Hey folks! Our current unit in the kids curriculum is about the Church: what it is, what it does, and what it means to be a part of it.
Click here for a general overview of the unit.
This week we'll be talking specifically about the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
Here's a link to last week's overview of the Sacraments and of Baptism specifically.
What is Communion?
In many ways Communion (or "Eucharist" or "The Lord's Supper") is the center, the summary, the pinnacle, of the meaning of Christianity. The whole of the faith is represented in its enactment.
"Man is a hungry being. But he is hungry for God. Behind all the hunger of our life is God. All desire is finally a desire for Him." - Alexander Shmemann
The Church has written many millions of words of reflection on the meaning of the Eucharist (rightly so), so we obviously can't be exhaustive (indeed, the Eucharist itself is inexhaustible!) in our description of what it is. But here's a start:
A SACRAMENT: Commanded by Jesus, it is a sign and ritual act that conveys, or delivers, that which it signifies. We receive Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
A SACRIFICE: Eucharist just means “thanksgiving,” and the one sacrifice that remains for the people of God after the death and resurrection of Jesus is the sacrifice (or “offering”) of thanks and praise. There is no more blood necessary; there is no blood that could do more than the blood of Christ. We come to church to offer ourselves anew before the face of God, and receive God himself in the Body and Blood of our Lord.
AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE: We remember Jesus, the perfect Lamb, died and and so fulfilled all need for blood sacrifice before God once and for all. But this is no normal “remembrance”: it is a remembrance that the church has long confessed brings into the present what happened to “us” in the past (the greek word is “anamnesis”).
A PARTICIPATION IN THE DIVINE LIFE: “You are what you eat,” is more true than the philosopher realized. The Bread and Wine are means by which God delivers himself to us—they actually do what they signify. As we take the Eucharistic meal into our bodies, the body of Christ becomes a part of us, and (received rightly) we become more of who we in fact are in Christ Jesus: his nation of priests, a community made in his image, extending his gracious invitation to the world.
AN ASSURANCE OF FAVOR: In the eating and drinking our faith in him is quickened (stimulated and brought to life), strengthened and confirmed and we are comforted and refreshed by God.
THE RE-MEMBERING OF THE CHURCH: When we gather for the Eucharistic Assembly, the scattered Church reemerges from its labors as that community of persons united by the Spirit of God offering thanks and praise to God the Father through the merit of his Son. If you want to know what the Church looks like, find the Eucharist.
A PROCLAMATION OF HIS RETURN: Whenever we eat this meal, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again.
"The Eucharist is the entrance of the Church into the joy of its Lord. And to enter into that joy, so as to be a witness to it in the world, is indeed the very calling of the Church, its essential work, the sacrament by which it 'becomes what it is.'" - Schmemann (again)
Scripture to consider:
John 6:26-29
1 Corinthians 10:15-17
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Questions for your kids
What does Holy Communion mean about how God feels about you?
Why do you think God told us to use bread and wine as the signs for Communion?
What does Communion teach you about Jesus?
Holy Imagination
Learning the faith isn't just about memorizing facts. It's about seeing the world as it really is: "charged with the grandeur of God."
1 Cor. 10 speaks of the church, though "being many," is yet made one as we share the bread of Communion. Even if you're not a big baker, consider baking something this week and noting how the "parts" of the bread (or cupcake, or scone, or biscuit, or whatever) become one! This is what Jesus does for the Church through the Eucharist!
Peace,
Danny+