Mystical Supper

In understanding the Divine Liturgy we must realize that the Church, influenced by Judaism, saw the importance of calling together the People of God into a visible community in order to manifest and make real the unity that belief in One God creates. It is in the gathering together that the message of God becomes real! While a person can believe in God without gathering together with others who also believe, the symbol of what God revealed is not made manifest without the genuine gathering of believers. The Church as the Body of Christ extended in time does not become real without the gathering of believers. This is why we are repeatedly called to be Church (i.e., the gathering of believers). It is when all meet together at the Church’s call – men, women, children, adults and aged, rich and poor – that true worship and praise of God occurs. Why? Because it bears witness to the fact that God created one, human family. So the creation of community by the gathering of believers bears true witness to our understanding of what God attempted to accomplish when He created humankind. The gathering together for the sake of worshipping God bears witness to our understanding of God’s intention when He created humankind. It is only man’s limited understanding of God’s intent that keeps men and women from recognizing the unity that God intended within the human family. The recognition of this unity is a fundamental part of our worship of God.

Consider this! The two gifts that we use in our worship, bread and wine, are only made by transforming many grains of wheat and many grapes into bread and wine. For both of these food products a certain invisible gas or spirit is needed to make them combine into a whole. Yeast is needed to meld flour into one mass, dough, which is then transformed into bread. Fermentation is needed to blend many grapes into one fluid, wine. So too, the Spirit of God is needed to transform many people into a community – a Church.

So even the gathering together as Church – a community of believers – has a message for us. We need to think about this as we come together. Although we may come individually to worship, it is our recognition of our unity as the People of God that gives sense to our worship. A critical part of our worship of God is our recognition of and thanksgiving for life as a gift from God. We cannot truly recognize this gift, however, if we don’t recognize that the gift of life has been given to all of humankind, forming us into one human family. The recognition of this truth is also key for genuine worship. We recall the prayer in the Liturgy: We offer to You, Yours of Your own, in behalf of all and for all. We thank God for life and for the unity of all humankind.