I Corinthians 11:2-34
Dear RTB’ers,
When pondering about our readings and praying about what I might say, I often go back to what I have written in the past, both to get ideas and to not repeat myself. Today, however, I need to repeat myself – verses 23-26 strike me every time I read them, moreso that just about any other Scriptural verses. Back in 2020 I wrote the following (slightly edited) and those words that I wrote are valid today:
“I can remember vividly the first time I read verses 23 to 26 in today’s reading. I had been raised in the Catholic Church and was born again at age 26. Somewhere along the line I started reading the Bible – it surely was not long into my born-again life that I read this passage for the first time and it jumped off the page at me. These words formed the Consecration portion spoken at every Catholic Mass – the elevation of the host and the chalice and for Catholics, the Transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus. At that point it dawned on me that the Catholic Church was Scripture-based and that I should not completely abandon those roots in favor of this new Protestantism that I was beginning to embrace. So I spent a great deal of my first born-again year doing what I could to reconcile my Catholic roots with my newly energized faith. I left the Catholic Church in the late 1970s, but I still cherish much that I gained in my youth from that upbringing.”
I don’t know if Anglicans refer to the elevation of the host and the cup as the “Consecration”, but (unless I am somehow fully distracted!) our repetition of Paul’s words in verses 23-26 still strike me today. It’s a powerful reminder to me of Jesus at the Last Supper, and of His broken body and shed blood on the cross. Thank you, Jesus.
Blessings!
Fred