Lent 2013

Holy Thursday

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, be broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you.  Do this in remembrance of me."  1 Corinthians 11:23-24

When Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples, he summarized in these gestures his own life.  Jesus is chosen from all eternity, blessed at his baptism in the Jordan River, broken on the cross and given as bread to the world.  Being chosen, blessed, broken and given is the sacred journey of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.
     When we take bread, bless it, break it, and give it with the words, "This is the body of Christ," we express our commitment to make our lives conform to the life of Christ.  We, too, want to live as people chosen, blessed and broken, and then become food for the world.

Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of the Eucharist.  Help me to appreciate it and to live up to the challenge of unselfish giving that it presents to us. 

 

Holy Communion at the Sea of Galilee in January 2012.