Eucharistic Fast as an Act of Sacrificial Love

We are on a Eucharistic Fast
An Act of Sacrificial Love to Honor the Sanctity of Health and Life

One of the great legacies of the Latin American and Black Liberation Theology movement is contextual theology. 

The Brazilian liberation theologian, Leonardo Boff gives an example of contextual theology by relating the story of a Brazilian Bishop regarding the Holy Eucharist.  

The Bishop had just celebrated the sacrament in his cathedral and distributed the bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ to the people.

After the Mass, he walked outside and saw a peasant woman with three small children.  The infant she held was screaming with hunger.  The bishop admonished her saying, “Why don’t you feed your baby?”  The woman responded by simply opening her blouse to reveal her dried up breast which had become bloodied.  She was feeding her baby with her own blood.  The bishop realized that the poor peasant woman was sustaining her child with her own body and blood, just as God feeds us and grants us life eternal by sacrificing Christ’s own body and blood.

In the context of giving the poor peasant woman the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper, when she and her baby were literally starving to death from lack of food, the Bishop had to ask, “What is the meaning of the Eucharist in this context?”  The liberation theologians then began to reflect on the meaning of the Eucharist and they began to ask, “How does the theology of the Eucharist change according to a given context?”  This is one aspect of contextual theology, so masterfully explained to us by Leonardo Boff, a brilliant and generous teacher.

Today we have to ask ourselves some serious questions about the meaning of the Holy Eucharist in the context of the crises we face today.  What does it mean if we break bread and drink from the same cup as our Black brothers and sisters who suffer racial injustice and oppression?

In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew, Chapter 15, we have a challenging and disturbing comment from Jesus, when he says: 

Matthew 15: 10-28

Woman of Canaan, Watanabe, Sadao, 1913-1996
Smithsonian American Art Museum

“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

Jesus is revealing our own sinfulness: the tribal, or nationalistic values of humanity – of the past, and today. 

Why should we care about someone outside of our own family, or our own culture, or political party?  Why should I care about the humanitarian crisis in the Yemen?  The Syro-Phoenicians and Romans did not like the Jewish people.  They would not break bread together because they were different, or unclean.  After the Pharisees confront Jesus with the ritual purity laws, the great teaching in today’s Gospel, the great miracle is that Jesus DOES heal the foreign woman’s daughter – just as he heals the Roman’s servant. 

Jesus loves and heals the other – the enemy.  And in so doing, he begins to teach his disciples, and us, that here is no OTHER – that we are all God’s children.  And so, we are united in the body of Christ.  This teaching of Jesus has been so engrained in us, that it is difficult for us to understand how radical it was in the Ancient Near East, and still today.

Today we take a look at our own context:  What does it mean to be on Eucharistic fast?  In today’s context, we are not able to share the physical bread and wine of the Holy Communion because of the COVID-19 Epidemic.  

There is a long spiritual tradition of fasting in the church, and in many of the world religions.  The spiritual benefit of fasting is a mystery – not in that it is obscure, but in that it is vast.

It is good for us to fast to prepare for the Sabbath.  Christians have a tradition of fasting from Saturday evening – fasting from eating, drinking, television, parties, etc., so that they can focus on receiving the body and blood of Christ in the Holy Communion.  Personally, I enjoy praying evening prayer on Saturday because of the collect for Saturdays:

A Collect for Saturdays

O God, the source of eternal light: Shed forth your unending day upon us who watch for you, that our lips may praise you, our lives may bless you, and our worship on the morrow give you glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

By removing distractions, there is a joy in anticipation of receiving the Holy Sacrament on Sunday morning.  So many abstain from business, food and drink, and certain forms of entertainment, to focus on experiencing the real presence of Christ in Word and Sacrament on Sunday morning.  The same can be said of fasting during Lent, or while on Spiritual retreat. 

As you know, I lived in Islamic nations for many years.  During the Holy Month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset so that they can feel the hunger of the poor and become more charitable.  During Ramadan, wealthy families and mosques provide meals for the poor every evening.  Folks bring meals to their friends, families and neighbors.  Many of the Orthodox churches I worshipped with in the Middle East fasted for both Advent and Lent – taking only one vegan meal a day for forty days.  Again, such a practice helps us to focus on our preparations to receive the real presence of Christ at Christmas and Easter.

There are also many rational, and scientific benefits to fasting.

Psychiatrists, such as M. Scott Peck teach us about the benefits and success of delayed gratification.  Anthropological and historical studies reveal that when an entire society fasts, as with the Orthodox Churches, it can become a way to ensure that limited resources are conserved and shared more equally among all people of all classes.  Scientists and nutritionists tell us today that fasting allows the body to recover and rid itself of free radicals and other extraneous materials which could lead to disease.  So science reveals that there is great wisdom in the religious tradition of fasting.

Today, we have a new context regarding a Eucharistic fast. 

What does it mean to be on Eucharistic fast? 

We have never been through this before.  How is this different from the fasting I mentioned above?

An Outline of the Faith, or catechism from the Book of Common Prayer, p.857 teaches us:

The sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.

Grace is God's favor toward us, unearned and undeserved; by grace God forgives our sins, enlightens our minds, stirs our hearts, and strengthens our wills.

The two great sacraments given by Christ to the Church are Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist.

The Holy Eucharist is the sacrament commanded by Christ for the continual remembrance of his life, death, and resurrection, until his coming again.    

The outward and visible sign in the Eucharist is bread and wine, given and received according to Christ's command.

The inward and spiritual grace in the Holy Communion is the Body and Blood of Christ given to his people, and received by faith.

The benefits we receive are the forgiveness of our sins, the strengthening of our union with Christ and one another, and the foretaste of the heavenly banquet which
is our nourishment in eternal life. 

In our current context of the COVID-19 Epidemic, we have not received the outward and visible sign of the bread and the wine in that we have not eaten the bread – we have not drunk the wine since March 14th, 2020. 

It is so beautiful, so real, so earthy, that Jesus shares the real presence of Christ with us as we physically consume the elements of bread and wine each Sunday.  It is of spiritual comfort to us to physically share the Holy Sacrament together.

The question is: 

Is the Grace still there in the absence of the outward and physical signs? 

I believe it is.  And it is also important for us to reflect on our own personal experience and share with one another how we feel and what we think in this context.  We should also be asking, as do the liberation theologians.

Do the current conditions or current context of epidemic lead us to re-examine the theology of the Eucharist itself?

For me personally, the reflection on Eucharistic Fast has been fruitful, and I am grateful that Emmy Lou raised the question last week.

Christ sacrificed his body and his blood for us and we remember this sacrifice by celebrating the Lord’s Supper – the Holy Eucharist.

Today, we, in imitation, must sacrifice for one another by keeping Eucharistic Fast.  We do not want to cause any harm.  We do not want to spread the COVID-19 virus.  Jesus heals us.  We heal and sustain life in Jesus’ name.

I have been very sad during this epidemic, quarantine, and shut-down.  I miss everyone and there is nothing I would like more than to share the Lord’s Supper together in person.  And yet, there are many of our loved ones, like Ann, Martha, Marian, Joan, Van, Millie, Virginia, Bob, and so many others, who cannot be with us here today. 

We are on Eucharistic Fast and it is an act of sacrificial love – so that we will not harm others by spreading the virus.  It is also an act of sacrificial love in that we are in solidarity with those we love who cannot be here with us today.  This act of sacrificial love also bears prophetic witness to those who do not work actively to protect human health and life during this Global Pandemic.

The Rev’d Jon F. Lavelle, Rector
St. John’s-Grace Episcopal Church

Taken from Sermon on the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost Year A, St. John’s-Grace Episcopal Church, Buffalo,

August 16, 2020

Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28