First Communion...

Reflection on First Communion:

Today went for the First Communion of Beena-Francis Antony (Shaji)’s son Sharon. Wondering as to how much a boy of 11 years will understand the meaning of such a mystery I attempted to present it in the following lines:

Communion is said to be a memorial of Jesus’ Passover meal with his disciples on the eve of his almost sure arrest, trial and conviction. The arrest and the scripted proceedings were planned by his opponents who felt threatened by his new teachings. Besides framing charges of treason and blasphemy, they instigated people to demand for his crucifixion, even to the extent of releasing a hard core criminal like Barabas in exchange, if needed. Not being able to pacify the crowd, Pilate yielded, rather not fully convinced of the charges, to their outcry and handed him over to be crucified.

In all appearance Jesus was a criminal convicted for crucifixion. But in his genius, or divinity as people would prefer to claim, he prepared ground to negate this charge and conviction by taking the usual ritual Passover to an entirely new realm wherein he presented the bread as his own body and wine as his very blood, signaling the morrow’s breaking of his body and shedding of his blood in the cross. But for this rather saving clause, the crucifixion would have turned out to be yet another end of another criminal.

So, the Passover made the difference. Through this he made it clear without any tint of doubt that his life is for others, a perfect abandonment of oneself for love. Knowing the possibility of his friends do likewise, he wanted them to do so in his memory, a memory of breaking oneself for others, shedding one’s blood for them through loving surrender.

Whoever partakes in this memorial commits himself for this love to the extent of death even. When needed he should be broken for others and shed his blood for others.