The Blessings of the Eucharist

 

H.G Bishop Moussa

 

The Eucharist is the climax in the Coptic Orthodox Church. It is the

gathering of all the people plus clergy plus the saints, angels and the

Lord Jesus Christ, Himself.

When we define the church we say, the church is the congregation

gathering in a consecrated, building, and headed by the clergy attended

by angels and saints around the altar, which carries the Body and Blood

of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Therefore, the five component of the church are:

1. Believers/congregation

2. Consecrated building (church) which has the consecrated altar

3. The clergy

4. The angels and saints

5. The body and blood of the lord

 

The church is the pinnacle of every religious activity we have. The

Sacrament of the Eucharist was founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, as it

states in the Bible: in John 6:52-56:

“The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this

Man give us His flesh to eat?” then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly I

say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His

blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My

blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up at the last day. For my flesh

is food indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and

drinks My Blood abides in me and I in Him.”

Jesus Christ insisted that we MUST eat His flesh and drink His Blood, for

His flesh is food indeed and His Blood is drink indeed. For if we do this He

will abide in us and we in Him.

Also in 1 Corinthians 10:16;

“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the

blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of

the body of Christ?”

This verse carries the message that the Eucharist is the real communion

of the Body of Christ and not just a symbolic representation of it, as some

denominations believe. Although we are many people, we are all united

in one Body when we partake of this communion, as represented by the

one Bread that the clergy selects to transform through the Holy Spirit

into the Body of Jesus Christ.

The Sacrament was received by St. Paul through the Lord Jesus Christ

Himself. As Jesus Christ said to St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23;

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the

Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;”

Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ has delivered the Holy Eucharist to us.

It is this same Eucharist that has been passed down to us through

apostolic predecessors.

Furthermore, Jesus Christ commands us to “Do this in remembrance of

me”. The Holy Eucharist is not a symbolic representation but a real

representation. We believe that through the Holy Spirit, the bread is

transformed into the true Body of Jesus Christ. This is the miracle of the

Eucharist.

The Eucharist is our proclamation of the death of Jesus Christ, for

through it we “proclaim his death and confess his resurrection” until He

comes.

We must take heed however to the caution that the Lord gave us, when

he said, “whoever drinks in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the

body.” This will cause judgment upon oneself.

The transformation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the

Lord Jesus Christ is a true miracle by the Holy Spirit.

The blessings of the Eucharist are as such:

1. Unity with the Lord

2. Unity with the Saints

3. Unity with the believers

4. Salvation

5. Eternity

6. Message

1. Unity with the Lord:

The Lord Jesus proclaimed that whoever eats of this bread and drinks of

this wine, “Abides in me and I in Him”. Therefore the Holy Eucharist

allows the Lord Jesus Christ himself to abide in us and us in Him making

us united with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Eucharist allows the Unlimited

to be united with the limited. It allows the infinite God to dwell within

the weak human being. This is the miracle of Christianity.

Christianity gives people the power to become a divine person, by

allowing God to dwell inside of us. If you have God inside you will be

more powerful. This is the power Christ gives you because you are no

longer a human being but you have God inside you. This is the source of

power.

Human beings have against them the flesh, the world and Satan. If we

were too look at it mathematically we have one (the person), if we add

to it any number, say 10 (to represent all things in the world) we would

have 11 then add a further 1000 (for the works of Satan) then in total we

would have 1011. However, if we have 1 and add to it infinity we would

have infinity and infinity is greater than 1011, therefore, Christ is greater

than anything against us. As humans we are weak but we can conquer and

defeat the world despite Satan’s’ power because he is limited.

Christianity means God inside us, this occurs through the Eucharist.

Whenever you attend the mass, remember this equation. You haven’t

become God but you are one plus infinity, I am weak and limited but

Jesus Christ is unlimited. We can defeat the flesh and conquer the world.

Therefore whenever I take Jesus within my heart I take the unlimited in

my heart and this is the first blessing.

2. Unity with the Saints:

Inside the church we have the iconostasis, the cross, St. Mary, St. John,

the beloved, the last supper and to the right and left we have the

apostles, a blue dome with Jesus Christ and the four Evangelists they

represent the cloud of witnesses watching our struggles with the devil.

Therefore, we always have the saints in the church. We are not pagans

but they carry the spirit of the saints who are always attending with us.

The spirit of the saints can move in femto second (1/ 1 million billion of a

second) and that’s why the altar is called the ‘pietve’ meaning ‘the made

heavens’.

3. Unity with the Believers:

We are all one body of Christ. We are all organs or cells of one person. As

opposed to being a family in which the members are still each separate.

Everything is connected the brain with the nervous system. If we are a

small toe we are still connected the brain. In all the tribulations suffered

the Lord feels always. The saints are the heart of the church and similarly

the toe is connected the heart through the blood.

4. Salvation:

The Eucharist is the extension of the Crucifixion of the Lord and that is

why we see the Body and Blood of the Lord. The requirements of the

salvation are faith, works and sacraments. The body will then be

transformed into spiritual bodies when we are saved.

5. Eternity:

Take the analogy of a blood transfusion. Transferring blood gives life;

similarly having the Eucharist gives us eternal life.

6. Message:

We are always taking. We take from the Lord, the Saints etc. However,

here we give the message. Whenever we do this we proclaim his death

and proclaim his resurrection and remember Him until he comes. We are

in the world but not from the world. We are in the world but the world is

not inside the heart. Like a ship in water, but the water is not in the

ship.

||    Pope Shenouda    ||    Father Matta    ||    Bishop Mattaous    ||    Fr. Tadros Malaty    ||    Bishop Moussa    ||    Bishop Alexander    ||    Habib Gerguis    ||    Bishop Angealos    ||    Metropolitan Bishoy    ||