From Discipleship Weekly

(a publication of the Presbyterian Church of Islip)

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A Word from Our Sponsor "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." -- Matthew 22:37-40 The Heidelberg Catechism: Part 2- Of Man's Redemption Week 29: The Holy Supper 78. Q. Do the bread and wine become the very body and blood of Christ? A. No, for as the water of baptism is not changed into the blood of Christ, nor becomes the washing away of sins itself, but is simply a divine sign and confirmation of it, so also in the Lord's supper the sacred bread does not become the body of Christ itself, although, in accordance with the nature and usage of sacraments, it is called the body of Christ. [Gen. 17:10-11; Ex. 12:11,13; Matt. 26:26-29; I Cor. 10:3-4; 10:16-17; 11:26-28; Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5; I Pet. 3:21] 79. Q. Then why does Christ call the bread his body, and the cup his blood, or the New Covenant in his blood, and why does the apostle Paul call the Supper "a means of sharing" in the body and blood of Christ? A. Christ does not speak in this way except for a strong reason: He wishes to teach us by it that as bread and wine sustain this temporal life so his crucified body and shed blood are the true food and drink of our souls for eternal life. Even more, he wishes to assure us by this visible sign and pledge that we come to share in his true body and blood through the working of the Holy Spirit as surely as we receive with our mouth these holy tokens in remembrance of him, and that all his sufferings and his death are our own as certainly as if we had ourselves suffered and rendered satisfaction in our own person. [John 6:51,55; Rom. 6:5-11; I Cor. 10:16-17; 11:26] Suggestions for discussion and review: When we partake in the Lord's Supper we are supposed to be in communion with both Christ and each other. In your own words, how does the action of eating and drinking during the Lord's Supper make this communion real? Are you supposed to have a special feeling while taking part in this Sacrament? If not, why? If so, what if you don't? How do we "recognize Christ in the breaking of the bread"? * * * * * * * * * * Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him Christ. . .the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden. -- C. S. Lewis