Sunday, 20 July 2008
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The Power of Sharing Communion and Breaking Bread
by mrs lily 
My husband and I have been sharing a home with a middle-aged missionary lady since the beginning of the year. She is moving out this month and we will have the place to ourselves! Today as she and I were moving things around in the house, we took a break for lunch. This may sound a little strange, but it was the first time in the seven months we have lived in the same house that we sat down together and shared a meal. I cannot tell you just how ground-breaking it seemed.I remember a time when I was in a high school/college Bible study group where we shared communion. We each drank a good serving of Marlow and took chunks out of a fresh Hawaiian loaf of bread as we passed it around. To be honest, a lot of us in the group didn't really get along; we were all from different walks of life and had our good share of drama between us all. But that night...I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it...none of it mattered. We were there for one purpose, and we were sharing something beautiful. Every time I take communion, I compare it to that memory; I imagine that was how it will be like in heaven when we share meals.
There is something sacred about eating together. I don't exactly know what it is. But I think that is why Jesus broke bread with His disciples. Yes, it was a reminder of his death, but I think there was much more to it.
Have you ever had an experience like this? How do you practice communion?
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Comments (14)
wow that's amazing, i would love to have an experience like that.
I agree with you. I think communion is all about unity--unity with Christ. What better way to symbolize unity than eating (symbolically) His body and blood? That we have partook in His death, and also in His life. That it is no longer we who live (as separate from the Savior), but jointly with Him. That nothing can separate us from He who saved us, not life nor death (Romans 8).
I remember once, at a retreat. I and a few other students were asked to share about the Lord's supper. I was freshly saved, and secured in His hands. With the pronouncement of His promises, the reminder of the gospel, and nothing but Christ crucified (and therefore ourselves crucified) on our minds and heavy tears coming from our eyes, it is hard to say that the Holy Spirit was not present, for He truly was, I believe. It is an unshakable memory, but alas nothing more than a memory. It does not stand as a benchmark or standard for other communions, and even that pristine event is marked and mingled with sin. I do, however long, ever more so with each passing communion, the eternity that awaits us when we no longer have to perform communion, but can commune with God without blemish, and only by permission of His blood.
One of the things I loved best about my church in Plano (TX) was that we actually went to the altar and had our bread broken off the same loaf. It was just a unifying experience, particularly when you were with friends up there.
I grew up Southern Baptist, but started going to Methodist churches a few years ago, and communion is one of the things I love about them... it feels more intimate and more a shared thing.
I stayed with the Shakers for two weeks while on pilgrimage, and they believe that whenever they come together at meal, or for any activity where all the Shakers are present, they are coming together as the Body of Christ, and this is their Communion. I always liked that image (and the Shakers' wonderful cooking!).
As a Catholic, our practice and belief regarding Communion are very different from most denominations. We believe that the bread and wine literally and really become the Body and Blood of Christ. It is an ancient belief going all the way back to the original apostles and the first celebrations of the Eucharist like the ones spoken of in St. Paul's letters. Some of the prayers that we pray during the Liturgy of the Eucharist (the part of Mass during which we remember the Passion and Death of Christ, the Last Supper, etc.) are well over a thousand years old. So being able to partake in such an ancient and beautiful tradition every day, for me, is a wonderful blessing in itself.
Also we believe in the Communion of Saints, basically, because we no longer die (because we live in Christ, who lives!) those who were in Communion with Christ before passing remain with him still. Those of us who enter into Communion with him here on earth are then also united, through him, with all the saints in heaven, everyone who has gone before us in faith. That has been a great source of strength and consolation for me, and for many others who have lost loved ones. For them, Mass is not only a time to praise, worship and remember Christ, but also a chance to spend time praying for and with those they miss who have died. Mass for us, really, has a timeless quality to it.
Finally, I find Communion to be a very powerful symbol of unity in the Church. Everyone in the congregation who wishes to receive the Eucharist approaches the altar very humbly and, when offered the Body or Blood of Christ they reply, "Amen," reconfirming in their own hearts before Christ himself their belief in him and all he has taught us. Then we accept him into our very bodies, and we literally, physically become one with him. We not only try to live like him, but we share his life; we live it *with* him. This is not only an amazing and miraculous gift, but a very daunting challenge that only with God's grace and the strength of God's spirit can we possibly hope to live up to a fraction of the gift's value and promise! Fortunately, God is very, very merciful.
And I completely understand if little or most of my comment makes no sense to anyone...
Thank you, Mrs Lily, for sharing the beautiful experience you describe. I am grateful also for the opportunity of reading the contributions made by the others who have commented here. Communion is indeed a truly sacred experience of worship and spiritual and physical sharing when we "remember (His) death till (He) come."
I am thankful, too, for the faith that we Protestants share with many sincere Roman Catholic believers, although I respectfully believe they are wrong about the bread and the wine being literally changed into the actual body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Still if they have truly repented of their sins and are believing in Him alone for salvation, not of works but only of faith, they are my brothers and sisters in Christ.
I understand that a Latin repetition voiced by the RC Priest in connection wirh this supposed 'trans substantiation' gave rise to the English expression 'HOCUS POCUS" which it sounded like.
For the first time in my life I am taking communion at an alter, it is a very different experience to what I am used too, yet the meaning hasn't changed at all.
I sometimes take communion at home, by myself too. When I do this, I am reminded that even though I do this by myself, my connection is far broader and wider than just me and includes many other people from all over the world.
I think your observations about Jesus are beautiful, and so often it is the simplicity of the way He did things that convict me the most.
wonderful
AncientScribe pretty much summed up what communion is for me, I'm a Roman Catholic as well. I believe that Jesus truly becomes the Eucharist. It's a beautiful gift, and the more conscious I become of it, the more I long to recieve him, and speak with him in Eucharistic Adoration.
Eucharistic Miracles have always fascinated and inspired me as well, especially the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano. Google it if you're curious!
One of the most beautiful times I experienced communion is when I walked forward to receive and realized I was walking into the mystery of what Christ did for me. I confessed my sins before God as in my mind I contemplated the cross Christ bore. I realized the gift of love and grace that was being given to me. I realized how amazing it was that I got to touch my Lord that closely, I realized what it means that I was about to receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ in, with and under bread and wine. Tears fell and the pastor looked at me with a deep compassion in his eyes as if he knew what the cross means, for Christ, for him, for me, for all Christians. My hands opened, as I received "Body of Christ, broken for you." I looked at my spiritual sibling beside him, "Blood of Christ, shed for you." I dipped and received. Amen.
@Grampa_David - "Hoc est enim corpus meum" are the true words you are thinking of, though one would only hear them when the Mass is done in the Latin, which is fairly rare, especially in this country. It translates into, "This is my body." It is from Mark 14:22, and is similarly said in the other Gospels. It is said during the part of the Eucharistic prayer when we remember the Last Supper, when the priests says, "On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take this, all of you, and eat it. This is my body, which is given up for you." The bread is elevated, and sometimes bells are rung, and the priest kneels before continuing. It is a very beautiful moment.
We had communion once on Daytona Beach at sunrise with a leadership team that had shared and bonded all weekend in a special way. I'm not sure if it was the time the locale or the people but it was special
Communion has always been so special for me ... the sheer wonder of it ..... the connection.
The connection is actually cross-like ... first is the vertical - connecting me with God through Christ, and then the horizontal, connecting me with all the other children of God down through the ages, both past and future.
But the most memorable communion for me, was coming to the Lord's Table the day after I saw "The Passion of the Christ" .... it was all there, in vivid detail ..... the Glory of Christ in the Cross.
Blessed be His Name.
nope... but it sounds beautiful.. our communion (catholic) is becoming a bit ritualistic... but i feel amazing if communion bread (i forgot what it's called) is the first thing i have on a sunday morning. =)