One Body; One Blood

Monday, March 27, 2006 -- Week of 4 Lent (Charles Henry Brent)

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 955)
Psalms 89:1-18 // 89:19-52
Genesis 49:1-28 1 Corinthians 10:14 - 11:1 Mark 7:24-37


"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread."

The life that we know is embodied. I look at my hands on the keyboard typing, and I see the very concrete reality of my presence. The thoughts of my mind create the words that my fingers type. They appear on a screen and will soon be shared with other embodied beings. My thoughts to you create a relationship. The words embody some of my thoughts, some of my being. It is all done physically -- with fingers and keyboards, electricity and silicon.

On the night before his death, before his life was to become dis-embodied, Jesus took bread and wine and identified them with himself -- "this is my body; this is my blood." That Sunday evening as his friends were at table, they knew him in the breaking of the bread. For centuries ever since, Christians have participated in the embodied life of Christ through the gifts of shared bread and wine. It is such a profound, intimate relationship that we say that we are one with Christ. He lives in us and we in him. Jesus nourishes us, strengthens us, accepts us in this ritual meal.

Meals have always been powerful symbols of relationship. How different can we be from one another if we are literally being constituted by the same food? Our lives are energized and built up, given strength and future by the same entity when we eat together. We are one -- one body, one blood. There is an ancient tradition that if ever one were to eat at the same table with another person, you would be forever enjoined from killing that other in battle or elsewhere. The two persons are forever linked, for they are of the same substance. To kill the other would be to kill one's self.

We are all joined in a mystical relationship of life in Christ. We experience the presence of Christ particularly in the embodied gifts of bread and wine. His life enters into us, renewing and healing us week by week in the Holy Eucharist. We experience our union with countless others around the world who participate in this same mysterious feast. It is a foretaste, and symbol of the union of all life in God's creation. For after all, all humans eat from the fruits of the same earth.

Bread, the staff of life. Wine, the elixir of happy fellowship. Body and Blood, the stuff of life. All of it taken into relationship with the divine reality of intimacy and resurrection. In a sense, it is all we need to know. It is a mystery deeper than thought. It is also an act so simple that any child can participate.