On the journey through our earthly life to heaven, our good and gracious God provides a holy and precious meal to sustain and strengthen us on our pilgrimage: the Holy Eucharist. What a privilege it is for us to receive this powerfully comforting gift! Thanks and praise forever be to God for the Sacrament of the Altar.

Guide me O thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
Hold me with thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
Feed me til I want no more!
Feed me til I want no more! 1


As we examine our lives in the bright light of God's holiness, we realize how much we have sinned and how much we need His forgiveness. Our sinfulness and the troubles, sorrows, difficulties and stresses of our life in this fallen world are all reasons we need the Lord's Supper. As great as is our need, even greater is the life-giving meal He has provided! It is a very personal way God works in our life to save us, to strengthen us and to keep us close to Him. Jesus promised to be with us always, to the very close of the age (Matt. 28:20).Through His precious Word and Sacraments, our Lord continues to fulfill His promise. Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of the Altar with these words:"This is My body, given for you. This cup is My blood of the New Testament, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins" (Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-25). "The Body and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper. In the Lord' Supper we receive the strengthening and refreshing of our souls and bodies unto eternal life by the Body and Blood of Christ.”(The Catechism)

That last night, at supper lying,
'mid the twelve, his chosen band,
Jesus, with the law complying,
keeps the feast its rites demand;
then, more precious food supplying,
gives himself with his own hand. 2

What is Jesus giving us in the Lord's Supper? In the Sacrament of the Altar our Lord and Savior is continually distributing to us the body and blood of the sacrifice He made for us, the sacrifice by which He paid for the sins of the entire world. Thus, receiving His body and blood, we receive forgiveness, life and salvation. Flowing from these tremendous treasures of God's mercy are the love, peace and hope that He gives us in His Supper, and the ability and desire to do God's will, living in love and harmony with others. It is often observed how there is a foreshadowing of the Lord's Supper in the Old Testament discussion of how the sacrifices were eaten by those for whom they were offered (1 Cor.10:18).The Scriptures indicate that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb.9:22).The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7; Matt.26:28;Acts 20:28;Rom.5:9;Heb.9:14;Heb.12:24; 1 Peter 1:18-19;Rev.1:5;Rev.7:14).And it is this very blood He gives in His Supper.

Draw near and take the Body of the Lord,
And drink the holy Blood for you outpoured;
Offered was He for greatest and for least,
Himself the Victim and Himself the Priest. 3


We do not try to explain how Jesus is present under the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper, rather we believe, teach, confess and rejoice that He is present. We (Anglicans) let the words of Jesus stand without arguing about their possibility, or trying to explain how they are true. As Queen Elizabeth I put it so clearly,"His was the word that spake it, He took the bread and brake it; and what His word doth make it, that I do believe and take it!".Everyone who communes receives into their mouths the body and blood of Jesus Christ, whether they believe it or not, be they worthy or unworthy. Jesus' Word is sure and certain. The Holy Spirit gives us faith to trust in and believe Jesus' words,"Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." Faith in Christ's promise is what makes us worthy to receive His Supper. Christ's words of institution retain their validity and efficacious power and thus, by virtue of these words, the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present, distributed and received.

Thee we adore, O hidden Savior, Thee,
Who in Thy sacrament dost deign to be;
Both flesh and spirit at Thy presence fail,
Yet here Thy presence we devoutly hail. 4

We receive the Lord’s Supper often because of how much we need what the Lord gives in His Supper. We dare never make a law about how often an individual "should"or "must" receive the Lord's Supper. But this is a separate question from how frequently Holy Communion is offered in our congregations. Our Prayer Book make it clear that the Lord's Supper is offered every Lord's Day and on other days when there are communicants present. In saying this, we are merely reflecting the truth of the Sacred Scriptures, which place the Lord's Supper at the center of worship (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Cor.11:20,33),not as an appendage or an occasional extra. It is for this reason that our Prayer Book makes provision for communicants who so desire to receive the Lord's Supper every Lord's Day.

Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face;
here would I touch and handle things unseen;
here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace,
and all my weariness upon thee lean.
Here would I feed upon the Bread of God,
here drink with thee the royal Wine of heaven;
here would I lay aside each earthly load,
here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven. 5

Because of our sinful human nature, we are tempted at times to think,"I don't need to take Communion. I just don't feel like it." or, "I won't receive Communion because I am unworthy." But when we feel this way, we need to realize that in the Lord's Supper, the holy God of God, and Light of Light, very God of very God, is coming among us, under the bread and wine ,to be with us, to join Himself to us, to forgive, renew and strengthen us. In preparing to receive the Lord's Supper, is good for us to review The Exhortation on page 91 of the Book of Common Prayer: The Priest says "... according to mine office, I call you in Christ's behalf to come to this heavenly Feast. It is an easy matter for a man to say, I will not communicate, because I am otherwise hindered with worldly business. But such excuses are not so easily accepted before God. If any one say, I am a grievous sinner, and therefore I am afraid to come; wherefore then do ye not repent and amend? For as the Son of God willingly yielded up his soul by death upon the Cross for your salvation; so it is your duty to receive the holy Communion"

Bless Thou the truth, dear Lord, to me, to me,
As Thou didst bless the bread by Galilee;
Then shall all bondage cease, all fetters fall;
And I shall find my peace, my all in all. 6

Conclusion
In the mid-ninteenth century, a renowned Anglican Priest and theologian wrote: "The true understanding of this fruition and union, which is betwixt the body and the head, betwixt the true believers and Christ, the ancient Catholic Fathers both perceiving themselves, and commending to their people, were not afraid to call this Supper, some of them, the salve of immortality and sovereign preservative against death; other, a deifical communion; other, the sweet dainties of our Saviour, the pledge of eternal health, the defence of faith, the hope of the resurrection; other, the food of immortality, the healthful grace, and the conservatory to everlasting life. All which sayings both of the holy Scripture and godly men, truly attributed to this celestial banquet and feast, if we would often call to mind, O how would they inflame our hearts to desire the participation of these mysteries, and oftentimes to covet after this bread, continually to thirst for this food!" Homilies - 1st Part of the Sermon on the Sacrament, Rev. E. B. Pusey, DD

1 Hymn 406, Book of Common Praise
2 Hymn 234:3, Book of Common Praise
3 Hymn 230:1&4, Book of Common Praise
4 Hymn 231:1, Book of Common Praise
5 Hymn 232:1&2, Book of Common Praise
6 Hymn 672:2, Book of Common Praise


Much of the foregoing is adapted from the work “What About the Sacrament of the Altar?” by Dr. A.L. Barry,
President, Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod