Good evening, Internet. Today I want to talk about the central act of the liturgy: The Holy Eucharist, also called the Lord's Supper. Among many Christians, the words of Jesus that we often refer to as the
Words of Institution are nothing more than an historical report: this is
what Jesus did and what he said. Period. We have been blessed to know,
however, that these words mean much more. They do what they say.
According to the command of Christ, we celebrate the Lord's Supper not
as a mere meal of remembrance but as a Sacrament by which Jesus himself
comes to us. We don't transport ourselves back in time; rather, he comes
to us and brings heaven down to earth for our benefit.
Of course, in heaven we won't receive the Lord's Supper. There we will
have Jesus—the Bread of heaven—in all his fullness. But for now, as we
wait for his return, he establishes his own beachhead in our
sin-infested world, coming as our defender and deliverer, offering his
own body and blood as the medicine of immortality. Here we find strength
for the journey as Christ dwells in us and we in him. And the more we
partake of this sacred food, the greater our desire becomes to be with
Christ forever. In the words of St. Thomas Aquinas' great eucharistic hymn: "O Christ, whom now beneath a veil we see: May what we thirst for soon our portion be: To gaze on Thee unveiled, and see Thy face, The vision of Thy glory, and Thy grace." (Lutheran Service Book #640)
Blessed Eastertide,
Manny Tovar
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