Coming to the Lord's Table - #9

Part 2 of Service at the Table of the Lord considers the quality of the signs and the symbols that the church, the gathered assembly, uses in the communion rite. The document, Music in Catholic Worship, beautifully expressed the significance of our symbols years ago. "People in love make signs of love, not only to express their love but also to deepen it. Love never expressed dies. Christians' love for Christ and for one another and Christians' faith in Christ and in one another must be expressed in the signs and symbols of celebration or they will die (#4)." Good use of our symbols fosters and nourishes faith. Poor use hinders and destroys faith.

The communion rite is filled with rich symbols. "It is a mystery how God permeates our prayer and transforms us through the simplest gestures, objects, words and actions - and this is truly, for us, a saving mystery. In the communion rite, we encounter the greatest sign of our experience of God: the sacramental presence of Jesus Christ, broken and poured our for us that we might have life (Service at the Table of the Lord, p.9)."

The first sign is the assembly of believers, the body of Christ gathered to hear God's Word, to renew their own relationship with God, and to receive the sacramental body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Every effort should be made to help our assemblies understand, appreciate, and celebrate their identity as the mystical body and Christ and the responsibilities that flow from this reality. How the assembly is welcomed, seated, addressed, and invited to share in the whole celebration will impact its self-understanding when it comes forward to receive the Eucharist (idem)."

The second sign is the altar. The altar or table of the Lord is the place where we gather round and the focal point of our attention. Here we are fed and nourished. This table is a symbol of Christ who was sacrificed for our sakes. It should not be cluttered or overwhelmed. Nothing should impede the assembly from seeing the bread and the wine placed upon the altar. The assembly and its ministers should be able to move around it safely and easily.

Ever since the last supper, the Lord's Table is meant to be adorned with the one bread and the one cup. Vessels that are used a the table of the Lord "should be made from materials that "are considered to be of high quality, durable, and well suited to sacred uses." Preference should be given to using one vessel to hold the bread to be consecrated and one chalice for the wine (along with one or more flagons, as needed). This will help to show that indeed the many are sharing in the one bread and the one cup of the Eucharist. Other vessels for distribution of the elements are properly brought to the altar at the Lamb of God and divided and poured into them at that time (Service, p. 10).