Thanks. While I hope I never take communion witho...

2009-06-11T16:47:34.851-04:00

Thanks. While I hope I never take communion without all due thought and reverence, I know that I probably have. When I attend Mass this evening, I will do so with a renewed intention to honor the truth you speak of.

Penny

Some years ago, I wrote a little book for parish e...

2009-06-11T14:15:18.643-04:00

Some years ago, I wrote a little book for parish extraordinary ministers of the eucharist--"eucharistic ministers" (The Joy of Being a Eucharistic Minister, Resurrection Press--and one observation I included seems to have had a significant impact on quite a few people who have gotten in touch with me to tell me so.
To wit: "Body and blood" is a Semitic phrase meaning "the whole person." And: it is the Risen Christ, alive and present now, we receive in Communion, not the so-called "historical Jesus" who lived 2,000+ years ago.
Sometimes people today get hung up on the "body and blood" phrase because they take it at mere face value. But when they understand that it really means "the whole person" that often helps them understand what's really going on with the Real Presence in Holy Communion. And when they grasp that it's the Risen Christ, that helps them to understand better while at the same time rocketing the mystery of it all into the stratosphere. What, after all, is risen body and blood? To receive and consume this is to take into ourselves our own ultimate destiny, namely an intimate sharing in the life of the risen Lord himself.
When we receive Communion we receive the whole person of the Risen Christ. This means a lot to me, at least. - Mitch Finley

Comments on OSV Daily Take Blog: Celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi

Thanks. While I hope I never take communion witho...

Some years ago, I wrote a little book for parish e...