Reflection for September

To be a priest in the Christian Church is to hold a very special position and responsibility.  There is no greater gift given by Christ to His followers, the members of His Church, than the priesthood. The most essential and holy part of this duty of the priest to God and to His people is the offering of bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ Himself.

More than one thousand years before Christ was born, the high priest Melchisedek offered bread and wine when he blessed Abraham - still then called Abram,(Gen 14.18) This simple offering stood in sharp contrast to the slaughter and burning of animals the traditional sacrifice to God for the forgiveness of sins. It was not the sacrifice that God wanted. Down the ages the biblical voices of kings and prophets spoke out, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6.6). This message was repeated by Jesus (Matt 9.13). God does not want sacrifices He wants us to be merciful.

Today our priests give voice to the love and mercy of God, and at the altar pray that the bread and wine may become for us the Body and Blood of Christ who gave Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. There at the altar the priests hold in their hands God Himself. There at the communion rail, unworthy as we are, we take from our priests that transforming bread of life and, if only for a brief moment, we are at peace.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          David Peacock