Liturgies of the Eucharist

Ngā Hākari Tapu

Concerning these Services

Christ comes to us bringing good news of God’s grace and generosity. Christ has inaugurated for us a sacred meal, and summoned us to have communion with him. We give thanks to the Father, remember Christ, call upon the Holy Spirit, unite ourselves with all the faithful, and share God’s food and hospitality. Jesus said that the children were to come to him. Children, too, have an important part to play in the eucharistic community.

‘In the celebration of the Eucharist Christ gathers, teaches and nourishes the Church. It is Christ who invites to the meal and who presides at it.’

The Eucharist is central to Christian spiritual life. For us, Christ is the shepherd who leads us, the prophet who announces God’s word to us, and the priest who celebrates God’s presence with us.

Sunday, the Lord’s day, is the resurrection festival, the special day for the Eucharist. As we take part, as we break the bread and share the cup, our forgiveness is renewed and we are cleansed. As we worship, our hope and conviction that life is stronger than death and that love is the key to life is reinforced. This is food for the baptised; it is food we need week by week and year by year. It is a meal to which we need to come with open and honest hearts.

In the Eucharist we put our belief about God, about our life together and about ourselves into words and actions. We come to touch the hem of Christ’s garment.

Christ is the bread of life.

You will find several forms of the Eucharist which are deliberately quite different from each other. This is to provide richness in our worship and to cater for the variety in the church community. There are two forms in Māori, one of which is in English as well as in Māori. It is important to understand that the Māori liturgies express the theology and understanding of Māori people. In the parallel service the Māori is not the precise equivalent of the English.

You will also find a section containing the people’s part of the Thanksgiving of the People of God in some of the languages of the Diocese of Polynesia.