God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:14
The Eucharist is a celebration of God so loving the world that he gave us his only begotten Son through the incarnation of the Word and in the Eucharist. By the death and resurrection of Jesus and the gift of his Spirit, we who acknowledged Jesus come-in-the-flesh and who eat his flesh and drink his blood, will not perish but have eternal life. Our eternal life begins in our gathering for the Eucharist and culminates in our glorification in the Spirit with Christ in the presence of God the Father.
The Eucharist is a celebration of God so loving the world that he gave us his only begotten Son through the incarnation of the Word and in the Eucharist. By the death and resurrection of Jesus and the gift of his Spirit, we who acknowledged Jesus come-in-the-flesh and who eat his flesh and drink his blood, will not perish but have eternal life. Our eternal life begins in our gathering for the Eucharist and culminates in our glorification in the Spirit with Christ in the presence of God the Father.
It
is possible that John, when he composed his gospel in the 90's of the first century, knew the Eucharistic prayer from the ancient community rule
called the Didache, written perhaps decades earlier:
We give thanks to you, our
Father,
for the life and knowledge
to us
through Jesus your Servant.
To you be glory unto the
ages!
As the fragments of bread
were scattered over the hills,
and then, when gathered,
became one,
so may your church be
gathered
from the ends of the
earth into your Kingdom.
For yours is the glory
and the power,
through Jesus Christ,
unto the ages!
The
Father has given us his only begotten Son to gather up the fragments of our
broken lives and fragmented relationships, to gather us into one, that none may
perish, but that all may have eternal life.
Photograph by Brother Casimir. Reflection by Father Luke.
