Mark 14: 22
While
they were eating, he took some bread, and after a blessing he broke it, and
gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.”
_________________________________________________________
Jesus
gave us a wonderful gift; he gave us the gift of himself in the Eucharist. But
that gift only comes alive when we give it away, when we pay it forward, when
we become Eucharist for each other and for our world.
*
There
is something so wonderful about sharing a meal with the people we love: the warmth,
the laughter the companionship. The dinner table can be community at its very best;
it is communion; it is a gift. The Last Supper table was just such a gift. And
Jesus was able to extend that table both vertically down through the ages and horizontally
to all people in all cultures in all countries of the world. He
created the greatest communion and invited us all into one timeless moment. He
gave us the gift of himself in the Eucharist.
The
Eucharist is an invitation to each of us from Jesus. It is his call to us to love and forgive each other as he loves
and forgives us; to become a beacon of light and a conduit of
God’s unconditional love and forgiveness for our troubled and hurting world. As we accept the Eucharist and say,
‘Amen’ we are really saying, ‘yes’ to that invitation and to the grace that
goes along with it.
And little by little, day by day, that
grace transforms us; and through us the world. It enables us to bring God’s peace
and love and healing into all the circles of our lives:
to
our families and friends; to those we like and those we don’t like so much; to the workplace and the classroom; the
highway and the byway; and everywhere in between.
The
Second Vatican Council reminded us Catholics that whatever we do at Mass in our
liturgy must “ritualize a lived reality.” The bread and wine becoming the real
presence of Christ on the church altar only takes on meaning when that presence
is subsequently made visible by us out in the world ─ especially to those most
suffering and in need, to those who are unlovable and unwanted, to those who are
unwelcome at anyone’s table. It is out there in the world that our Amen, our
‘yes’ to accepting the Body of Christ in Holy Communion, is transformed into a
lived reality, and we become the Body of Christ for others.
A
good friend of mine recently shared a profound quote from Saint Augustine:
You
are the Body of Christ, and his members [his hands and feet, his eyes, his
voice]
If,
therefore, you are the Body of Christ and his members,
you
are the mystery that has been placed on the Lord’s table.
and
you are truly the mystery that you receive.
You
reply, “Amen” to that which you yourself are.
And
by replying, you consent. For you hear, “the Body of Christ,” and you reply,
“Amen.”
Be
a member of the Body of Christ so that your “Amen” may be true . . .
Be
what you see, and receive what you are.
(Augustine Sermon 272)
We
are members of the Body of Christ; but each and every one of us IS the Body of
Christ. From that dinner table in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, Jesus calls us to
be his hands and his feet, his eyes and his voice for even the very least and
the most unlikable or unforgivable of our brothers and sisters. He calls us to
give life to our ‘yes’, our Amen at Communion time; and to make it a lived
reality.
He
calls us to BECOME Eucharist for our world.
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Readers
of this blog might enjoy these books by Deacon Lex. Both are available on
Amazon.com:
Just
to Follow My Friend: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life
Synchronicity
as the Work of the Holy Spirit: Jungian Insights for Spiritual Direction and
Pastoral Ministry
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