General. The aim of the Eucharist is to foster love among all in the form of the Cross raised on Calvary. That cross has a vertical trunk which reminds is of God’s love towards us humans and the awe with which we are to adore Him, and a transversal post recalling His Son’s union with humanity and his love for it unto death, indeed death on the cross which was considered to be a most shameful death. The Collect Prayer portrays this image of redemption before us which should send us out of this Eucharist as harbingers of the true meaning of the Cross.

Jeremiah. The Christian has a mission which has been given to him since the earliest times of his being, namely that he be holy and spread this holiness around him by proclaiming and sharing the Word of God with all humanity, high and low and in whatever circumstance God provides. This makes a prophet out of the Christian and God assures him of His full protection against those who might rise against him.

First Epistle to the Corinthians. St Paul can be indeed styled the theologian of love. Whatever a person does would have no value at all unless it is done with love, which means that such person is to act in all humility, without boisterousness, and seeking to please others rather than oneself. It is a quality which brings out a person’s being impersonal, seeking others’ well-being before one’s own. Truth is not fully known to us now but there will be a time when we will understand all, looking straight into it and understanding it. To lead the way up to this time are the three cardinal virtues, faith hope and charity – the greatest of which is charity, or sublime love.

St Luke. Jesus speaks out against those who hinder him from spreading God’s Word simply because he hails from their hometown. Although they liked his words, they could not accept them from the mouth of one of theirs who would thus stand out, in their eyes, as more knowledgeable than themselves. Yet Jesus tells them, using Biblical examples, that God speaks to all through His prophets but only works miracles with the humble who place no obstacle to His Word working within them. This is also a first premonition of Jesus being understood as a sign of contradiction, revered and denigrated at one and the same time, leading to his death on the Cross, a sign of giving and love in itself (see General/Collect prayer above).

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