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How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist

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The best book I have found that has helped me move further toward "reaching Jesus" in the Mass. This small book is an easy read that puts the Mass focus strictly where we should have it ... on the Eucharist and our response to it.

Dubruiel shows how to balance the Mass both as a holy banquet and as a holy sacrifice. Too often these days the sacrificial aspect is left out.

Participation in the Eucharist requires that we die to ourselves and live in Christ. If we want to get the most out of the Eucharist, then sacrifice is the key. This is what has been lost on many of us and if we want to reclaim all the spiritual riches that are available to us we must relearn what it means not only to "offer it up" but indeed to offer ourselves up.

Dubruiel uses an acronym to help remember the steps we can take to join ourselves in sacrifice to the sacrifice of Jesus.

Serve (obey the command that Jesus gave to his disciples at the first Eucharist)
Adore (put aside anything that seems to rival God in importance)
Confess (believe in God's power to make up for your weaknesses)
Respond (answer in gesture, word, and song in unity with the body of Christ)
Incline (listen with your whole being to the Word of God)
Fast (bring your appetites and desires to the Eucharist)
Invite (open yourself to an encounter with Jesus)
Commune (accept the gift of Christ in the Eucharist)
Evangelize (take him and share the Lord with others)

Each step is explored in a different chapter and every single one had "aha" moments for me, sometimes from Church Father quotes, sometimes from the Further Helps at the end of each chapter, and quite often from Dubruiel's own insights. Each chapter also includes "Lessons from a Three Year Old" to highlight points. This sounds corny but it didn't come off that way. In many cases, that three year old was much wiser his single mindedness than an adult.

I do not have time to write the review that this book deserves but did want to get mention of it out there for anyone who would benefit from it. Now that I think of it, I don't know any Catholic who would not benefit from it.

When attending Mass it is very easy to get distracted and I am as guilty of this as anyone. My mind sometimes wanders off to things that I need to get accomplished at home or to some disruption that might be going on in my family. Also competing with the Mass for my attention are things right there in the Church as I think about that sour note that the organist just hit, the word that a Lector just mangled, or that ugly tie the guy in the second row is wearing. It takes very little indeed for me to get distracted and it is a problem that I wrestle with on a regular basis.

Thankfully, Michael Dubruiel has written this book and after reading it I think that he may have written it just for me and I have already started trying to put his suggestions into practice. Among the things that Dubruiel points out is the fact that the Lectors, musicians, singers, and Priests aren't there to entertain us but are there to serve God and join in the sacrifice of the Eucharist. Joining with Christ both physically and spiritually is, or should be our reason for being there and nothing else should matter. One of the clearest lessons that I took from this book is that the Priest, the organist, and the others who serve during the Mass are there to serve God, not me. The wisdom of that one idea is powerful enough in itself to give anyone who reads this book a different perspective on the Mass than they have ever had before. That, and several other things that this author writes about in this book ought to be obvious to us but unfortunately it sometimes takes a book like this one to make us see what is right before our faces.

To make this book as easy to follow as possible Dubruiel breaks it down into chapters based on an acronym for the word sacrifice. As we join with Christ in his sacrifice we should be prepared to do all of the things that the words in this acronym suggest. They are; Serve, Adore, Confess, Respond, Incline, Fast, Invite, Commune and Evangelize. One by one the author takes these words and gives the reader a solid and clear blueprint for getting the most out of the Eucharist. Best of all, this is a blueprint that is not complicated or shrouded in deep theology. This is a simple blueprint presented in a clearly written style that can have a deep impact on our perceptions of and participation in the Eucharist. This book will have a profound and positive impact on you I'm sure because it certainly did on me.

Perhaps the most common affliction of North American Catholics is being annoyed, worried, bored, or otherwise distracted during Mass. Most of us who have this problem think the solution is in "fixing" the Mass. Dubruiel explains that the problem is in us; we need to "fix" ourselves. More precisely, we need to offer ourselves as a part of the Eucharistic sacrifice, not just during a weekend hour, but during all the joys and sufferings of our lives.

This is a tall order, and Dubruiel gives us the tools to carry it out in this brief, deep book. Using the word SACRIFICE as a mnemonic device, he guides us through the attitudes and actions that allow us to "actively participate in the Mass" not only through our singing and responses -- though he does cover that, and for me it was quite an eye-opening section! -- but through the giving of our whole selves to God.

I particularly enjoyed each chapter's "lessons from a three-year old," in which Dubruiel shows how his son Joseph illustrates each of the nine attitudes and actions of SACRIFICE. If a three-year-old can exemplify these principles, we can surely do it too!

While this book was structured for individual reading and meditation, it seems to me it would be a marvelous "textbook" to use during the Mystagogia period in RCIA.

If you are easily distracted at Mass, and want to put Jesus back at the center where he belongs, then this book is for you. As a convert, I was surprised to find that not all Catholic churches follow the GIRM and consequently I became quite irritated at all of the additions and subtractions to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Mr. Dubruiel's book, How to Get the Most out of the Eucharist, does a nice job of helping a person to reconnect with the purpose of the Mass and not be distracted by everything else--even the EME who was wearing flip-flops and the cell phone playing circus music following the homily, didn't get to me today.

In addition, these lessons stay with you throughout the week. When you keep everything in perspective, less energy is wasted on the small irritations of every day life and you have more energy to give to those things that really matter.

Michael Dubruiel's latest book is a guide and an enlightenment for anyone looking to emphasize this year's "Year of the Eucharist" in their own spiritual life.  How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist (Our Sunday Visitor, March 2005, paperback, 144 pages) offers Dubruiel's "SACRIFICE" model, nine concrete steps to take to maximize one's experience of the Eucharist. 

In practical yet inspiring terms, Dubruiel writes for people like me, who are striving in their own simple ways to embrace true communion with Jesus Christ.  One of the many highlights of the book is the recurring segment "Lessons Learned from a Three Year Old", inspired by the wise-beyond-his-years philosophy of Joseph, the son of Dubruiel and his wife and fellow author Amy Welborn. Additionally, the book includes a helpful appendix for those attending Mass but unable to receive Holy Communion.

Overall, a wonderful and very readable resource that will undoubtedly bring you closer to Jesus Christ.

After writing The How-To Book of the Mass, I had the opportunity to speak to groups around the country about the Eucharist. Most of these talks ended with a question and answer period and an ensuing series of questions dealing with "obstacles" people were encountering in "getting the most" out of their celebration of the Mass.

This book provides nine concrete ways to help all of us get the most out of the Eucharist. Each of the nine is based on an element of Catholic spirituality that I find most people are unaware of or have forgotten about.

I also added two other elements to the book when it was nearly completed:

One was in response to an article that I read on the same topic that this book deals with where the author said that "children" are a distraction...I disagree with this and the New Testament comes to mind where Jesus chastises his disciples for trying to keep children from "botthering" him. So in each of the nine areas I added "Lessons Learned from a Three Year Old" that take some common problems that children can present at Mass and give us parents a new way of viewing those situation so that they can be an aid rather than a distraction. A number of readers have commented that they find this one of the more fascinating sections of the book.

The second section I added was "How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist if you can not receive communion." Here I deal with the plight of those who attend Mass but cannot receive communion for a variety of reasons.

One of the great benefits to shopping on Amazon is that you can search through the book before you buy it. I encourage you to do so...I think you'll find that this book can be a great aid to your spiritual life as a Catholic.