Greetings and peace to you all! I pray that your Holy and
Easter Weeks were filled with awe, wonder, and grace as you gathered to worship
our Lord, often in and through the Sacrament of Holy Communion. This week we
continue our examination of the 2019 BCP Service of Holy Eucharist – Anglican
Standard Text - with “The Invitation.”
Having experienced in sight and sound The Fraction, said the
Prayer of Humble Access, and said or sung the Agnus Dei, the priest holds up
for all to see the consecrated elements and declares:
THE MINISTRATION OF COMMUNION
Facing the People, the Celebrant may say the following
invitation
The Gifts of God for the People of God. (Take them in memory
that Christ died for you and feed on him in your hearts by faith, with
Thanksgiving.)
Or this
“Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin
of the world. Blessed are those who are invited to the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb. (JOHN 1:29T, REVELATION 19:9)
These two invitations reflect slightly differing views of
Holy Communion – the first being a more “protestant” view and the second being
a more “catholic” view.
In the first the emphasis is on “the Gifts of God for the
People of God.” We as believers, have been adopted as children of God (John
1:12) thus making us “the People of God.” The sacraments are received “in
faith” as a remembrance of what Jesus did through his sacrifice on the cross
and defeat of sin and death in his resurrection. In a strict reading of this
tradition the sacrament is efficacious in the believer’s faith as he receives
the body and blood of Christ with Thanksgiving!
In the second the invitation refers to the words of John the
Baptist upon seeing Jesus and declaring, “The next day he saw Jesus coming
toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
world!” In this, a more “catholic” view, the bread and wine, become body and
blood, it IS Jesus. The elements are blessed by virtue of the people and priest
together saying the words of consecration and the pronouncement of the
Epiclesis (see Bishop’s Note on the Prayer of Consecration 3/7/19). The body
and blood of Christ are not made efficacious by the faith of the individual
alone but through the faith of the Body of Christ gathered (the church) and the
Priest’s calling down of the Holy Spirit upon the elements. It is in the
reception of the sacrament that we have a foretaste of the heavenly wedding
feast that awaits us.
Let me be clear, in both cases, the understanding is that
Christ IS present in the elements of bread and wine. These two invitations
reflect slightly different emphases on how he is present and received.
Ultimately it is a mystery. One of the things I love about being Anglican is
that we can live in the slight tension of the protestant & catholic views
as we reflect the wholeness of Christian life and tradition.
As you worship this Lord’s Day listen to The Invitation
offered from the Altar of God and go forward to receive the sacrament, ponder
on how Christ is present and how you receive him.
I pray you all a blessed Sabbath and Lord’s Day.
1 comment:
Thanks Bishop Menees. I think the first invitation is more Protestant only if the optional statement in parenthesis is included. I understand the Puritan faction believed that Christ had ascended to heaven and was only symbolically, not truly present in the elements.
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