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Body & Blood |
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Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ June 22, 2025
Paul wrote to the Corinthians explaining the Eucharistic celebration and meal. This letter was written before any of the gospels and is likely closer to the words of Jesus at the last supper. His text reads: “he gave thanks” – that is prayed the thanksgiving prayer of a Jewish family – “broke the bread and said, ‘‘This is my body for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’”
For the person who takes into his hands this Bread with faith and love, it is not only a memory but a living contact with Jesus Christ, a LIVING CONTACT with Jesus. For the believer and lover of Christ this reception is how we come into the presence of Jesus.
After the supper he took the cup set aside and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” The word “in” of this covenant statement commonly is understood as a preposition, meaning “in.” In the Greek meaning of “en” the meaning also means “at the cost of/for the price of…” This meaning informs us the New Covenant is created by the price of the blood of Jesus poured out.
Both this new covenant and the Hebrew covenant are agreements initiated by God. To clarify: God, not humanity in it perceived need, offered this agreement, this covenant. The Christian covenant is an enhancement of the Covenant of Mount Sinai. That covenant between God and the liberated Hebrew tribes was based on law. That law was a guide by the Creator God so the people would have a long and happy life. It was information about living in accord with human nature. Compared to the morality of behavior in those times and even in ours, It is a significant leap toward an organized society by the behavior of its citizens. This new covenant in the blood of Christ is based on selfless Love. This is another improvement of society where it is practiced. This quantum leap for humanity is captured in the scriptural phrase, “For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son that we would not perish.” That love is the love of a Father for his children. Our love for one another and service of others springs from our being loved by God. It remakes us into loving children of the Father. The price for establishment of this covenant of love is the Blood of the Christ poured out in a complete act of Love. He gave his human life for us even though he has the power of God to avoid that. Yet God chose to demonstrate that love is an answer to violence, hatred, war, and abuse of another. That love has two sources. It reveals the Love of the Father for humanity. It is also evident in the blood poured out by Jesus. This is the love that binds us to God. Not only to God but to each other. That outpouring till every drop was lost is a perfect demonstration of selfless, unconditional love. By this pouring out, Jesus made it possible for the Spirit to come to humanity. The Spirit of God is the person, the power that binds three co-equal persons in selfless love making them One. Selfless love bonds the persons in our assembly into a Community. Through the Blood and the Body of Jesus this parish, in this time and this place, is formed into One Body... The life of our parish is modeled for us in the life of the Trinity, a Community of Love. Jesus promised that we would live with the life of God. And God is love.
Our sacramental system focuses on creating Community. Baptism initiates us into Community. That initiation provides the strength to live a selfless life with the strength and energy of a Community. That way of life is a contradiction to the way of the world. The Eucharist, Communion, is nourishment for this selfless love. After the liturgy of the Word, we offer gifts that are used for the ministries of our community. But if all we bring is money from our labor/investments, we are missing what is most important to human life. We put on the altar with those gifts supporting our work in the civil community, our personal requests. Each person in the assembly gathered in their heart-minds offer God their needs of hand, mind, and heart. These gifts as well as gifts for are consecrated by the Holy Spirit by the agency of the Presider. We offer our gifts of support and of needs as a thanksgiving offering. The word Eucharist, from the Greek, means to give thanks. These gifts are consecrated into the Body and the Blood of the Lord. At communion we share those gifts of others. It is like we receive a share of the lives of all those assembled are shared. That sharing makes us one with each other. The gifts offered come from the work of our hands, the needs of our hearts and minds, and those others who we carry in our hearts by love. They are consecrated and shared at communion with all who approach the table of the Lord. The sharing of consecrated gifts, consecrated in the words of Jesus through the power of the Spirit, is what receive. It is the whole Body of Christ which includes all who placed gifts on the altar. Our gifts are commingled as wheat flour is commingled; and the juice of many grapes become wine. The Body and Blood we receive makes those receiving, ONE Body. We become the Body of Christ present in the world. The realization of that Unity is visible to the assembly when those receiving return to their place and stand until all have received. This sign is a sign of solidarity. This symbolism of unity reminds us of the selfless love of the Christ. It is made visible, and we manifest that unity outside the assembly by our service to one another and the world.
In a part of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians not heard this Sunday, Paul warns us not to receive the Body and Blood unworthily. What Paul means here is when we have a fight, a grudge, an anger with another who is receiving, we must reconcile with that person before we receive so as not to destroy the unity that Communion brings. That is the reason for the exchange of peace before communion. Receiving while at odds with another of the Community is receiving unworthily. All of us are sinners and rare is the person who has not a sinner. The Eucharist is medicine for our brokenness. The Eucharist is for unity, for nourishment to live a selfless life, and as medicine for our brokenness.
We do reserve the Host in the tabernacle as the resource for viaticum. That is given to those at the portal of death as food for the trip. While the host is reserved, we can also use those reserved hosts as a focal point for personal contemplation of the mysteries of Salvation. As a focus point it is also a great help for praying for those in need.
Dennis Keller Dennis@PreacherExchange.com
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Solemnity of the
