Lectio the Liturgy: Sunday, July 27, 2025

Julie Storr shares a reflection on the Prayer After Communion for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Prayer After Communion for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We have consumed, O Lord, this divine Sacrament, the perpetual memorial of the Passion of your Son; grant, we pray, that this gift, which he himself gave us with love beyond all telling, may profit us for salvation. Through Christ our Lord.

As I meditated on this prayer this week, I noticed that there are two things we need for this prayer to be fulfilled in each of us.

The first thing we need is to not just know, but to believe. I heard a speaker say that many Christians might miss heaven by 12 inches, the distance from their head, where they know, to their heart, where they believe. The Christian life requires that we not just know about God, but we know Him. We can also know that the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus, but we need to believe it.

Jesus Loves Us

We know that Jesus loves us, and it is easy to tell others to not despair because Jesus loves them. However, we need to believe that Jesus really loves each one of us and that He gave Himself to us with love beyond all telling, a kind of love so profound and unconditional that it cannot be described. This love comes in connection, it is not just something that can be said or demonstrated.

If you need proof of this love, consider the perpetual memorial of the Passion. We often find a memorial of someone in the form of a statue or a plaque in a building, or it might be a headstone at a grave. Our perpetual memorial is the Eucharist, a memorial that we not only see, but we consume. This memorial is never ending and never changing. It is uninterrupted and without end. This memorial is Jesus giving Himself to us.

Jesus Offers Us the Gift of Himself

The other thing we need to consider is that we need to accept God's gifts. When it comes to gifts, we can receive them, but it up to us to accept them or not.

For example, if you already have a drawer full of socks that you love and someone gives you more socks that are just okay, the new socks are likely to end up being regifted or donated to a shelter. However, if the socks you have are all mismatched and worn, those new socks are going to be washed and put in the drawer.

While both gifts of socks are received, only one is really accepted. Likewise, when we receive something, we take it, however, when we accept something, we take it and make it our own.

We are offered another gift that requires us to decide if we want to receive it or accept it. Jesus offers us the gift of Himself. He offers us forgiveness and salvation. One of the biggest obstacles to accepting His gift is unworthiness.

There comes a time in the Christian life that we become aware of the gravity of our sin. It also seems that our enemy likes to step right in and convince us that we are not worthy of such a magnificent gift. After all the sins we’ve committed, we find it hard to believe that Jesus could be so generous.

It is good to recognize that we’re not worthy, but it is not good to stay there. Don’t let false humility keep you stuck in unworthiness, “I’ll never be good enough.” Let true humility say, “I was unworthy, but look what God has done for me. He made me worthy.”

This weekend, you will pray these words before you receive Communion, “I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” Remember that in His love beyond all telling, Jesus has made you worthy. His gift, which is Himself, purifies you, renews you, roots out sin, and leads you to a deeper salvation. His passion paid the price. Give Jesus everything He paid for.

Lectio the Liturgy Sunday July 27, 2025 (1)