Revd Denise McDougall, Corpus Christi,
31st May, 2018
Last night I had a fabulous barbecue with family and friends
and this evening’s celebration of the Eucharist is often
compared with a family meal. A family meal is not only a
chance to eat the food we need for physical sustenance, it
also sustains the family as a family. It binds the members
together; giving a sense of wholeness; it celebrates being
family. Memories of special meals remain with us for a very
long time if not forever, try if you can later on this
evening to recall your best ever fiveThe Blessed Sacrament
favourite meals. (it’s quite difficult to do!) Sharing food
turns something ordinary into something extra ordinary.
And so today we give thanks for the Institution of Holy
Communion, for the wonderful sacrament given to us in memory
of Jesus’ passion. So, as with sharing a meal with friends
and family, similarly when we receive bread and wine in the
Eucharist we are present at a meal that sustains us
spiritually, and something ordinary is changed into
something extra ordinary. Coming together to share bread and
wine gives us a sense of wholeness, communion as a community
and our Eucharistic service is a celebration of that
communion. And hopefully, as with the family meal, it is a
celebration we look forward to and one that we anticipate
eagerly. But seeing the mass as a cosy family meal only
takes us takes us so far, we have to add a lot more to it,
remembering that sharing a meal together is one of the most
profound human experiences and goes back to the beginning of
time.
Meals featured frequently throughout Jesus’ ministry ….. and
after leaving the Mount of Olives on a journey which would
eventually lead to Calvary and his death, Jesus took time to
have that special final meal with his disciples, to show how
much he loved and trusted them. Of course Jesus’ words alone
always turned ordinary into extraordinary but it wasn’t
until after his death and resurrection that the disciples
began to understand the relevance of what taking the broken
bread and drinking the cup actually meant. The sacrifice of
Christ into which we are a part of by receiving Holy
Communion brings about cleansing and forgiveness and Jesus
came to give us a special food so that we may have fullness
of life.
Earlier in John’s Gospel Jesus says, ‘I am the bread of
life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger, whoever
believes in me will never thirst.’ Words helping us to
understand that the bread Jesus was talking about was the
nourishing bread of the word of God and Jesus wants to lead
us deeper into their significance. Jesus is not just the
word of God, sent to enlighten our hearts and minds but
Jesus is the word made flesh. Through him, we are offered a
very personal, intimate relationship that will lead us into
the very life of God; and there we have every opportunity to
share a mutual love, an indwelling of love between God and
ourselves. Through God we will be nourished and nurtured and
God will always be present to give us life but by receiving
we must also pour out our lives for him.
And so it is in the words and actions of the institution of
the Eucharist that we find our greatest inheritance as
Christians. Christ’s gift of himself to us, enabling us to
be transformed from ordinary to extra ordinary people. A
gift so special which highlights Jesus’ belief in each one
of us and how precious we are in his sight. The Eucharist
offers the presence of the body of Christ but let’s admit
it, as guests at that meal we can sometimes take things for
granted. Unfortunately we are so accustomed to the words and
actions that we tend to forget the price paid on the cross
for each one of us.
If the Lectionary took us on to verse 60 I think we would
all be in agreement with the disciples who openly
acknowledged that this is difficult stuff but it is a
mystery to engage with and we cannot expect to just be
spectators. Tonight and on every other occasion that we come
to receive the body and blood of Christ let us remind
ourselves that we are receiving a meal which we participate
in as a community where we strengthen each other by sharing
our faith. Communion at the altar reveals and nourishes the
friendship and the love that Jesus wants to live and deepen
within us as a united family. His presence becomes our food
and when we receive the bread, blessed, broken and given
with the words, ‘This is the body of Christ’, we respond
with Amen, expressing our commitment to make our lives
conform and be transformed into the life of Christ.
The Eucharist heals and purifies so that we can share in the
life of God. Our everyday lives are challenged by our
Eucharistic celebrations and God’s presence in us should be
obvious through how we engage and interact with others, his
presence should be clearly visible in our behaviour. To
receive communion but not love our neighbour as ourselves or
not show concern for the marginalised, the disturbed and the
needy in our community borders on hypocrisy.
This feast, which expresses God’s abiding love amongst us
lends us the opportunity to renew our faith and live in a
spirit of huge love and thanksgiving for the most extra
ordinary of gifts.
We are chosen people, all blessed, all broken, in communion
with each other, so may we as one body become the bread for
others and help to turn what is ordinary into extra
ordinary!
‘Jesus, to thee our voices we raise, in songs of love and
heartfelt praise, sweet Sacrament Divine.’