Lessons, meal and Eucharist

There were so many things to enjoy over Holy Week and Easter. There were powerful and confronting stories of Jesus set to music, readings and sermon, but the highlight for me was the simple meal we had on Maundy Thursday. It was billed as 'Lessons, meal and Eucharist', and that is what it was. The lessons were taken from Luke 22, Jesus' last night before his crucifixion and the Eucharist shared at the tables at which we ate the Mediterranean inspired meal. At the tables we shared thoughts on the readings as well as talked about everyday things. There was something 1st century about it: simple Church with Jesus, meal and community.

Love & Eucharist

For the lead up to Lent we have been exploring love. Recently, we did some thinking over the theme of 'Love & Eucharist' and how the two are inseparable. Some of our 'connecT' members were/are nurtured in other traditions than Anglicanism and so the reflection on the place of the 'Lord's Supper' was varied. Some held that the gathering together was the essential part of the celebration, others held that the eating and drinking of the body and blood of Christ was more important. Others still, suggested that there was no 'real presence' but it was a memorial meal. Others (including me) thought that Jesus was, indeed, present in the bread and wine and also in the community that celebrates. Old debates, aren't they? But what we all agreed about is that love is present when we gather together to celebrate the Eucharist. God's love for us, our attempts at love for God and each other.
Perhaps then, the debates about 'real presence' are superfluous because there isn't a time when God is absent: God fills all things. The Eucharist sharpens our minds to that fact.

Chris