Since becoming an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, I have developed a more profound connection with the Eucharist. In preparing for conducting a Communion Service at a retirement community almost a year ago, I was struck by the Prayer after Communion for the 27th Sunday or Ordinary time:
| Grant us, almighty God, that we may be refreshed and nourished by the Sacrament which we have received, so as to be transformed into what we consume. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. |
As I reflected upon and looked further into this prayer I found that it echoed the spirit of two well-known quotes by St. Augustine regarding the Eucharist:
"Behold what you are, become what you receive."
"You, however, are the Body of Christ and His members. If, therefore, you are the Body of Christ and His members, your mystery is presented at the table of the Lord, you receive your mystery. To that which you are, you answer: `Amen'; and by answering, you subscribe to it. For you hear: `The Body of Christ!' and you answer: `Amen!' Be a member of Christ's Body, so that your `Amen' may be the truth."
Reflecting on these quotes it became more apparent to me that my personal expression of Amen (I Believe or So Be It) as I am about to receive the Eucharist is my personal acknowledgement that the same Christ that is in the Bread I am receiving is also in me. When I distribute the Eucharist, I am acknowledging the Christ in the host is also in those approaching to receive it. In the celebration of Communion and indeed the celebration of entire mass, as everyone joins together in community we join together as the Body of Christ.
My intent to keep the Amen I profess during the Eucharist authentic now helps me to keep focused on revealing the Christ in myself and seeing the Christ in others even after I exit the Church and return to everyday life. By doing so, I do my part living as Body of Christ. I rarely succeed as well as I'd like to at this, but by trying to be true to my understanding I have a deeper awareness and the inspiration to continue trying.
"Behold what you are, become what you receive."
"You, however, are the Body of Christ and His members. If, therefore, you are the Body of Christ and His members, your mystery is presented at the table of the Lord, you receive your mystery. To that which you are, you answer: `Amen'; and by answering, you subscribe to it. For you hear: `The Body of Christ!' and you answer: `Amen!' Be a member of Christ's Body, so that your `Amen' may be the truth."
Reflecting on these quotes it became more apparent to me that my personal expression of Amen (I Believe or So Be It) as I am about to receive the Eucharist is my personal acknowledgement that the same Christ that is in the Bread I am receiving is also in me. When I distribute the Eucharist, I am acknowledging the Christ in the host is also in those approaching to receive it. In the celebration of Communion and indeed the celebration of entire mass, as everyone joins together in community we join together as the Body of Christ.
My intent to keep the Amen I profess during the Eucharist authentic now helps me to keep focused on revealing the Christ in myself and seeing the Christ in others even after I exit the Church and return to everyday life. By doing so, I do my part living as Body of Christ. I rarely succeed as well as I'd like to at this, but by trying to be true to my understanding I have a deeper awareness and the inspiration to continue trying.
It is interesting to read Symeon the New Theologian's (949-1022) a Byzantine Christian monk and mystic revered to this day by Eastern Christians, mystical insight on awakening into Christ's Body:
We awaken in Christ's body,
As Christ awakens our bodies
There I look down and my poor hand is Christ,
He enters my foot and is infinitely me.
I move my hand and wonderfully
My hand becomes Christ,
Becomes all of Him.
I move my foot and at once
He appears in a flash of lightning.
Do my words seem blasphemous to you?
--Then open your heart to Him.
And let yourself receive the one
Who is opening to you so deeply.
For if we genuinely love Him,
We wake up inside Christ's body
Where all our body all over,
Every most hidden part of it,
Is realized in joy as Him,
And He makes us utterly real.
And everything that is hurt, everything
That seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful,
Maimed, ugly, irreparably damaged
Is in Him transformed.
And in Him, recognized as whole, as lovely,
And radiant in His light,
We awaken as the beloved
In every last part of our body.
We awaken in Christ's body,
As Christ awakens our bodies
There I look down and my poor hand is Christ,
He enters my foot and is infinitely me.
I move my hand and wonderfully
My hand becomes Christ,
Becomes all of Him.
I move my foot and at once
He appears in a flash of lightning.
Do my words seem blasphemous to you?
--Then open your heart to Him.
And let yourself receive the one
Who is opening to you so deeply.
For if we genuinely love Him,
We wake up inside Christ's body
Where all our body all over,
Every most hidden part of it,
Is realized in joy as Him,
And He makes us utterly real.
And everything that is hurt, everything
That seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful,
Maimed, ugly, irreparably damaged
Is in Him transformed.
And in Him, recognized as whole, as lovely,
And radiant in His light,
We awaken as the beloved
In every last part of our body.
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