(Second of two parts) Last week I wrote about how the new booklet, Enriching Our Worship, treated the Daily Offices. Enriching Our Worship, you may recall, is the new edition of Supplemental Liturgical Materials. It is presented by the Standing Liturgical Commission and is published by Church Publishing, Inc. A look at how the booklet handles the Holy Eucharist is in order, for it is here where the average Episcopalian may encounter it, if your diocesan bishop gives the OK.

The book contains an order for the Eucharist with three different eucharistic prayers. My observations are in a different context than last week's column on the Daily Offices, for I actually worshiped using the book for Morning and Evening Prayer. For the Eucharist, my comments are based on what I have read in the booklet.

If you're looking for the direction this booklet takes, look no further than the various opening acclamations, none of which even hints at the Trinity. Move on to the salutation, "God be with you," and to a series of collects which may be substituted for the collect of the day during the seasons after Epiphany and after Pentecost. One of them is identified as a prayer of St. Gertrude. Like the Daily Offices, after the readings from scripture, the reader may say "Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people," or "Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches."

Masculine pronouns and "Lord" remain in the Nicene Creed, which many may find confusing. Most interesting is the fact that the filioque clause, "and the Son," appears in brackets.

There are no new forms provided for the Prayers of the People, but a note calls attention to "the generous and flexible - and frequently overlooked - provisions of the Book of Common Prayer." It also provides some suggestions for the creation of new forms of Prayers of the People. There is a new confession of sins with a familiar absolution.

The three eucharistic prayers do not vary greatly from one another, but there's a curious consistency. In all three and in the two forms for the eucharistic prayer which follow, the disciples of Jesus are referred to as "friends." I realize this is not a new idea. It shows up in Eucharistic Prayer C of the 1979 BCP, but is there a good reason for the change? Is "disciple" masculine? Does political correctness rear its ugly head here?

Most fascinating are the blessings to conclude the Eucharist. Here's one:

Holy eternal Majesty,

Holy incarnate Word,

Holy abiding Spirit,

Bless you for evermore.

Or how about this?: "May the God of Abraham and Sarah, and of Jesus Christ born of our sister Mary, and of the Holy Spirit, who broods over the world as a mother over her children, be upon you and remain with you always."

I have no complaints about this booklet. If it helps bring people closer to God, I'm all for it. Just don't tell me I have to worship with it.

David Kalvelage, editor