Worship

What's In A Name

  • Eucharist - from the Greek word for ‘thanksgiving’; Jesus gave thanks for the bread and fishes and for the bread and wine.
  • Holy Communion - stresses that the service is about sharing and unity, one with Jesus and one with each other [see 1 Corinthians 10: 16-17].
  • The Lord’s Supper - the meal the Lord gave to the Church; St Paul calls it by this name in 1 Corinthians 11.
  • Breaking of Bread - the name used by St Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, also stressing sharing [see Acts 2: 41-47].
  • Mass - from the Latin for the dismissal: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Our faith is to be lived: the Church is called to be Christ’s body in the world.

Pause for thought
How does each name shed light on what it means to be a Eucharistic community?