Mystical Supper

Although I have shared this with my readers before, I believe it is critical to remember that our Church does not profess to know exactly when God chooses to change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. We do not assert that there are any particular words that the priest says that makes causes this to happen. All we are able to say is that we believe when a group of believers in Jesus Christ pray to the Heavenly Father, remember the words the Son uttered as Jesus, invoke God’s Spirit to change the gifts, that it happens. Exactly when we don’t profess to know! We do believe, however, that God causes the gifts to change because He promised that this would happen when we repeat what He, Jesus, did on the night before He died.

You will note, as I shared before, that profound bows are made after we say prayers that address the Father, remember the Son and invoke the Spirit.

In our Liturgy, as we celebrate it, we remember exactly what Jesus did after we have address Father, Son and Spirit. The Anamnesis or Remembrance, lists all the things that God, in the Person of Jesus, has done in our behalf. Our Liturgy first states the following: the cross, the tomb, the resurrection on the third day, the ascension into heaven, the sitting at the right hand. These we know and believe took place in time. The prayer that we offer, however, also adds the following: the second and glorious coming again. I don’t know if any who have celebrated with me have ever thought about this. Most frequently the first part of the Anamnesis is taken silently. The way we celebrate, however, the entire prayer is said aloud and so we hear these words inserted into the things that God has done in our behalf.

So what does this mean? Why should the Church include something as having been done when it has not yet occurred in time? This included precisely because time has no place in the spiritual dimension. This is already done for us even though we have not experienced it.

I know that this may be difficult for some to understand. How can it be that the second coming has already happened but we are not aware of it.

Anamnesis is a central notion in Christian liturgy. Because it is, I will be sharing thoughts about it during the next several weeks and suggest how we can understand the second coming.