'TAKE, EAT; THIS IS MY BODY'

In his commentary Aramaic Light on the Gospel of Matthew Rocco A. Errico says the following about the phrase 'Take, eat: this is my body:

This affectionate expression of Jesus was common among Semites at a fraternal supper. Sometimes the men will declare to each other such sayings as: 'My life and my blood are for you; take the very sight of my eyes, if you will.' They will also use other similar expressions. It was not a strange thing that Jesus, whose entire life was a living sacrafice, should say to his intimate disciples/friends as he handed them the bread and the cup, 'Take, eat; this is my body;' and 'Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood.'

I have always thought that Jesus' words to his disciples about the bread and wine would have been new to their experience, as if Jesus were instituting a new thing that they had never heard of or considered before; but instead of being new, these words were likely very familiar to the disciples, words that they themselves had perhaps said to others at ordinary meals where Jesus was not present, but words that were now all the more intimate and powerful because of when and where Jesus was saying them.

It is comforting to me to consider that, at his last meal, Jesus chose ordinary, intimate expressions to convey his love for his friends, rather than feeling the need to institute a religious program that they would, henceforth, be obligated to perpetuate. 'Do this in remembrance of me, whenever you eat and drink' now (as I am thinking out loud about it) takes on the opposite meaning of what it had for me before: the idea is not to turn our ordinary meals into religous observances but to see them as occasions for intimacy with the risen Christ who is indeed present at every meal. R

SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER?

So each episode of Star Trek begins. Where is the final frontier, really? Is it in outer space? Is it going the other way, in microscopic space? The familiar saying comes to mind: that 'Wherever you go, there you are!' It seems to me that any frontier to which one travels, and which leaves onebasically intact as himself or herself, cannot really be the final frontier. The final frontier, it seems to me, would be God--the one in whom, when we are in him, we cannot say 'Here I Am' and 'There He Is'. R

THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM!

I went to a large all-boys public high school, and am one of the relatively few persons in the U.S. to have that distinction. It had its plusses and minuses, as you can imagine; one of the plusses was that, without girls on campus, things were far more laid back--fewer fights, less showing off, easier to concentrate on school, etc. This I see only in retrospect; at the time, no girls on campus was a definite minus!

Anyway, one day the head of the Drama Department, who had connections with all kinds of off-Broadway companies, brought in this great show--it was a revue of the musical Cabaret, and there were all of these provacatively-dressed gorgeous women in it. The all-male student body was roundly impressed to see this, and despite the principal's admonitions beforehand, there was quite a bit of hooting and hollering, wolf-whistling, etc. during various parts of the performance.

At the end of the show, as these hot babes were taking their bows, there was great cheering and applause, until...they, in unison, pulled off their wigs to reveal that they were all guys! This action definitely had a dampening effect, and left us all rather stunned, because, guys though they may have been, they sure put on a good show, and it was still worth a clap--kind of impressive really; and yet we had all just previously been thinking less than pure thoughts about these...guys!

As stunning as the end of this performance was for a bunch of high school guys, I would like to suggest that it was nothing compared to Holy Week drama and God's scandalous ending of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. It was not something that Jesus' disciples, or anyone else, was prepared for; and it would be something they would never forget. And yet it seems to me that we are no longer that impressed with it, and have turned it into something tame, acceptable, religous.

It's interesting how things come to mind. I had not thought about this high school show for years, until this morning. Now maybe it will help me see the drama of this season with fresh eyes! R