A Reflection on the Eucharist as Central Part of My Worship Experience

Normal 0Easter Sweetness
A reflection on the Eucharist as central part of myBy Peter Menkin
worship experience:To delight in the Paradiseof Easter; it is the Lord's.
A way of Communion, certainThe Christ!
Church of Our Saviour, Mill Valley, CaliforniaAlleluia!
Wednesday Eucharist, April 23, 2008Oh, speak in the night, a conversationof the spirit, a
John 15: 1-8complaint, a plea.
“Abide in me as I abide in you.”It is the Lord’s will, a renewal
Peter MenkinFor humankind. Celebrate in the fullness
April 22, 2008Of living.
This reading about the vine encourages me to enterDo so in the Church at prayer,
into Communion, a central means of faith for me, theMeditating on the day, ones failings,
Eucharist.Surprises—opening to God.
I am fortunate, I am encouraged as an Oblate andSo one speaks, listens, waits
Episcopalian, to enter into regular Communion,And lives in the knowledge of Easter,
receiving the body and blood of Christ on Sundays,Its seasonal presence. This divine gift.
and also in my religious work of offering the EucharistSo may we rest in thee, in aloneness.
as a Lay Minister. Sometimes, if one includesWe rest in thee, together our love in emotion and
Wednesday Eucharist, as today, I have thesoulbinds us joyfully -- thank youfor the morrow in
opportunity of receiving the Eucharist more thanthe bringingof the quickening spirit, amillennium of
three times a week—even four.blessings in color,in shadow, in light, early morning.
The late well known Catholic Priest, Teilhard deThere is God, our beloved
Chardin wrote about the Eucharist as a presence inHe calls us.
the universe. This theological thinker may be knownAt the end of the poem, which is posted as an audio
to you. He considered Eucharist a universal andreading on our Church website, I say “There is
mystical experience in which we as members of theGod, our beloved/He calls us.” The reading does
Church live and are –as in being-- as a result ofremind us that Christ is available to us in spirit, in love,
our participation. Here is a poem I wrote about thisfor Christ is a representation and a door to God, and
wonderful religious teacher, as I have experiencedour God --as is Christ,-- is love, and loving. He calls us.
the Communion essence. I find writing poetry a waySo the Eucharist does, too. So the reading reminds
of faith practice, and that I find this act ofme.
Communion by body and blood a way of stayingI find I can rest in Communion, in the love that is
with Christ. This poem is set in Lent.Eucharist, in Christ. “We rest in thee, together
Engaged in Le Milieu Divineour love in emotion and soul/binds us joyfully…”
Lent... (2002)my poem reads. This is a quickening spirit. What a
In the habitat zonewhere I know God’swonderful term, “…quickening spirit…” For
presenceus Communion undergirds our life in Christ.
I recognize the outer darkness-- transfigure isThis reading is from, “An Anthology of Christian
theseason’s introduction to Le Milieu Divine.Devotion: Holy Communion, “ compiled by
Precarious habitation, there is the greater worldMassey H. Shepherd, Jr. I commend it to anyone
where Christ is loci,even in travails ordinary,here, and it is available in our Church library.
extraordinary.“It is not only for the individual that the
We are of substance existence,createdsacrament of the Lord’s Supper has a central,
believing--seeking.living, mystic meaning, but for the whole community,
Fill my half-heartedness; unbend me.the whole Church, yes, for all mankind. For here the
Before my trials of devil and insidious evil--thedivine mingles with the human, the terrestrial, here in
darkness.the Eucharist praise and sacrifice are offered to the
You are center point even of my despair, ofLord for the whole world and by the whole
love,inside me, outside entering transformation.world…and the whole cosmos is hereby potently
May I show penitence, everlasting one adored.ennobled and sanctified in that earthly elements of
Lent begins.wine and bread become the glorified body and blood
A common theme in all my poetry is reverence forof the Son of God. That is why the idea of all
the Eucharist. It is fact for me. Eucharist is central tocreation is assembled in spirit around the Eucharistic
worship and I consider it at the same time a focusaltar so constantly recurs in the old liturgies of the
on Christ, as we are encouraged in this reading fromEast. For through Him, through His death, and through
John. John is a “mystical” writer of Gospel,the glorification of His risen body, here mystically
and the good news is that we are part of hisrepresented, creation partakes of the glory of
ministry, as an evangelical, and of course members ofredemption…
the body of Christ.“This communion of the soul with God is not a
Because the poem I’ve offered is about Lent, Idialogue, but a mighty harmony of many tones, a
wanted to share with you another, one about Easter.great organism, a powerful kingdom, a
Another theme of season that I practice as mycomprehensive brotherhood, a Church of God into
discipline of religious life. Receiving Easter, is part ofwhich the individual is caught up as a member of the
the year, to keep Easter in mind as we look forwardwhole body, and which expands and grows into the
to it during the year. We are an Easter people, andinfinite until it embraces, not only all mankind but the
we share in the risen Christ, and in the Eucharist.whole creation, the whole cosmos, in a kingdom of
Communion is a journey.eternal life. It is a cosmic, an oecumenical conception.