Loading...Our topic this week is about receiving the Eucharist.
Since I arrived we have used three different kinds of bread. I'm the type of priest who likes the symbolism of a loaf of bread--leavened or unleavened--but bread for communion. Bread can be irregular in shape. It has a texture and flavor and bulk.
There is something about being able to tear the bread in half and then into pieces for each of you to receive. Have you ever looked at the bread in your hand? Felt its texture? Its weight? There is substance that reminds us that the bread Jesus broke was a part of the meal they were eating.
We're exploring recipes, sizes, leavened or unleavened, all to find what provides an all around memory of the last meal Jesus shared with his followers.
Of course, we are also trying to find something that when it is blessed and broken does not crumble or break, leaving crumbs and dust from the consecrated bread scattered on the altar or the floor. The Altar Guild tends this bread as the symbol it is--blessed, consecrated, and not to be mishandled. What is not eaten from a loaf is returned to nature to bless the critters that are also fed by it.
It is definitely an adventure.
The bread we used this past Sunday was more like what I want to use. I like holding a loaf in my hand and breaking a piece just for you when you come to me to receive it. It becomes a personal act of connection between us.
What happens next is you move to where the chalice is filled with the wine, mixed with a little water, again as a reminder that Jesus passed a cup, a goblet, a chalice full of wine down the line to everyone at that last meal.
I'm pretty sure that every one of those people took their chunk of bread and ate it and then grabbed that goblet and put it to their lips and took a big gulp. They might not have truly understood what Jesus was saying to them, but this was a meal, a celebration of sorts, where food and drink passed from hand to hand down the table and back again.
We are a bit more reserved, polite, and cautious when we consume the Body and Blood of Jesus each Sunday. A bit of bread, a small sip of wine and we're fully communed as Jesus Followers, fed in preparation for all the world has in store for us for the time between our communions.
I know that many of you choose to "intinct" (another word for "dip"), your bread into the chalice rather than put your lips to the silver cup. Many people have made that choice because they believe it is the "safer" option when it comes to the spreading of germs. And since we've been in a pandemic, living with uncertainties and moving into greater understanding about how COVID spreads, we may be even more cautious.
However, and I know this is hard to believe, taking a sip from the common chalice is actually safer than dipping your bread into the cup. Studies show that our mouths are much cleaner than our hands, and that intincting/dipping elevates the risk of germs and bacteria being introduced into the cup.
I've linked an article that may be helpful.
Each of you have a reason for the way you receive the wine, and that is okay. My hope is that you can learn with me about why The Episcopal Church thinks and acts the way it does--and how we are still beloved if we do or don't "do it that way."
Maybe that's why I've entitled this article "Roaming with the Rector." We can take this walk together, exploring the way, and finding our way.
Blessings,
Rev. Debbie+
to read the article click HERE
