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What is the Meaning of the Last Supper?
Question: Was the communion at the
Last Supper something that was supposed to be followed
by all thereafter? When Christ said “This is my
Body, and This is My Blood,” did He really mean it was?
Answer: No,
I am sure that He did not mean that literally. The whole crux of the matter
was in His statement, “This do in remembrance of Me.” The Jews observe a lot of things in remembrance of the past; the Passover
itself was in remembrance of the Jews being saved and led out of Egypt.
He was saying that every time you eat the Passover unleavened bread and drink
the wine, “think of the blood of the grape, think of the blood I will shed.
Remember me. Remember me! ”What I am talking about is theological dogma that
really has no bearing on man’s relationship to God and his relationships with
his fellowmen. Any of these ceremonies that we
regard as sacraments are meaningless to the individual unless he thinks about
them. It is one’s thoughts about these things that are far more important
than the motions. Most of us have said the Lord’s Prayer so many times that
we can rattle off the words almost subconsciously. After a while, it can mean
nothing; it becomes a blur of sounds. It is exciting to think about each
meaning of those words that we usually say so quickly. Perhaps priests
institutionalized the activities we call the Holy Sacraments in order to
force people to think about them and hold them in awe. (10-1973)
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