From the middle ages onward, an emphasis has been placed on the act of Consecration at the expense of the rest of the Eucharistic prayer, especially the need to have the praise and thanksgiving aspects present. Jesus' commandment was to repeat the action taking place at the Last Supper. Just taking St. John's Last Discourse into the account, Jesus spared few words teaching that sacred occasion.

It is important to note that while Jesus modeled a "liturgy" for His disciples, there was only the common worshiping experience of the Jewish people upon which to base the Christian celebration. Yet, at the Last Supper, we know that Jesus focused on giving thanks and praise. Keeping this in mind, we too imitate our Lord's actions.

The Preface begins with a type of dialog: The Lord be with you. —And also with you. Lift up your hearts. -We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. -It is right to give Him thanks and praise.

After the initial dialog, the Priest continues with the last part of the dialog by acknowledging the people's praise: (Vere dignum et iustum est) "We do well always and everywhere to give you thanks."

We enter God's presence through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Christ's mediatorship is explicitly stated at the very beginning or at least it is replaced by a prayer based on the day's saint or feast highlighting Christ's place as the High Priest offering us to the Father.

As a result of many of the changes in the Church, the Holy Mass offers a large number of choices for prefaces. The Preface's place is simply to show the mystery of redemption in a new light.

The Preface sings a praise and proclamation of God as a kind "pep-talk" as we now have begun the Eucharistic Prayer.

Listen Christian... Pay attention to the rich history of your Church.

Psalm 27:6 "I will sing and chant praise to the LORD."