Luke 22:14-20
When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, "Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes." And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
I remember when I first started doing youth work at Riverbend Church in Austin. One of the first youth camps I remember was led by a preacher named Kenny.
Kenny was extraordinary as a preacher and a teacher. (I found out in time that he might also be the most broken man I ever met.) Even so, Kenny is the one who taught me about the importance of communion. I’ll always give him credit for that.
Although I couldn’t have known it then, I look back at my faith then and realize it was completely unformed. I knew communion was supposed to be important to me. But if it was just a symbol, then what was the importance of going through a ritual just for a symbol? Both myself and the kids needed to be taught what communion meant.
One memory of Kenny during communion night at camp: A group of kids in the back needed bread. Kenny shouts “Go long. . .” and then he chunks a communion loaf like a football over our heads all the way to the back of the room.
Shocking! If we believed it was just bread. . . why so strange to lob the communion loaf? Why so shocking?
And Kenny also was the first person to explain in detail the word “anamnesis” to those of us at camp. It’s the word Hellenistic (Greek-speaking) Jewish writers chose to translate Jesus’s words (documented in Luke 22:19) on the night of the Passover meal with the disciples, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”
Kenny tried to explain the deep intensity and urgency of that word, “anamnesis.” It’s not the way we would use the word as if we were simply thinking about something that happened long ago. Maybe we take a picture of something significant that we want to remember later. We put it in a photo album or post it on Facebook. When we look at the picture, we think about the past, but we usually do not bring the past into the present.
The way Jesus was talking, because of the words he used, He was asking the disciples to do much more than just remember Him like we might by looking at a photo. Jesus used the same word used by the writers of the Hebrew scriptures when they talked about the Passover. (And the Hellenistic Jews who translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek also made the connection between Jesus’s words and the words used to describe the Passover.) When Jews, including Jesus celebrated the Passover, they would have celebrated it as if it was happening in the present, and not as a distant memory. It’s not possible to overstate this. The Feast of the Passover would have been urgent, pressing and real.
Kenny taught that the connection between the Passover and our communion means that in our communion, we are to make Jesus present, among ourselves, and in the outer world.
No only that, but according to Kenny, the disciples and we are expected to actually put our Lord’s body back together in our world. We are to re-member him, as if his body truly was broken, (which it was). His members, His arms, His legs, must become our own, literally. Communion should make us the Body of Christ, literally.
How? If we believed it was just bread. . .
I’d never thought about communion that way before. Kenny made it seem so real, so powerful, as if Christ were really present. (Kenny was so close to the truth. . .)
The “real presence” is scriptural, and has much to do also with the basis behind the Catholic mass. The Sacrifice of Christ is made present, as if it is happening now, for real. The power of the one and only sacrifice is made present at the Mass so we can be there, with Christ, at the foot of the cross, no matter when in time we might have been born. And I think Kenny might have figured it out. Maybe the reality of Christ in the Eucharist scared him. He would have meant that he had to become Catholic. And he would have had to clean up his act.
He went long. . . but he didn’t go far enough.
As for me, I can say this: When it came time for me to become Catholic, there was much about what I learned from Kenny that made my transition easier, including this teaching about the word “anamnesis.” And when I was in RCIA, learning about the Mass, I was arrested by the grace of God that He could use the foundations laid by Pastor Kenny, a cracked pot for sure, to get me to His one, true, holy and apostolic church. Kenny convinced me that the bread was important, and that communion was powerful. . . but he couldn’t tell me how it came to be that way. For him, maybe communion was just another example of wishful thinking.
Kenny’s favorite author was Frederick Buechner, a protestant pastor and author. Here are a couple of quotes by Buechner:
"When you remember me, it means you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are. I means that you can summon me back to your mind even though countless years and miles may stand between us. It means that if we meet again, you will know me. It means that even after I die, you can still see my face and hear my voice and speak to me in your heart."
—Frederick Buechner
"Without somehow destroying me in the process, how could God reveal himself in a way that would leave no room for doubt? If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me."
—Frederick Buechner
At one time I was in agreement with these quotes. But now they seem deficient and somewhat sad to me. For me the communion of saints is a reality that I encounter every week in the Eucharist. It's not wishful thinking. The saints are just as alive as you or me. And doubt sometimes happens, but it's not meant to be permanent. It's alright to look at doubt, but it's not o.k. to stare. I want everyone to know the reality of Christ in the Eucharist. It’s the only thing that can save our broken world. It’s the only thing can can straighten our paths, clear our minds and save our souls. A mental assent and belief in a symbol doesn’t have that power, and is only an empty work. But if it’s true that the Eucharist is who the Church says it is, then that’s not an empty ritual, wishful thinking, or a work of man.
It’s a miracle, every day at Mass.
