Reflections on the Mass: The Preparation of the Gifts

At this point in the Mass, the priest prepares the gifts he is about to offer on the altar. We prepare our minds and hearts to join in the sacrifice.

The priest begins by praying either quietly or aloud a blessing over the bread, blessing God for His great gift to us that we now offer back to Him so that it can become the bread of life. If the priest is speaking out loud, we join our blessing to his by responding, “Blessed be God for ever.” We should mean it, too, for, in blessing God, we are recognizing His awesomeness, His perfection, His generosity toward His creatures, and His great love for us.

The priest then turns his attention to the wine. He (or the deacon) has already mixed the wine with a little water, speaking a quiet prayer that “By the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ Who humbled Himself to share in our humanity.” The priest now prays the blessing over the wine, against blessing God for His gift that we offer back to Him that it may become our spiritual drink. We again respond, “Blessed be God for ever.”

Both of these preparation prayers mention that these gifts, the bread and the wine, are the work of human hands. We human beings are to use the natural gifts that God has given us, the wheat, the grapes, our bodies, our minds, to cooperate in His saving plan.

The priest prays quietly, asking that God accept us, with our “humble spirit and contrite heart,” and that our sacrifice may find favor in His sight and be pleasing to Him. Then he washes his hands, praying that God wash away his sins.

The priest then invites us to pray that this sacrifice, both his and ours, may be acceptable to God. We echo that prayer, adding that we wish to give praise and glory to God's name through our sacrifice and receive good for ourselves and for the Church. The priest extends his hands and says another prayer over the gifts. This one is seasonal, and we can find it in the missal. We should pay close attention to it and join in it with a firm “Amen.”

We are now ready to enter into the Eucharistic Prayer.