Bishop Eric Menees
As we continue our examination of the Service of the Holy
Eucharist in the 2019 BCP we transition from the Comfortable Words of Jesus to
the “The Peace.”
The Peace is one of the most poignant and misunderstood
portions of the Liturgy.
The Peace
Celebrant: The Peace of the Lord be always with you.
People: And with
your spirit.
Then the Ministers and People may greet one another in the
name of the Lord.
In the gospel of Matthew Jesus tells his disciples: “So if
you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother
has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.First
be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11 – “Whoever, therefore,
eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be
guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself,
then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and
drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”
The placement of The Peace is designed to assist people not
to receive Holy Communion in an unworthy manner by reconciling with God and
with their neighbor. The point of the Peace is NOT to catch up with your
neighbor but to reconcile with your neighbor. It gladdens my heart when I
witness those reconciliations.
For ten years I was the chaplain at the Bishop’s School. We
had Eucharist regularly but the creme-de-la-creme was the Senior Class
Eucharist at the end of the year just before the Baccalaureate Service. The
Senior Class Eucharist was open only to students of the senior class and each
year I would speak to the importance of reconciliation prior to graduation.
What more appropriate place to speak to that than the Eucharist? What a joy to
see friendships healed and broken hearts mended. Students who had a harsh word,
or heard a rumor, three years prior would cross the aisle to say to the other –
“Peace of the Lordbe with you! And also, with you!”
Forgiven by Christ in confession and the pronouncement of
Absolution, students would be reconciled with their fellow student. This is the
very point of The Peace within the liturgy!
At the same time, this can be a moment of distraction in the
liturgy when rather than reconciliation it becomes a time to “catch up.” Many a
time I’ve seen a visitor leave assuming that the service had ended. Oddly the
tendency to catch up seems to lengthen with the size of the congregation. It’s
so easy… we all know each other, we’re glad to see one another… and so the
conversation leads to plans for lunch after church or shopping trips.
This Sunday, I want to encourage you to avoid the temptation
to “catch up” and to use the time, if necessary, to reconcile with your brother
or sister in order to approach the table in a worthy manner.
I pray you every blessing this week!
Bishop Menees
1 comment:
I am sorry to hear the ACNA prayer book will be retaining the Peace, my least favorite moment in the communion service from the 1979 book. The time for reconciling differences is before the service starts. In my experience, the "peace" is pro forma, and after the service is over the people I shook hands with will just walk away without so much as a "Good morning."
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