Lord, we know that you are present in spirit
Whenever two or more of us are gathered together in your name.
But here you are present in body also.

In that body born of woman like the rest of us.
In that body that walked the roads and villages of Palestine.
In that body that walked not among the great and wealthy,
But among the poor, the broken and the rejected.
In that body that taught us to pray.
In that body that assured us of your Father's love.
In that body that had nowhere to lay its head.

In that body as fragile as ours that you broke as bread
On the night before you died.

We are there now, Lord, on that night.
We are there as you stoop to wash our feet, bidding us to
Love one another as you love us.
We then fall asleep at Gethsemane,
And then we run away as your body is bound.

And then this body is spat upon and mocked,
Scourged, crowned with piercing thorns and sentenced to the cross -
And there it hangs, until your spirit leaves it.

We place that body in the tomb, still doubting you, still grieving.
But then your Father rolls the stone away,
And you arise in body as well as spirit,

And death itself then dies.

Now you are with the Father, but in this Eucharist
You are with us still, in body as well as spirit,
So we thank you Lord, for this greatest of all gifts,
That becomes so easily part of us, this gift of yourself.
We thank you also for your body in the world,
The Church you gave to us,
To bring us this gift throughout all time.

For, having you, we have all we need.
For, having you, we have all we need.