Preparing for Liturgy

If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but (also) everyone for those of others. (Philippians 2:1-4)
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Reflection for the Ministry of the Assembly
(From Austin Fleming's book "Preparing for Liturgy, a Theology and Spirituality")

Reflection for the Ministry of the Liturgy Team
(From Austin Fleming's book "Preparing for Liturgy, a Theology and Spirituality")

Yours is a share

in the work of the Lord's Spirit

who calls God's people to prayer.

You help to prepare the way of the Lord

who comes with mercy and with peace.

Yours is the guardianship of that holy ground

where God and God's people

meet and sit at a common table.

Yours is the work

of preparing the table of the Lord

who is our Passover.

Yours is the task

of calling others to serve at that table,

and of preparing them to serve

with grace and reverence.

Yours is the task

of helping God's people

to shape a prayer that they might sing from their hearts.

Yours is nothing less

than the responsibility of ensuring that

God's word is proclaimed

clearly and with conviction.

Reflection for the Ministry of Hospitality 
(From Austin Fleming's book "Preparing for Liturgy, a Theology and Spirituality")

Yours it the first
of Christ's face to greet God's people
as they assemble for prayer.
Your greeting of welcome
is the first wish that "The Lord be with you!"
Yours is the word
that welcomes the stranger to be at home,
or the silence
that makes of our assembly a foreign land.

Yours is the task of discretion:
knowing how to welcome,
and when and where to seat the latecomer.
Yours may be the last word
that ushers the community
to its week of work
in the Lord's vineyard.
Yours is the Lord's face and voice
for those who enter and depart
the holy ground of prayer.

Reflection for Music Ministers

(From Austin Fleming's book "Preparing for Liturgy, a Theology and Spirituality")

Yours is a share

in the work of the Lord's Spirit

who draws us together into one,

who makes harmony out of discord,

who sings in our hearts

the lyric of all that is holy.Yours is the joy of sounding that first note

which brings the assembly to its feet,

ready to praise God.Yours is to impart

a "quality of joy and enthusiasm

[that] cannot be gained in any other way."Yours is a ministry

that reaches the deepest recesses

of the human heart;

your work is soul-stirring.Yours is none other than the Lord's song;

you draw us into that canticle of divine praise

sung throughout the ages in the halls of heaven.You help us respond to God's word,

to acclaim the gospel,

to sing of our salvation of Christ.Yours is a ministry

that gathers so many voices

into one grand choir of praise.

Reflection for Eucharistic Ministers

(From Austin Fleming's book "Preparing for Liturgy, a Theology and Spirituality")

Yours is a share
In the work of the Lord's Spirit
Who makes of us
one bread, one body,
the cup of blessing which we bless.
Yours is the work
of ministering Christ's body and blood
to the body of Christ, the church.
Yours is service at the Lord's reconciling table.
You name for each of us
the gifts we have offered
and the gifts we receive:
"The Body of Christ, the Blood of Christ."
You minister holy food to holy people
in the holiest of all communions.
Yours is the ministry of the One
who was broken and poured out for our sake:
the ministry of Christ
who is our Passover
and our lasting peace.

Reflection for the Ministry of Catechists of Christian Initiation



Yours is a share
in the work of the Lord's Spirit
who calls women, men and children
to faith and to communion with the church,
the assembly of believers, the body of Christ.
Yours is the task of echoing
the voice of God, who speaks and calls with love
In the hearts and minds
of inquirers, catechumens and the elect.
Yours is the warm welcome
that opens hearts to the Lord's story in the scripture,
to his presence in prayer,
to the promise of his gift in the eucharist.
Yours is the hand that helps newcomers
steady their steps along the road of faith's journey,
along the path of God's love,
along the way of the cross.
Yours is the companionship
that shines in the darkness of doubt,
that strengthens the heart that is weary,
and waits through the worries of fear.
You are the brother, the sister in Christ
who helps our newcomers
to know Christ as brother, as Lord, as Savior.