, and this requires a raised heart, a heart lifted up to God in love and adoration. We give God the hearts He has given to us and love Him with the love He so graciously provides.

Finally, the priest prays, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” There is so much to be grateful for. God has given us everything we have and everything we are. And He is about to give us Himself in the Eucharist. We should be filled with wonder and gratitude. We reply, “It is right and just.” It is right and just indeed, for God deserves every bit of our gratitude. When we are thankful, we recognize all the gifts He has given us. We deserve none of them, yet He is generous beyond our wildest dreams. That's because He loves us.