C�ne du Seigneur - Biblique

Every meal, not just Communion, but including Communion, is a reminder that we depend on God as creatures.
We are not autonomous.
Much of our food is grown, processed, distributed and perhaps cooked by other people.
We are part of a complex web of relationships that we rely on day in and day out.
And behind it all is our loving Creator, who generously provides for the needs of his creation.
This is why Jesus taught us to pray: Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6: 11).
But the communion meal is special.
For communion is also an acknowledgment that we depend on God not only as creatures but also as sinners.
We live the death of his Son.
Every bite is a reminder that we cannot save ourselves.
Just as we rely on daily bread for physical life, we rely on Jesus for spiritual life.
Because he is the bread of life.
On the evening of his betrayal, while Jesus was eating with his disciples, he took bread and said: This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me (Luke 22: 19).
When we participate in the Lord's Supper, we each eat a small piece of bread in remembrance of Jesus.
"Likewise after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in blood, which is shed for you'" (verse 20).
When we drink a small amount of wine (or grape juice) at the Lord's Supper, we remember that the blood of Jesus was shed for us, and his blood inaugurated the new covenant.
Just as the old covenant was sealed by the sprinkling of blood, the new covenant was established by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 9: 18-28).
Paul said, "Each time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11: 26).
The Lord's Supper looks back on the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Is the death of Jesus a good or a bad thing? There are some very sad aspects to his death, but the overall picture is that his death is wonderful news for all of us.
Jesus is glad he did.
It shows how much God loves us, so much that he sent his Son to die for us, so that our sins would be forgiven and we could live with him forever.
In the history of the Church no subject has been more fruitful of controversy than the Lord's Supper.
There has never been unanimity in the understanding of its nature, nor uniformity in the manner of celebrating it.
Without considering the frivolous questions that have recently been debated as to the posture in which men should participate; whether mixed or unmixed wine is to be served; whether leavened or unleavened bread should be broken; the questions were settled differently in each church, who should be admitted to the feast, and how often it should be prepared.
In the Catholic Church, infants were at one time allowed and then prohibited from participating; and, since the ninth century, the laity receive only the bread, the cup being reserved for the priesthood.
So, as to the hour of solemnity.
At the Fourth Lateran Council, it was decreed that every believer should take communion at least once a year - at Easter.
Then it was decided that this sacrament should be received three times a year - at Easter, at Pentecost and at Christmas.
The body of Jesus speaks of his perfect life which was given for us.
He gave this life of perfect obedience so that we who are so far removed from the righteousness of God might find in him what we do not have in ourselves.

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