During the Eucharist, we break bread to share in the body of Christ. Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.
This reminds us that we are bound to Christ, to one another, as well as the whole body of the church as we share in this public act of commitment and expression of loyalty to Christ our Lord.
“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” We may not be able to explain where grace resides in this act, but if we could, we would no doubt lose an important part of the journey of exploration which we call faith.
The sustenance that we receive through the Eucharist together with the word, equips us to go out into the world fortified and strengthened through our connection not only with Christ, but with the family of God, to be the people that He wants us to be and while we will never fully understand the holy mysteries of communion, to receive it is to allow the grace of God to fully encompass our lives.
It was John Calvin (French theologian during the Protestant Reformation) who said, “Now if anyone should ask me how this takes place, I shall not be ashamed to confess that it is a secret too lofty for either my mind to comprehend or my words to declare. And to speak more plainly, I rather experience than understand it…In his sacred supper [Christ] bid me take, eat and drink his body and blood under the symbols of bread and wine. I do not doubt that he himself truly presents them, and that I receive them.”
Title: Cross of the Eucharist; Date: 20th century; Artist: Peter Koenig; Building: Parish of St. Edward; Object/Function: Painting; City/Town: Kettering; Country: United Kingdom. Scripture: 1 Kings 19:4-8; John 15:1-8; Matthew 14:13-21; Luke 22:14-23:56; John 6:24-35. Notes: Peter Koenig is a Catholic artist whose goal in life is “to paint the drama, romance and poetry of the sacred book” (https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/). “This painting was painted for Pope Benedict’s Year of the Eucharist, and is hung at the church of St Edward’s in Kettering” (https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/). In this piece “is a boat with mana falling from heaven…recalling the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21).” The faces of the people are joyful as they share with one another the bountiful feast falling from the heavenly table. The beauty of the heavenly table is that everyone is welcome—may we be as generous with our own resources. Permalink: https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58491. (Use this link to refer back to this image.)
