October 9

Take, eat; this is My body. This cup is the new testament in My blood. 1 Corinthians 11:24. 25.

When our Lord Jesus instituted the Holy Supper, He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He brake it and said, Take, eat; this is My body. Then He took the cup, saying, This cup is

the new testament in My blood. After the ordinary meal the Lord took bread and gave thanks, thus separating it from the ordinary use, and said: "Take, eat; this is My body," indicating that something more exalted than ordinary bread was given to them; and likewise with the cup containing wine. It is plain that two objects are here spoken of as being present. One is the body and blood of Christ; the other, bread and wine. The body and blood are the invisible, divine elements, while the bread and wine are the visible, earthly elements. The relation of the two elements is that the earthly is the means of the heavenly, that is, by using or appropriating this bread and this wine, the body and blood of Christ are received by the communicant. While we eat the bread in the Holy Supper, we at the same time eat the true body of the Lord; and while we drink the wine, we at the same time drink the true blood of the Lord. In, with, and under the bread and wine in the Sacrament the true body and blood of Christ are received, and they are received by all who partake of the Sacrament. It is only by accepting the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament that we can find any real meaning in St. Paul's words: "Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." What does that mean if it does not mean that Christ's body and blood are really present in the Sacrament?

It is truly a wonderful gift that Christ gives us in this Sacrament, the best there is on earth and in heaven — Himself, His body and blood, with all the grace He has merited for us. When you receive the very body and blood given into death for you, Christ tells you that you, you also, are redeemed and have God's forgiveness as sure as you see the bread and wine in this blessed Sacrament.

Prayer.

O Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, we thank Thee that at Thy table, under the bread and wine, Thou givest us to eat and to drink Thy true body and blood for a comforting remembrance of Thy death; and we beseech Thee: As often as we eat of this bread and drink of this cup, do Thou by Thy holy body, which was given into death for us, and by Thy precious blood, which was shed for us, deliver us from all our sins and strengthen then our faith and grant us strength to lead a new life that we may

ever do Thy will here in time and hereafter may not be separated from Thee, but be with Thee and praise Thee in all eternity. Amen.

My God, is now Thy table spread? And does Thy cup with love o'erflow? Thither be all Thy children led And let them all its sweetness know.