Take and Eat: The Communion Rite

We are standing in heaven itself. The Lamb, the Son of God, the Jesus, is right in front of us. This alone should be the highest honor we ever receive...standing in God's throne room.

But for God, that isn't enough.

We must eat the Lamb.

This is part ten of my series on the Mass, Guided Missal. 

Part 1: Opening the Doors
Part 2: A Rite for Wrongs
Part 3: Word.
Part 4: I've Got Good News
Part 5: Offer It Up
Part 6: Holy, Holy, Holy
Part 7: This is My Body

Part 8: Pater Knows Best

Part 9: Mary's Little Lamb

If we see the Eucharist as a new Passover (and we should), there is one final step. We must eat the lamb.

Jesus makes this abundantly clear in what has come to be known as the Bread of Life Discourse. "I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." (John 6:48-51).

Not only that, Jesus did more than saying "If you eat this bread, you will live" He also affirmed the other side: "Amen, amen I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you." (53). 

Okay, this is where that Pharisees who were listening got mad. For Jews, there were few things as bad as drinking blood. Blood was the life force of a creature. So when Jesus not only endorsed drinking blood but commanding it, they got upset. 

That same call applies to us today. We must drink his blood. We must eat his body. 

That's what communion is. We don't just have a snack. We share a meal that binds us in a covenant. A covenant of blood. We join ourselves with Christ. It's not like that wafer just passes through us a few hours later without leaving a trace. It stays with us. It becomes a part of us. We become what we eat. 

We become a walking tabernacle. Don't take it for granted.

The Concluding Rite

After all of this drama, it seems a bit weird to just..end. I say, though, that this ending is the most important part. It's been said that the Sending Out is the second holiest moment of the Mass, behind the Consecration. Why? Because our faith isn't just something to be confined to a building on Sunday mornings. It is alive. Jesus prayed on the mountain, and he went to synagogue. But he didn't stay there. He went out and helped people. 

So, we must do the same. We must "Go forth, and preach the Gospel."

To which we reply, "Thanks be to God."