REVIEWING OUR PREPARATIONS

We've been thinking over the last few weeks about children and communion…we've thought about links with the Passover, how God accepts us, what might happen to Confirmation and explored the mystery and meaning of the Eucharist. Today I'd like us to think about how we prepare for taking communion.

These ideas are based on the traditions of our church. They are not telling you what you ought to be doing. For one thing Elaine spends a good deal of time healing people with 'oughtitis' and she will not be pleased if I begin by telling you what I think you ought to do. This is just an opportunity to think again about what we have been taught. After all for some of us it is 30 years or so since our confirmation lessons.

I'd like to suggest one way we might think about our preparation for taking communion. Imagine for a moment that we have been invited to a wedding. Now we could arrive a few moments before the bride having given it not much thought since the moment the invitation dropped onto our door mat. We will enjoy the ceremony, enjoy being with the family and friends at the reception or party afterwards and have a good time.

OPTIMISING OUR ENJOYMENT...

I suggest to you that had we given it more thought in advance we might have enjoyed ourselves more. We could have spoken with the couple and talked about their hopes and plans. We could have discovered what gift would most please them. Some of us might have dieted a bit and bought ourselves a special outfit, got our hair cut, made an effort with our makeup. Not you Andrew , you always overdo the blusher. We might even have had less breakfast in order to leave room for the wedding feast. I suggest to you that whilst we need not do all these things - yet the experience would be enhanced by giving some time for preparation.

Coming to the Eucharist , having prepared , can also improve the experience.

We are of course , prepared initially by our Baptism. We have become Christians, we have been baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We have joined the team, we are given to Christ, we have accepted Him as our Saviour.

What can we do to enhance this position?

We can spend time with the bridegroom. This we do by spending time in prayer, during the week before we come to church. In this time we get to know him and build up a relationship with him. We also give him time to talk to us.

AND HOW ABOUT AN ALTERNATIVE WAY?

Then there is another way of coming to know him.

The Gospels tell of Christ's way of life and his mission. His message to us , from God , is recorded for us in the scriptures. Get to know Him by reading about him. We do this on our own, perhaps with a written guide of some kind and we do this in company. The House groups study the Christian faith in order to know Jesus better. Father Andrew always provides the next week's lesson by printing it on this week's sheet. Reading and digesting the readings in advance would be an excellent way of preparing for what we are going to enjoy during the service.

We need to be clean before the feast. This does not mean fresh clothes , although for many this is a way of expressing the fact that to come to the Eucharist is special. I mean self examination and confession of our sins. We are told by Jesus in Matthew , to be on good terms with our brothers and sisters before coming to the altar with an offering. His teaching is that before taking the Eucharist we should seek out what is a shadow or blot in our relationships with others and with God. This may be settled by a determined effort to get to the bottom of a problem and doing our best to resolve it. It may be that we want to make use of reconciliation and advice by seeing Father Andrew or another priest for help.

This is the sort of preparation that is done at home before we attend Church. It is echoed by the preparation that is taking place within the church service.

As we approach through the church doorway we make the sign of the cross on ourselves. This is a reminder of our Baptism. Sometimes there is a stoop of holy water for our use. It is not just chance that the Baptism font is situated where it is. As we came into the Church family by baptism it is good to be reminded of this fact every time we come through the church doors.

PREPARING INDIVIDUALLY...

Before the service begins we can make use of prayer. Some like to light a candle as a symbol of their prayer and to remember those who have asked for prayer or to remember those who are with us no more in this place but who continue their worship and prayer elsewhere. There are prayers in the service book, prayer cards at the back of the church and I would suggest the hymn book is full of verses telling of God's love, Christ's deliverance of us, our promises to him. Read the ones we are going to use in the service, read new ones. They can be used as prayer as well as worship.

We begin with a general confession. It is not meant to be our only confession but it reminds us that we are a community all in need of forgiveness and we make these prayers to God together.

We break open the word by reading it and then hearing the teaching of the sermon. This enables us to grow closer to Jesus and his message. That is why we hear the words proclaimed and if our ears work well enough we should listen to the proclamation of the Gospel rather than reading it. The movement of the Priest into the centre of the church represents Christ moving into our midst to tell us his message.

We have the opportunity of the peace. This is not a time to chat and catch up with your friends so much as a symbolic sign that we are at peace with one another as we have been directed by Jesus and St. Paul, before we share the feast.

PREPARING MENTALLY...

Part of our response to the word broken and shared at the readings and sermon are our expression of our shared belief in the Creed and our coming together to pray at the intercessions.

Then we hear the Eucharist prayers. The bread and wine is consecrated. And in our tradition we file up the church in turn to share this foretaste of the banquet to come and to be fed by the body and blood of Christ. This needs to be done with reverence. Christ Himself is here among us. He has offered himself for us for the forgiveness of our sins, for strength for our journey here on earth.

When we have partaken of the body and blood with what joy and peace we return to our places. This is the time when our preparation pays dividends. We have met with our Lord. He has blessed us once more with himself. Now we return to our places with prayers of thanksgiving. There should be no need to talk one with another, we are all reverencing his being with us, we are prayerfully quiet as we all receive the communion.

Again it is our tradition to have an anthem sung during this time. Enjoy the music. Enjoy the hymn that follows. Try not to distract others from their prayers of thanksgiving by whispering. There's plenty of time afterwards to catch up with the special messages we have for each other.

DOES EUCHARIST DEPEND ON CONFIRMATION?

We are learning that it is not necessary to have a link between the Eucharist and Confirmation. All who are baptised and who love Jesus are welcome to the table. When my daughter was seven she came with her grandmother and myself to a service at Mum's Methodist church. As the elements were distributed the Minister asked her "do you love Jesus?" She had been brought up in the church family, in Sunday school and at a school where everyday began with a Christian assembly. She could answer for herself . She knew Jesus and understood what he taught to the best of her ability and she was welcome to take the bread and wine with the rest of the family of Christ met in that place.

Children need preparation for the Eucharist if it is to have meaning for them and not be hocus pocus that the adults do. Should we decide to admit children to Communion before Confirmation they will need to learn by our teaching and our example . Before taking communion for the first time they will be asked if they are interested and then attend special lessons given by the ministry team, so that they can have as good an understanding of what is taking place as is possible for them. They will be taught the need for preparation and like us they will sometimes make good preparation and sometimes just rush in.

Our enjoyment of the wedding will be increased by our preparation, so our enjoyment of the foretaste of the heavenly banquet will be increased by our preparation. Christ is the bridegroom. We are the Church being prepared to be fully and wonderfully joined with Him. He has invited us to partake in this Eucharist and we should be prepared to review our preparations. When we expect to meet with God during this time together he does not disappoint us. If our hearts are open to Him He will enter. Everyone is invited , everyone will prepare as best they are able. His Grace will do the rest.  

Celia Burge
Occasional Preacher, St John the Evangelist, Pevensey Rd, St Leonards on Sea