Saying Grace

Saying Grace
and the Presence of the Risen Lord

Bless this food, O Lord, and (bless) us to your service and keep us ever mindful of the needs of others, through Christ our Lord.

The power of Christ’s resurrection is in the shadow of this meal-blessing. Consider the following Easter themes of the Great Fifty Days:

A] The ascended Lord, as our chief Intercessor, also wants God’s providence to bless us with food. The Industrial Revolution and the rise of refrigeration removed some food supply problems which were suffered in other generations.

Yet, even now, our leaders raise control-questions and make policy about water-supply/drought. Others consistently analyze the health of our environment as it relates to our food and water supply. “Bless this food” can be our plea to the ascended Intercessor to strengthen leaders of all future plans and policies. Jesus, bring us to “green pastures.” ¹

B] But we are not God’s boss. In fact, God raised Jesus of Nazareth, so that we might know He is Boss/Lord. We are functioning as God created us when He blessed us in Baptism with the first gift of the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit.² The Spirit’s gifts (wisdom, courage et al) bless us, the members of Christ’s Body, to serve Him. And we seek Him even in the least person among us. We are that persons’ servant.

The early Christians relished the talk about Jesus’ resurrection-appearances which they connected with a meal. He was known in the breaking of the bread³. And there is an annual theme of the Passover bread, broken and shared but unleavened—The first Mosaic Passover was about skipping the long leavening process so the community could immediately and freely serve the world as it escaped slavery in Egypt.

C] But daily bread-breaking brought an equally strong sense of Jesus’ risen presence. God raised Him with the wounds of his mortal sacrifice for the spiritual needs of all. And, for early Christians, sharing your bread might mean life-or-death …if you don’t know where your next meal is coming from.

Now we act with our “minds-full” of a needy world. Add meal-blessings to your Christian rule of life. Be a disciple who watches for the presence of Christ—even in a simple meal.

In Christ,
David J. Mossbarger+

¹ Psalm 23:2—We’ll read this April 17^th. ² BCP, p. 374 ³ Luke 24:35—We’ll read this on Sunday April 10^th.