23/03/2024

Palm Sunday

“This is my body. This is my blood”.

The creator  - and sustainer - of the universe for some 13.7 billion years, translated by Jesus Christ into our human vernacular translates that into a tiny piece of unleavened bread and some wine so we could take his personality on board and be nourished by his life.

Almost too great a fact for us to accept let alone understand.

God is immense - infinite – so Jesus can focus on each one of us as though we were the only one alive.

If you have ever waited for  someone who has landed at an airport your attention is focused on him or her alone as the crowd pours out through the gates.

I believe God is like that, concentrating on each one of us. When you have received Holy Communion, Jesus has all your attention. And, being infinite, you have all of His. No matter how many have received Holy Communion, the others do not distract his attention.

The Synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke  - write about the institution of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper. John talks about Jesus washing the feet of  not just the Apostles but all who were there at The Last Supper. I suspect Mary his mother would have been at that meal.

He seems to be saying – for me at least - that the Eucharist is there as a loving service. God is there for us. We need, as Peter learned – to allow God to be there for us.

And, as at Baptism we are christened – become Christlike – we, our life, need to be there for others. As we saw last week, living by giving is the finest form of living.