Opening Prayers

I am the bread of life,
anyone who comes to me shall not hunger,
anyone who believes in me shall never thirst .

Alleluia. Lord, give us this bread always.

The bread of God comes down from heaven,
and gives life to the world.

Alleluia. Lord, give us this bread always.

Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life 
And I will raise him up on the last day.

Alleluia. Lord, give us this bread always.

It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is of no avail.
the words I speak, they are spirit and they are life.

Alleluia. Lord, give us this bread always.

Walk with us, Lord,
Along the road of resurrection!
Explain for us, so slow to believe,
the things that scripture says of you.
Break the bread of the Eucharist with us 
whenever we share our lives with all brothers and sisters.
Stay with us each time night approaches 
and the daylight fades in our hearts.

Amen. 

Consider how worship shapes your life and what part it plays in your life. This is a particularly poignant question at this time, when we can no longer worship as we used to.  

Then turn your thoughts to heaven and see what images come to mind, hold onto these images.

This session’s reflection is from John Inge who contemplates on ‘A sign and foretaste of the banquet of heaven.’ [Transcript]

“What will heaven be like? Christians have generally seemed to spend more time arguing about who will be admitted to heaven than thinking about its character. What, though, do we know about the nature of heaven?

A moment’s reflection reminds us that we have been told by Jesus himself that heaven is the place where God reigns, the place of God’s kingdom. When we pray as he taught, we ask that ‘God’s kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven.’ And what is God’s kingdom like? The scriptures give us all sorts of images of the kingdom, many of which involve a feast. One of the recurring pictures of heaven and of humanity redeemed is that of a feast. ‘On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines’, proclaims the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 25.6). As Jesus puts it, ‘I tell you, many will come from the east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 8.11).

That the kingdom of heaven should have been pictured as a feast in biblical times when food was often scarce is hardly surprising. Even today, though, when many of us in the affluent west have much more food than we need, the image of the feast is still a powerful one. Feasting is how we celebrate great occasions – as is evidenced by the way food dominates television adverts before Christmas. In a feast, what is at least as important as the food and drink, though, is the people with whom we share it. Eating and drinking on your own is no feast. Jesus proclaims to his disciples that he will drink the cup with them in the kingdom. Perhaps the best image we have of heaven, then, is of eating and drinking at a feast with Jesus and all the redeemed in his kingdom.

Therefore since the earliest times, Christians have believed that at the Eucharist we receive a foretaste of this kingdom feast. For it was at the Last Supper when Jesus was giving us the Eucharist that he talked to his disciples about drinking the cup with them in the kingdom (Matthew 26.29).”

The Eucharist is a foretaste of the kingdom, a wonderful one that involves all of our humanity – body, mind and spirit. Start thinking about your own pattern of worship, and also consider what it is about the Eucharist that feels like a feast to you.

Concluding Prayers 

The Cup of blessing that we bless,
is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?
The bread that we break,
is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
Because there is one bread,
we who are many are one body 
for we all partake of the one bread. 
Merciful God 
You have called us to your table 
Generous God 
You have fed us with the bread of life 
Abundant God 
Draw us and all people to the service of your Son;
And send us out to bring your peace and goodness to the world.
Amen.

With blessings

Rev. Rona