My blog this week is a continuation of what I was talking about on Sunday regarding the Sacrament of Holy Communion. I want to cover several aspects of this Sacred Meal that deserve our attention. If you want to grow in your understanding and practice of Holy Communion, please enjoy this week’s blog.
As you have heard me say, Holy Communion is a Sacrament of Life! My favorite phrase to use when distributing the consecrated bread is, “The Bread of Life, broken for you!” In these blogs and vlogs, I have been talking through more specifically what exactly Holy Communion means.
So far, I have talked about the Sacred Meal as an act of thanksgiving! The Greek word, “Eucharist,” simply means giving thanks. The ancient prayer we use every Sunday is called, “The Great Thanksgiving!” It is giving thanks to God for all God has done and promises to do! Last week, I talked about the Sacred Meal as an act of anamnesis which is the Greek word for remembrance! Remember to re-member! All things are made whole again through this Sacrament.
This week, I want to talk about what makes this meal sacred and actually communicates the Real Presence of Christ to each one who receives. The Greek word for this act is epiclesis. As is typical of Greek words, it is difficult to translate fully into English. Therefore, we might just use the Greek word as is and then attempt to explain the fullness of meaning.
Epiclesis is part of the prayer we offer every Sunday! “Pour out Your Spirit on each of us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the Body and Blood of Christ that we may be for the world, the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.” This whole prayer is called the epiclesis which simply means, “Invoking the Holy Spirit to consecrate our lives and the gifts we offer in the form of bread and wine.”
Hear this please! The Holy Spirit is the consecrator of all things holy and sacred. The role of the pastor is to invoke the Holy Spirit, so the Holy Spirit can do what only God can do and that is to take that which is ordinary and make it extraordinary. Through the Holy Spirit, simple bread and the fruit of the vine become for us spiritual food and drink, a re-presentation of Christ’s body and blood to each of us to we might be infused with Zoë life!
One of my favorite arrow prayers – one that is offered in the moment without a lot of extra words – “Come, Holy Spirit!” When I am needing wisdom or discernment or patience or understanding or whatever I need that is beyond me at the moment, I simply pray, “Come, Holy Spirit!”
The Eastern Orthodox Church is the portion of Christ’s body that God used to teach us. Apart from the Holy Spirit, we can do nothing. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, all things are possible, including the extraordinary sacramental act of bread and wine becoming for us the Bread of Life and the Cup of Blessing!
When you find yourself wanting a sacred experience in the midst of the ordinary experiences of life, practice the act of epiclesis – Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
Blessings –
Pastor Jeff