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Over one hundred extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion gathered at Christ the Prince of Peace Church in Weybridge last weekend, for a day of formation and prayer, with Bishop Richard and our diocesan Liturgy & Music Adviser, Catherine Christmas. 

The day included talks on the origins and theology of the Eucharist and on practical aspects of the ministry, including ministry to the sick and housebound. Attendees also spent time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (with excerpts from John’s Gospel – the ‘Bread of Life discourse’ – and verses from Thomas Aquinas’s hymn “Godhead here in hiding”), and the day ended with the celebration of Mass.

The gathering took place on the day that Pope Leo named St John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church, and in discussing their role with the extraordinary ministers, Bishop Richard quoted from St John Henry's famous lines: "God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission… I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons."

Participants were asked to reflect, as they minister, on the Fruits of Holy Communion, which "increases our union with Christ and with his Church. It preserves and renews the life of grace received at Baptism and Confirmation and makes us grow in love for our neighbour. It strengthens us in charity, wipes away venial sins and preserves us from mortal sin in the future.” [Compendium of the CCC 292].

The link to charity was underlined in Pope Leo's recent Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi te, in his reference to St John Chrysostom, who described the Eucharist as "a sacramental expression of the charity and justice that both preceded and accompanied it. That same charity and justice should perpetuate the Eucharist through love and attention to the poor."

Bishop Richard leads Days of Reflection for extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and for ministers of the Word, each year. Look out for details of the next event, for readers, which will take place early next year.