All Things Seen & Unseen

On another blog I have been dealing with the Lord's Supper and its meaning within the Anglican Church. I'm fully aware that not all Anglicans understand the Supper alike but I fully embrace Article XXVIII of the Articles of Religion (1562) Of The Lord's Supper which rules out transubstantiation, 'reserving' of the sacrament, lifting it up, carrying it about, or worshipping it. The Article says clearly among other things that: 'The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean [sic] whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is Faith.' This last sentence is one of the planks of John Calvin's view of the Supper (as opposed to Rome and to Luther) for it is affirming that the bread and wine do not act upon us because of their inherent sacredness (or divinity as in Catholicism). They convey grace only in the presence of faith in Christ. This point about fait...

The priest breaks the bread and says, We who are many are one body, (1 Cor 12.27) for we all share in the one bread.  (P rayer Book has various options.)  Come let us take this holy sacrament  of the body and blood of Christ in remembrance that he died for us, and feed on him in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving. The sacrament is given to individuals with the following words,   The body of Christ keep you in eternal life. The blood of Christ keep you in eternal life.   and the communicant replies, AMEN. The Anglican Church typically uses a common cup but provide s an alternative if that is required . (Some dip their wafer into the communion cup rather than drinking from it directly.) What does it all mean?   Anglicanism is influenced by Martin Luther and by John Calvin without being fully Lutheran or Calvinian. Both regarded the Communion as a sacrament but there the unity ends.   Calling it a sacrament emphasises the work God is doing; calli...

For All Your Blessings, O Lord The Great Thanksgiving is preceded by the sharing of peace and the bringing of the gifts of the people to the Lord's Table at the front of the church building. The offering reminds us that we are one body who are called to be a forgiving body of Christ-believers and in the offering, the onus is on any who are out of fellowship with another in the congregation to make peace before taking Holy Communion (see Matt 5.23). The present 1995, Prayer Book ( A Prayer Book for Australia -APBA) has five different forms of The Great Thanksgiving. Some priests use them by rotation each week, using the fifth one when there are five Sundays in a particular month; others use Thanksgiving 1 predominantly which is the one with which I am most familiar; however, each one of the different forms brings out a different emphasis found in the Scriptures. Again what is noticeable is the call-response structure of this Thanksgiving and the number of allusions to or direct qu...