Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Theological thought of the minute...
While checking someone's blog, noticed that they had read a book entitled 'What Happens During Communion', which got me thinking.
Because i'm Pentecostal in my beliefs, i don't subscribe to the Catholic understanding of communion. For me, communion, the taking of the wine and bread (or grape juice and cracker) is a time of rememberance. The power of communion comes through the acts of repentance and rememberance, not so much through the actual emblems. (Feel free to correct me if you think i'm wrong.)
This is how i see it: when i smell a particular perfume, i associate it with a friend who is currently serving as a missionary overseas. A particular movie will remind me of a great night with friends. Even something as simple as a phrase or even a word can remind me of someone. And likewise, when we take communion, it reminds us of everything that was done for us that day by Jesus. It helps us to shift our focus off ourselves and back onto that which is truly important. Jesus Himself said 'as you do this, REMEMBER Me.'
That is why i believe that Communion is more about the act of rememberance than the act of partaking in the wine and the bread. It can be just as profound with a nice coffee and biscuits as it can be with grape juice and crackers.
Because i'm Pentecostal in my beliefs, i don't subscribe to the Catholic understanding of communion. For me, communion, the taking of the wine and bread (or grape juice and cracker) is a time of rememberance. The power of communion comes through the acts of repentance and rememberance, not so much through the actual emblems. (Feel free to correct me if you think i'm wrong.)
This is how i see it: when i smell a particular perfume, i associate it with a friend who is currently serving as a missionary overseas. A particular movie will remind me of a great night with friends. Even something as simple as a phrase or even a word can remind me of someone. And likewise, when we take communion, it reminds us of everything that was done for us that day by Jesus. It helps us to shift our focus off ourselves and back onto that which is truly important. Jesus Himself said 'as you do this, REMEMBER Me.'
That is why i believe that Communion is more about the act of rememberance than the act of partaking in the wine and the bread. It can be just as profound with a nice coffee and biscuits as it can be with grape juice and crackers.
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Try telling that to an Anglican Paula!
Its amazing how our view of communion is shaped by our upbringing - event he fact that we call it communiion and not 'holy commuuion' or 'eucharist'!
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Its amazing how our view of communion is shaped by our upbringing - event he fact that we call it communiion and not 'holy commuuion' or 'eucharist'!
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