“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
On Holy Thursday, our Lord instituted the Eucharist, blessing the bread and wine, declaring them to be His Body and Blood and giving them to His disciples at the Mystical Supper. As is normative in the Church, our commemoration of the Lord’s Last Supper with His disciples makes Christ present for us today. We are with the disciples contemplating the Mystery which Christ places before us: the bread and wine of the Passover transformed into His Body and Blood. In a prayer from the Didache, a late First Century Christian document, we find the following prayer of the Eucharist:
“As this broken bread, once scattered over the mountains was gathered into one,
So gather Your Church together from the ends of the earth, in your Kingdom.
Yes, to You be glory and power
Through Jesus Christ, for ever and ever.
We give you thanks, O holy Father,
For Your Holy name
That you have caused to dwell in our hearts,
For the gnosis, the faith, and the immortality,
That you have granted us through Jesus your servant,
Glory to you through the ages!
You it was, O all-powerful Master,
Who created the universe, to the praise of your Name:
You have given men food and drink
That they may enjoy them
And give you thanks.
But You have favoured us
With a spiritual food and drink
And with eternal life through your servant.
We give you thanks above all
Because you are mighty!
Glory to you in the ages.
Remember, Lord, to deliver your Church
From all evil, and to perfect it in Your love.
Gather together from the four winds
The Church that You have sanctified
In the Kingdom that you have prepared for it.
For to You is the power and the glory
for all ages!
May your grace come and the world pass away!
Hosannah to the God of David!
If anyone is holy, let him come:
If he is not, let him do penance,
Marana, tha!
Amen.”
(Louis Bouyer, The Spirit of the New Testament & the Fathers, pp. 178-179)
Of Your Mystical Supper, O Son of God, accept me today as a communicant! Holy Week is not focused only on past historical events, it is focusing on our relationship today with Jesus Christ our Lord. We live in Christ in the present, not in the past.
Fraternized 