eucharist as a way to live in the world...

Throughout this past week, Fr. Richard Rohr has been sharing reflections on Eucharist. In simple language he reminds us that Jesus gave the Eucharist to his disciples as a gift: live in the world knowing that it is as filled with my presence as the bread and the wine at this table. Take in everything as a gift of grace so that you may multiple the miracle of love. 

Many of us who participate in church sense that somehow the bread and wine of Holy Communion are special. Sacred. A variety of theological explanations have been offered and all have their insights as well as deficits. Since the time I was small I too have felt that the elements of the Eucharist are filled with the real presence of Jesus. As I aged, I continued to trust this by faith even as I knew that the bread was still bread and the wine still wine. Rohr offers this useful addition to my sensory wisdom: "Eucharist is an invitation to socially experience the shared presence of God and to be present in an embodied way."

Many Christians say they believe in the Presence in the Eucharist, but they don’t get that it is everywhere—which is the whole point! They don’t seem to know how to recognize the Presence of God when they leave the church, when they meet people who are of a different religion or race or sexual orientation or nationality.

As we open our hearts and bodies to receiving the essence of Jesus in the sacred meal, we practice recognizing his "real presence" in all of creation. In every tree. Every person. Every act that strengthens faith, hope and love. As the bread and wine are filled with the grace of God made visible in Jesus as Christ, so too are we filled with this grace. Not just those who are currently at the table; but the whole of Creation is saturated with a holy presence once we have eyes to see.

The Eucharistic meal is meant to be a microcosmic event, summarizing at one table what is true in the whole macrocosm: We are one, we are equal in dignity, we all eat of the same divine food, and Jesus is still and always “eating with sinners” just as he did when on Earth.

Henri Nouwen once put i like this: the heart of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is NOT doctrinal truth; but rather an encounter with being God's beloved. "You are my Beloved," is what what was mystically proclaimed when Jesus came up out of his baptismal washing in the Jordan River. The texts tell us that this assurance is what Jesus seeks to share with us all: in our flesh, in this moment, beyond all brokenness and shame, we are now and always will be the beloved of the Lord. Regardless of how we feel. Without social qualification. Beyond linear truth. The essence of Jesus is within and among us whether we know it or not, whether we feel it or not, whether we name it as such or not.

As I continue to clean and sort my way through boxes of papers, memorabilia,

notes and more from my days of ministry I continue to see how much I have cherished the Eucharist. Celebrating it in liturgy, wrestling with its grace in pastoral counseling, seeking to apply it to my work in social justice, and attempting to honor it as the core of my inner life of prayer has been a constant. 

With an uncanny vividness, I recall the first time I had a mystical experience with Eucharist. It was at First Congregational Church in Darien, CT when I was in 10th grade. To say that old school Congregational liturgy was less that ecstatic would be a wild understatement. Nevertheless, one Sunday in the summer of 1968, I experienced holding Jesus in my hand when I received the host - and being totally consumed by his love. Like Calvin suggested, in that moment time and space disappeared as my being was lifted into the presence of Christ in heaven. When I heard the pastor's invitation to, "Take and eat for this is my body" I noticed tears flowing from my eyes. It all took place in less that three minutes but for that time I knew from the inside out that there was a new heaven and a new earth. There have been other mystical encounters with the Lord during this meal - and elsewhere, too - but that's for another time.

Again the words of Nouwen are useful: to live "Eucharistically" is to let yourself be "taken (or chosen or called), blessed, broken and shared." This four point strategy for an embodied spirituality makes deep sense to me. Like Nouwen, I too am rarely fully engaged. I carry around a lot of baggage and miss the mark more than I hit it. But even my mistakes and failures become an invitation back into God's grace by Eucharist. Looking through my old papers, I came across my beaten-up, old Book of Prayer that contains my favorite communion invitation:

This table is open... so come not because you must, but because you may. Come not to be fulfilled, but because in your emptiness  you stand in need of God's mercy and assurance. Come not to express an opinion, but to seek a presence and to pray for a spirit. Come to this table as sisters and brothers, just as you are. Partake and share. It is spread for you and me that we might again know that God has come to us, shared our common lot and invited us to join the people of God for all eternity.

Next month I begin a new chapter in Eucharistic living as I start to participate in the spirituality planning for the L'Arche Ottawa community. My heart is full to overflowing as this journey continues.