Eucharistic meditation

1 Corinthians 10:16-17: Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the loaf which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.

What is the church? The church is a body, and like a body it has many different parts and organs and limbs but is yet one. The church is a loaf; as the Didache says, we are like grains gathered from many distant hills to be ground, sifted, baked into a single loaf of bread.

Equally, the church is a song.

Not only, the church sings, but the church is a song. Jonathan Edwards said that when he thought of a perfect society, he always thought of people sweetly singing together. In song, our voices are distinct yet not distinct. We make each other vibrate. Our breaths mingle together. In worship, we speak and sing “as one man.” We make one song; we are one song.

And in our life together, outside of worship, our different voices and gifts are to be harmonized and orchestrated into a great symphony. Our life together is a creative improvisation of the fugue of Triune life.

That song that is the church is a song of thanks and praise. Under the direction of the Son, and breathed through by the Spirit, our voices unite in a single great noise, a song of praise and thanksgiving to God.

Here, at this table, we are invited to become what we are. For the church is a song of thanks, a Eucharistic hymn.