The Cup of Blessing That We Bless

On the left, a Russian bishop prepares the one Bread and one Cup, adequate for a large number of communicants, who will all receive from the same loaf and chalice. On the right, a priest places the “fermentum” in the chalice, signifying the unity of the Eucharist which he celebrates with the Eucharist which the bishop celebrates elsewhere that day.

Judge what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not communion in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not communion in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread we, the many, are one body, for we all share in one and the same bread. (1 Cor. 10:15-17)

Because the parish in Corinth–wealthy members, poor members, Gentile Christians, Jewish Christians, the “weak”, the “strong”–all partake of the one bread and the one cup at the Eucharist, they are one body. One fellowship. One community united in faith against the temptations and allurement of the fallen world. Although many, they are one–manifesting and revealing the Kingdom of God to all those willing to look and see.

That chalice, or rather, what the chalice holds, consecrated by the word of God, is the blood of Christ. Through these elements the Lord wished to entrust to us his body and the blood which he poured out for the remission of sins. If you have received worthily, you are what you have received.

St, Augustine of Hippo, Easter Sermon

St. Augustine reminds his congregation of what St. Paul told the Corinthians: they must partake of the bread and cup worthily. If they do not partake in a worthy manner, the Holy Gifts will destroy them rather than enliven them.

But St. Pauldidn’t say the Corinthians had to be pure or sinless. He said they had to beworthy. Worthiness is a very different thing. To be worthy to touch, to beworthy to consume the Body of Christ does not mean to be sinless. As severalEnglish theologians in the 1600s and 1700s pointed out, to be worthy is to be committedto self-examination, committed to repentance, committed to always turningaround, changing direction, re-orienting myself towards Christ. So I must alwaysprepare to approach the Table by examining myself, reviewing what I have doneand who I have been during the time since I last approached the Holy Table.Examine myself, measure myself against our standard—which is Christ—and determinehow I might, in perhaps some single small way, turn my back on that person thatI do not want to be and take some small step closer to being the person I wasmade to be in Christ.

Tobe worthy of receiving Holy Communion, to dare to touch the Corpus Christi,I must be committed to self-examination and repentance. One of those Englishtheologians, Simon Patrick[1] in 1660, suggested using aphrase from the Gospel that Greek and Russian Christians use as they approachthe chalice: “Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom.” The thief crucifiedwith Christ acknowledged Jesus as Lord and reoriented his life—turning his backon his image of himself as a victim who was owed whatever he could take fromother people—and he asked Jesus to make a place for him in the Kingdom. Whatwas Jesus’ answer? “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” If we approach thechalice with the self-examination, the reorientation of our lives, the words ofthe thief—Remember me in your kingdom—Christ makes the same promise to us:Today you will be with me in paradise. Today you will begin to live forever.

[1]Bishop of Ely, Mensa Mystica, or a Discourse concerning the Sacrament of theLord’s Supper. (Prayer Book Spirituality, p. 283)

The post The Cup of Blessing That We Bless appeared first on Stephen Morris, author.