In Communion

In today’s reading, St. Paul is not pleased with the Corinthians. He tells them that they are doing more harm than good. Rather than there being community among the Church when it gathers together, there is division. They are not gathering together in communion to celebrate the Lord’s Supper but rather individually and selfishly. There is no regard for others and there is a lack of sacredness for the Eucharist. He speaks of drunkenness and making those who have nothing feel ashamed. The purpose of the Church is to bring us together as one in union with Christ. We don’t celebrate in the Eucharist only for ourselves and to be nourished individually. We celebrate in the Eucharist as a community. At the beginning of Mass, during the Penitential Act we call upon, “the Blessed Virgin Mary, all the angels and the saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God”. Throughout the Mass we praise and glorify God as a community. During Eucharistic Prayer II we hear these words, “humbly we pray that, partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit.” These are just a few examples of the many prayers that are said throughout the Mass that remind us that we are in this together.

“’This is my Body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.” (1 Corinthians 11: 24-26, 33)

The breaking of the bread and the drinking of the cup is described as a remembrance or commemoration. The observance of this remembrance was intended to constantly remind the disciples that Christ offered himself as a sacrifice and died on the cross for them.  When we partake in the Eucharist we are participating in Christ’s sacrifice. Christ did this “in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the centuries until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 47)  We come together as believers and express our unity and love for one another in a concrete way. We celebrate in the Eucharist together, not individually. We are here to help one another grow closer to Christ and to get to heaven. God desires for all of his children to be united with him once again.