A prose layout for oral delivery:

A question asked most frequently,

especially by children,

is this:

"Why did God come 2,000 years ago?"

"If we had been alive then

we would have seen Him."

"But now - we've been left out."

The feeling of disappointment.

"If we had been alive then

we would have seen Him."

And at times,

many of us might feel the same way.

But it's here

that we come to the life of St. Paul.

And why didn't St. Paul feel the same way?

St. Paul did not know the earthly Christ:

he only met the Risen Lord on the Damascus Road.

He did not participate in Our Lord's Last Supper:

he was told what happened by those who were there.

He was not present at Our Lord's crucifixion:

again, he was told by others who had seen it.

He was not there on Easter Sunday:

but he heard from the disciples what had taken place.

And neither did the Corinthians,

to whom he was writing,

witness these things.

St. Paul and the Corinthians could have felt this way:

a feeling of being cheated,

a feeling of disappointment.

But yet, they did not.

And St. Paul tells us why.

In his letter to the Church at Corinth,

he says this:

"For as often as you eat this bread,

and drink the cup,

you proclaim the Lord's death

until He comes."

(And the word "proclaim" here

means to celebrate,

to participate in.)

"The cup of blessing which we bless,

is it not a participation

in the blood of Christ?

"The bread which we break,

is it not a participation

in the body of Christ?"

For St. Paul and the Corinthians,

the sacrament of Holy Communion

was a participation in Christ's Life now.

What St. Paul is saying to all of us is this:

No one has been cheated.

No one has been left out.

No one has missed out on anything.

For in the mystery of Holy Communion,

we participate and share in

the mystery of Christ's Life now:

In His Incarnation:

where Christ again incarnates Himself,

enfleshes Himself,

in the consecrated elements of bread and wine.

In His Last Supper:

where Christ's Real Presence is with us.

In His Crucifixion:

where Christ offers Himself,

for the sins of the world and forgiveness.

In His Resurrection on Easter:

where Christ comes

to share His Eternal Life with us

in the consecrated elements

at the Heavenly Banquet.

In His Ascension:

where in Him, and with Him, and through Him,

we ascend to a new life of grace in our souls.

What has been history,

and is history,

is now present.

In the mystery of Holy Communion,

we participate and share in

the mystery of Christ's Life now:

in His Incarnation,

in His Last Supper,

in His Crucifixion,

in His Resurrection,

in His Ascension.

And this is something that God tells us:

that in Holy Communion

we participate and share in His Life.

That because we have lived after Him in history,

we would not miss out.

That since we did not see Him in the flesh then,

we would see Him.

That since we did not know Him intimately then,

we could know Him intimately.

God would not leave us

with abstract theories about Him.

God would not leave us

with only words about Him.

God would not leave us

with only pictures in our imaginations.

God would not leave us

to flights of fantasy about Him.

God would not leave us

without a means of intimate contact with Him.

But in Holy Communion,

God would give us a way

to participate in His life,

to share in His Life,

to commune with Him personally.

In St. John's Gospel,

God speaks of His Life for us in this way:

He says,

"For I am the true bread

which cometh down from heaven.

"He who eats of my flesh,

and drinks of my blood,

will have Eternal Life."

And at His Last Supper on Holy Thursday,

God gives us the way

to participate and share in His Life.

Taking bread, and blessing it,

He says this:

"Take, eat,

This IS my Body."

And taking the chalice of wine, and blessing it,

He says this:

"Take, drink,

This IS my Blood."

God changed these elements of bread and wine

into His Body and Blood,

His Life for us.

And God provided a way

for us throughout history,

to participate and share in His Life

in the sacrament.

To those ordained by Him,

His representatives, the Apostles,

He says this:

"This do in remembrance of me."

Meaning,

do this, calling me to remembrance.

Not simply to remember Him

way back then,

but that they should do this:

consecrate the bread,

consecrate the wine,

calling on Him,

and He would come to them.

As they took the bread and the wine,

and blessed it,

calling on Christ to come to them,

Christ would change these elements

of bread and wine into His body and blood,

to commune with them.

Christ would re-member Himself,

would re-constitute Himself,

would respond to their call,

and would come to them in Holy Communion.

He as High Priest and Victim,

would re-member Himself in the sacrament,

and come to commune with them.

In Holy Communion,

His Church

would participate and share in His Life:

in His Incarnation:

God again would enflesh Himself.

in His Last Supper:

God again would be present.

in His Crucifixion:

God again would offer Himself for forgiveness.

in His Resurrection:

God would offer His Eternal Life.

in His Ascension:

God would offer Ascension with Him

through the life of His grace.

And we, as they,

as the disciples,

as St. Paul,

as the Corinthians,

as those in the fourth century,

or the sixteenth century,

- as we gather for Holy Communion,

God also comes to commune with us,

and we also participate and share in His Life.

in His Incarnation:

God who incarnated, enfleshed Himself

in the Babe in the stable,

is God who again incarnates, enfleshes Himself

in the consecrated elements of bread and wine

on the altar.

in His Last Supper:

God who was truly present with His disciples

at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday,

is God whose Real Presence is with us

at the Eucharist when we worship.

in His Crucifixion:

God who shed His blood on the cross at Golgotha

to offer us forgiveness on Good Friday

is God who offers Himself for forgiveness

in the celebration of the sacrament.

in His Resurrection:

God who rose gloriously from the dead on Easter

to hold forth to us Eternal Life,

is God who comes to us with His Eternal Life

as we kneel to receive Him in Communion at the altar.

in His Ascension:

God who ascended to heaven in glory

forty days after Easter

is God who in our souls elevates us with Him

through the grace that He gives us in Communion.

Each time we gather for the Liturgy,

in Holy Communion,

you and I share in the mystery of Christ's Life now.

No history separates us.

No time separates us.

No distance separates us.

In Worship,

in the Eucharist,

in the mystery of Holy Communion,

we participate and share in

Christ's Life that very moment.

The whole movement,

and flow,

and structure,

and purpose

of the Liturgy points to this.

In the Gloria:

we sing the same hymns

the angels sang at His birth.

As God incarnated Himself in the flesh then,

we are preparing ourselves

for His enfleshment again

in the elements of bread and wine.

We participate and share in

His Incarnation:

We are like Mary and the shepherds at Christmas

at His Incarnation;

Our Lord enfleshes Himself on the altar

for us.

"Glory be to God on high,

and on earth, peace, good will toward men."

In the Offertory:

we bring the elements of bread and wine

used at the Last Supper.

We offer to God

what God will change,

and offer back to us as Himself.

At the Words of Consecration:

This IS my Body.

This IS my Blood.

Calling God to re-membrance,

God hears our call,

our prayer,

and comes to us again.

We participate and share in

His Last Supper.

We are like the disciples on Holy Thursday

who were present with Him;

Our Lord is truly present with us,

offering His Life to us.

At the Agnus Dei:

"O Christ, Thou Lamb of God,

Who takest away the sin of the world."

He who was crucified on Calvary

as a sacrifice for sin

now offers Himself here.

We participate and share in

His Crucifixion:

We are like Mary and John and those who were

with Him

on Calvary at His crucifixion on Good Friday;

Our Lord who sacrifices Himself for sin

here offers Himself for our forgiveness.

At our reception of Holy Communion:

"The Body of Christ given for thee.

The Blood of Christ shed for thee."

He who rose from the dead on Easter,

now comes to share His Eternal Life with us.

We participate and share in

His Resurrection:

We are like those disciples on that first Easter

when Our Lord arose from the dead;

Here Our Lord comes to us in the sacrament

to offer us His Eternal Life.

We participate and share in

His Ascension:

We are like all of those, forty days after Easter,

who witnessed His glorious Ascension into heaven;

Here Our Lord elevates us to life with Him

by the grace He gives to our souls in Communion.

"The Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

and His Precious Blood,

strengthen and preserve you unto Eternal Life."

Not cheated.

Not left out.

In Worship,

in the Eucharist,

in Holy Communion,

we participate and share in

the mystery,

the grace,

the joy,

the eternity

of Christ's Life now.

in His Incarnation,

in His Last Supper,

in His Crucifixion,

in His Resurrection,

in His Ascension.

"Holy, Holy, Holy,

Lord God of Sabbaoth,

Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory."

Amen.

THE GLORIA IN EXCELSIS

Glory be to God on high! And on earth peace, good will toward men. We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.

O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sin of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us.

For thou only art holy; thou only art the Lord; thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.