Understanding the Eucharist

Introduction

In his down-to-earth introduction to the Eucharist entitled, The Meal Jesus Gave Us, N.T. Wright says that early in Church history, Christians came to refer to the celebration of the Eucharist with five phrases.
The first phrase – to break bread referred to the sharing of a meal and the remembrance of the breaking of Christ’s body in the crucifixion.[1] Similarly, the second phrase – the Lord’s Supper – referred to the remembrance of the meal that Christ shared with his disciples in the Upper Room on the night he was handed over to be crucified.[2] Both phrases emphasized that the Eucharist was an anamnesis – a memorial, remembrance or recalling.[3] Additionally, this second phrase also indicated that the Eucharist was a prolepsis – a bringing of God’s future into the present as Christians not only anticipated the feast of the Lamb at the end of times (Rev 19:9) but also participated now in the risen life of the Lamb of God.[4]

The third phrase, koinonia, which means “communion” in Greek, referred to the sharing in the life of Jesus, as well as in the lives of each other.[5] This emphasized that the Eucharist was not just a symbolic act of remembrance, but a sacrament, which mediated Christ’s presence and His grace. The fourth phrase, eucharisto, from which the word Eucharist derives and which means “thank you” in Greek, referred to the offering up of one’s self in thanksgiving for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world.[6] The fifth and final phrase, mass, which came about later in history and was derived from the Latin phrase ite – missa est which means “Go – you are sent out,” referred to the sending out of believers into the world to be witnesses of Christ.[7]

Each one of these phrases highlights an important aspect of the Eucharist that finds expression in the Eucharistic liturgy of the Anglican Church in North America’s (ACNA’s) Texts for Common Prayer. The purpose of the following paper is to explore the theological depths of this liturgy, using the five phrases just noted as a framework. It is my hope that in doing so, I will increase the understanding of the Eucharist for all Anglicans who use this liturgy as part of their regular worship as well as all exploring the Anglican Tradition. Please note: in looking at this liturgy, I will exclusively refer to the ACNA’s Short Form Liturgy.

The Lord’s Supper

 As mentioned previously, the phrases the Lord’s Supper and the breaking of bread indicate two important aspects of the Eucharist – its anamnesis (looking backward) and its prolepsis (looking forward). As Wright says of the Eucharist (which he calls the Jesus-meal):

 “As we are traveling the line that leads from the Upper Room to the great feast in God’s new world, from the victory of Calvary and Easter to the final victory over death itself, we find at . . . every celebration of the Jesus-meal – that God’s past     catches up with us again, and God’s future comes to meet us once more.”[8]

These twin movements of looking backward and looking forward can be found in the liturgy of the Anglican Church in North America’s Texts for Common Prayer.

Regarding the former: in the section of the liturgy entitled the “Great Thanksgiving,” the celebrant speaks of Jesus’ Last Supper and says,

“. . . our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat: This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'”

This remembrance is also found in Jesus’ words regarding the wine, which is also found in the liturgy. Additionally, a few sentences later, the celebrant says:

Lord and heavenly Father, with these holy gifts we celebrate the memorial instituted by your beloved Son, remembering his passion and death, his resurrection and ascension, and his promise to come again.

There can be no doubt in the mind of one paying attention to this liturgy that the Eucharist is an anamnesis.

There can also be no doubt that the liturgy is a prolepsis. The liturgy clearly points to the future and does so in such a way to link the past with the future. This is clearly seen in the words of the “Great Thanksgiving” which say:

“Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.”

The liturgy’s forward focus can also been seen when the celebrant says to the people receiving the bread and wine, “The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you in everlasting life” and when both the celebrant and people later thank God for assuring them of being “heirs of your eternal kingdom.”

These words do not simply point to the future, however. They also represent participation in the future. As Wright states, . . . when we take the wine and share it around, it isn’t only that we seem to be there with him at his last supper. We are there with him in his new world.”[9] We know this is true because in Jesus’ resurrection – this unique event that represents the “intersection of time and eternity,” God has revealed another dimension of existence in our midst.[10] That reality is the new world where God will make new heavens and a new earth, where human bodies and all of creation will be transformed, and believers will live in deep communion with the Triune God.[11]

The Eucharist

As one participates in the liturgy, looking to Christ’s past work in the cross and to Christ’s future work of renewing the world, one cannot help but praise God for his great mercies, and indeed the Eucharist liturgy reflects this thanksgiving. For example, towards the beginning of the “The Great Thanksgiving,” the celebrant says,

 “It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.”

In giving such thanks, we recall that it was Jesus who first gave thanks to the Father during the Last Supper (which is also reflected in the liturgy) and thus we imitate Jesus Christ, himself. Additionally, as part of our thanksgiving, we offer up the totality of our beings as living sacrifice as is reflected in the following liturgical words:

“And here we offer to you, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a living sacrifice, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Our offerings do not stop at ourselves, however. We not only offer up ourselves but our whole world. In offering up the bread and wine to God and then receiving them back as God’s gift, we recognize our dependence upon God and “. . . the impossibility of our serving God in our own strength”.[12] We also come to understand ourselves as people that in all areas of life are called to be “Eucharistic” or “liturgical” beings.[13] According to John Zizoulous, a Eucharistic being is “called to take in his or her hands the world as a gift and refer it back to the Giver with thankfulness . . ..”[14] He/she is also called to share this gift with others. While this offering up and sharing with others is a very part of who human being were created to be, it also does involve a sacrifice. As Rowan Williams points out, worship is a serious matter and following Jesus is costly.[15] After all, if we are to follow Jesus, whose very act of salvation involved sacrifice, then we must sacrifice as well.

Before moving on to the next phrase referring to the Eucharist, it is important to briefly clarify the relation of Jesus’ sacrifice to the Eucharist since sacrifice is an underlying theme of it. Indeed, the liturgy says:

“Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us . . ..”

In the history of the Church, some individuals have taken this sort of phrase to mean that the bread and wine actually become the literal body and blood of Jesus and thus each time the bread is broken, Jesus is sacrificed.[16] It is important to clarify that this is not what the Anglican liturgy intends to say and the liturgy is clear about this when it says,

“He offered himself and made once for all time, a perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the world.”

This statement makes “the eternal saving agency of Christ” clear.[17] Christ was sacrificed only once. As the Anglican divine Jewel said, just as Christ is a priest forever, so does his sacrifice last forever.[18] It is for this one sacrifice that we offer up our sacrifices of thanksgiving in the Eucharist.

Communion

While the Eucharist is a memorial in which we give thanks to Christ for his work on the cross, it is not simply a memorial. As already mentioned, N.T. Wright has pointed out that in the Eucharist, we are already with Christ in the new world as we celebrate the Eucharist – we have koinonia or “communion” with Him.[19] In the liturgy, before receiving the bread and the wine, we ask God that we:

“. . . may receive forgiveness of our sins and all other benefits of his passion, making us one body with him that he may dwell in us, and we in him.“

After receiving the bread and wine, we thank God for:

 “feeding us with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ.”

While Anglicans following in the footsteps of Thomas Cranmer do not believe that the bread and wine become Christ’s literal body and blood but remain bread and wine after consecration, they do believe that those who worthily participate in the Eucharist with true faith do truly “feed on Christ” – meaning they are united with Christ.[20]   As Wright says,

“The real miracle of the Communion . . . is not that anything happens to the bread, but that [through the power of the Holy Spirit] we are taken into the very heart of heaven, where Christ is at God’s right hand.”[21]

By heaven, N.T. Wright means the future feast of the Lamb that is brought into the present reality.[22] This foretaste of the future and Christ’s presence effects a real work in the participant’s soul – comforting, sustaining, and nourishing him/her and assuring everlasting life.[23] (Note: While it is not in the purview of this paper to explore what happens to the bread and wine in the consecration, suffice it to say for now that Anglicans do have some varied theological views on this, which differ from Thomas Cranmer’s view. This will have to be explored in another paper.)

Mass – Being Sent Forth in the Name of God

As one receives this foretaste of God’s future and is renewed by the presence of Christ, he/she is commissioned by God to go out into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit to invite others into such intimacy with Christ and to bring God’s healing.[24] This commissioning of participants in the Eucharist, which is the idea behind the word mass, can be clearly seen in the Eucharistic liturgy. Following in the path of the “Prayers of the People” (which comes before the “Holy Communion” and represents an offering up and intercession for the world), the liturgy is clear that participants in the Eucharist are to now go out into the world. After receiving the bread and the wine, the people say in the Post-Communion Prayer

“And now, Father, send us now into the world to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.”

Also, at the dismissal of the people, the celebrant says one of several sayings, including, “Let us go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the Spirit” or “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”

Having remembered, proclaimed, and been strengthened by Christ’s victory over sin and death through the power of the Holy Spirit and in the presence of Christ, participants in the Eucharist are now empowered to go into the world as witnesses to the inbreaking of Christ’s kingdom.

Conclusion

In the course of this paper, it has been shown that the theological richness of the Eucharist is reflected in the various phrases that Christians have used to refer to it since the beginning of Christianity. These phrases, to break bread, the Lord’s Supper, koinonia, eucharisto, and mass all find expression in the Anglican Church in North America’s Texts for Common Prayer and demonstrate that in celebrating the Eucharist, Anglicans remember Christ’s sacrificial death, remember and participate in God final renewal of the world, find union with Christ, and give thanks to God for His blessings. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, participants then leave the Eucharist to go out into the world to witness to Christ, bring God’s healing to the world, and invite others to join in on the Feast of the Lamb. It is my hope that this paper has helped those who regularly participate in this liturgy to have a greater appreciate of this sacrament.

(Please note, if you find this paper helpful and would like to share this, please do so with Rev. Kristen’s permission and with references.  Thanks!)

[1]Tom Wright. The Meal Jesus Gave Us: Understanding Holy Communion. (London: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999). pg. 35.

[2]Ibid., 36.

[3]Michael Sansom. A Liturgical Glossary. (Nottingham: Grove Books Limited, 1990). pg. 1.

[4]Laurence Hull Stookey. Calendar: Christ’s Time for the Church. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996) pg. 26, 32.

[5]Wright. Meal. 35-36.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid., 36-37.

[8]Ibid. 47.

[9]Wright. Meal. 27.

[10]Stookey. Calendar. 34.

[11]Wright. Meal. 27.

[12] Alexander Schmemann.  For the Life of the World (Crestwood:  St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2002), page 35; “A Response” in Colin Buchan, ed. Essays on Eucharistic Sacrifice in the Early Church. (Bramcote: Grove Books, 1984.) pg. 35.

[13]Schmemann. Life. 34.; Nicholas Sagovsky. “Doing Theology in Heaven” in Colin Buchan, ed. Essays on Eucharistic Sacrifice in the Early Church. (Bramcote: Grove Books, 1984.) pg. 24.

[14]Fr. John Chryssavagis. Cosmic Grace, Humble Prayer: The Ecological Vision of the Green Patriarch Bartholomew I. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003). pg. viii.

[15]Williams. Response. 34.

[16]Wright. Meal. 50.

[17]Rowan Williams. Eucharistic Sacrifice—the Roots of a Metaphor. (Bramcote: Grove Books, 1982.) pg. 4.

[18]Savosky. Doing Theology. 24.

[19]Wright. Meal. 27.

[20]Peter Brooks. Thomas Cranmer’s Doctrine on the Eucharist. (London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd, 1965). pg. 86, 90, 97.

[21]Wright. 62.

[22]Ibid.

[23]Brooks. Thomas Cranmer’s Doctrine. pg. 93, 103-104.

[24]David R. Holeton. Ed. Our Thanks and Praise: The Eucharist in Anglicanism Today. (Toronto: Anglican Book Center, 1998) pg. 278.