March 22: A Hard Saying
♫ Music:
Day 22 - Wednesday, March 22
The Body and Blood of Christ
Scripture: John 6:53-65
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
Poetry:
"At Communion"
by Madeleine L’ Engle
Whether I kneel or stand or sit in prayer,
I am not caught in time nor held in space,
but thrust beyond this posture I am where
time and eternity come face to face;
infinity and space meet in this place
where crossbar and high upright hold the one
in agony and in all Love’s embrace.
The power in helplessness that was begun
when all the brilliance of the flaming sun
contained itself in the small confines of a child
now comes to me in this strange action done
in mystery. Break me, break space, O wild
and lovely power. Break me: thus am I dead,
am resurrected now in wine and bread.
A HARD SAYING
The sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, given to the Church by God, was meant to be the greatest sign of Christian unity but it has, at times, been a sign of dis-unity. Differing interpretations of what Jesus meant when he said, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you,” has led to disagreement, even division. A hard saying indeed! What is clear, however, is that in our eating the flesh of Christ (the bread that has come down from heaven) and in our drinking his blood we gain eternal life and abide with Christ (see John 6).
Madeleine L’Engle reminds us that the Eucharist is a “thin place,” a place where heaven and earth touch; where time and eternity come together; where space and infinity meet. And at this most holy intersection hangs the Son of God, whose flesh drips his blood for the sins of the whole world. Yet, before the communicant stands the altar of sacrifice, where the Lamb of God who bears our sins lies slain for us, a table set by the King. It is at this altar-table that we eat and drink his sacrifice; it is here that we feast on the heavenly bread and wine. We eat the bread of his body and drink the wine of his blood “as a sign of our bonds of grace.” Why? So that we may be broken of our sin in order to rise again; so that we may “with thankfulness and faith… rise to respond and to remember our call to follow in the steps of Christ” (“Behold the Lamb”).
Eating is such a simple act, a common, everyday occurrence (note the simplicity of Borremans’ The Bread). It is not the act of eating that is of note; it is what we are called, as followers of Christ, to eat (and drink) – the body and blood of God’s Son. In eating this heavenly bread and in drinking this blood-wine we do that which is needful so that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, so that our souls may be washed through his most precious blood; and in so doing we long to evermore dwell in him, and have him dwell in us, just as he promised in John’s Gospel.
God the Father has set the sacrificial altar with the body and blood of his Son. He offers us his Son’s body and blood to sustain us not only for the journey of Lent but for eternal life. A hard saying, yet a great promise.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ
by the Father’s plan and by the working of the Holy Ghost
of your own free will you died
and mercifully redeemed the world
from sin and everlasting death.
I adore and venerate you
as much as ever I can,
though my love is so cold, my devotion so poor.
Thank you for the good gift
of your holy Body and Blood,
which I desire to receive, as cleansing from sin,
and for a defense against it.
Amen.
(Anselm of Canterbury)
Greg Peters
Associate Professor
Director of Faculty Advancement, Torrey Honors Institute
Institute for Spiritual Formation
About the Artwork #1:
The Bread
Michael Borremans
Oil on Canvas (2012)
About the Artist #1:
Michaël Borremans (b. 1963) is a Belgian painter and filmmaker who lives and works in Ghent. His highly realistic painting technique draws on 18th-century art as well as the works of Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas. The artist also cites the Spanish court painter Diego Velázquez as an important influence. Borremans is interested in depicting “common rituals of interpretation and meaning.”
About the Artwork #2:
Cholamandalam
Antonio Santín
Oil on canvas
About the Artist #2:
Antonio Santín (b. 1978) is a Spanish painter who has exhibited internationally and is represented in the collections of Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris and Museu Europeu d'Art Modern, Barcelona, as well as numerous private collections worldwide. Santín constructs arresting compositions that simultaneously attract and unsettle in their evocative depictions of sublimated desire. He orchestrates elaborate still-lifes, manipulating both objects and the human form to construct a space he describes as “more real than reality itself.” Santín’s art is “deeply rooted in the tradition of Spanish Tenebrism as well as his own training as a sculptor, Santin juxtaposes flattened planes with tangible forms carved by light and shadow to create a continuous perceptual dialogue in each work.”
www.antoniosantin.com
About the Music:
“Behold the Lamb”
Lyrics:
[Verse 1:]
Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away,
Slain for us - and we remember
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgiveness at the cross.
[Chorus:]
So we share in this bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of peace
Around the table of the King.
[Verse 2:]
The body of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
Torn for you - eat and remember
The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life
Paid the price to make us one.
[Chorus]
[Verse 3:]
The blood that cleanses every stain of sin,
Shed for you - drink and remember
He drained death’s cup that all may enter in
To receive the life of God.
[Chorus]
[Verse 4:]
And so with thankfulness and faith we rise
To respond, - and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ
As His body here on earth.
[Refrain:]
As we share in His suffering
We proclaim Christ will come again!
And we’ll join in the feast of heaven
Around the table of the King.
About the Composers:
Keith and Kristyn Getty occupy a unique place in the world of Christian music today as preeminent modern hymn writers. In re-inventing the traditional hymn form, they have created a distinguished catalogue of songs teaching Christian doctrine and crossing genres by connecting the world of traditional and classical composition with contemporary and globally-accessible melodies. These modern hymns are rooted in the traditions of Celtic and English hymnody handed down to the Northern Ireland-born couple and their long-time writing partner, Stuart Townend. Their best known hymn, In Christ Alone (penned by Keith and Stuart, and recorded by Keith and Kristyn) echoes this heritage and has been voted one of the best-loved hymns of all time in the UK.
www.gettymusic.com
About the Performers:
Saint Michael's Singers is one of the UK's leading choral societies. The choir, based at Coventry Cathedral in the UK, was formed in 1963 and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013. The choir numbers around ninety auditioned members from all ages and walks of life.
www.saintmichaelssingers.org
About the Poet:
Madeleine L'Engle (1918 – 2007) was an American writer best known for young-adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, National Book Award-winning A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. L’Engle’s works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science. In addition to her novels and 5 volumes of poetry, L'Engle also wrote many nonfiction works, including the autobiographical Crosswicks Journals and Walking on Water a book dealing with faith and art. Many of her papers are at Wheaton College in Illinois.
http://www.madeleinelengle.com/