Sacred Moments
June 6th, 2012 Posted in writingLike many Catholics of my generation, I learned that the highpoint of the Mass was the consecration of the bread and wine when the priest says, “This is my body” over the bread and “This is my blood” over the wine. That was the “sacred moment.”
But there’s another sacred moment that “completes” the consecration, namely, communion. The words of consecration say that the Body and Blood of the Lord are being “given for you” — a gift. And a gift becomes a gift when it’s received and accepted with gratitude. Communion is that time.
And the gift is meant to change us, not just as individuals but as a whole community, a whole church. St. Augustine wrote that, unlike regular food, which becomes our flesh and blood when we eat it, the Eucharist makes us part of the risen Christ’s very life in a way that is mysterious but real. That, too, is sacred.
Finally, Christ said he had come to serve by giving his life for others. If we have taken Christ’s Body and Blood into us and let him change us, then as individuals and as a community we should love and serve others, too. The times we do this are also sacred moments.
Thus, the sacred moments of the Eucharist reach out into the world and the Gift keeps on giving.
Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.