“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

When the apostle Paul writes to the Christian believers in Corinth, he recounts the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples before he was arrested, unjustly tried, and then brutally executed. At that last meal with his friends, he did a curious thing.  He took bread, broke it, and then gave pieces of the loaf to the disciples. And then, after the meal, Jesus took a cup of wine and passed it to them encouraging them to drink from it. His teaching on that night must have been equally confusing to the disciples.  Jesus exhorted them to remember him whenever they ate and drank in this manner.

Since that time, countless followers of Jesus have been doing that very thing. We have been offering bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus. We call it Holy Communion or Holy Eucharist, and Episcopalians understand that not only do we engage in this practice in memory of Jesus and that last supper, but also we believe that Jesus is actually present with us as we receive the bread and wine.  That’s some powerful stuff!

It should be noted that part of the power of Holy Communion is that it binds individuals together into a special community of love.  It is not by happenstance that Jesus uses a common loaf of bread and a common cup of wine. He wants his friends (and all of us as well) to understand that we are inextricably bound to Jesus and to each other as we allow God’s love to flow through us. We partake from a common loaf; we drink from a common cup; we share a common life of love.

Here at St. John’s, faithful followers of Jesus have been sharing this same common meal of love for over 125 years. During the most rampant days of covid when vaccines were unavailable and we were still discovering the ways that the disease spread, we made the decision to distribute the wine using personal communion cups rather than by using the common cup. This transition went relatively smoothly, but it was still a difficult one for many.  About a year ago, we reintroduced the option of receiving the wine by drinking from a common cup, and some of us have taken the opportunity to return to this traditional manner of receiving the sacrament. Most of us, however, have continued to receive the wine using the small personal communion cups.

Beginning on the First Sunday of Advent (December 1), we will be returning to offering the wine only by partaking from the common cup. Most Episcopal churches have already returned to this practice, and our bishop is strongly encouraging us at St. John’s to do the same.  While this may be an adjustment for many of you, I am hopeful that you will embrace the change, recognizing that through the one loaf and the one cup, we are bound together in a common life and strengthened to bring the powerful love of God to this beautiful yet broken world. One loaf, one cup, one life, one love. Again, that is some powerful stuff!

~Father Art