LITURGY
LESSON: COMMINGLING
(Given:
Two weeks ago the Liturgy Lesson was on the
Breaking of the Bread. At the conclusion of that ritual, the priest does
something that none of us can really see very well. He takes a small piece of the host, the Body
of Christ, and places it in the chalice to commingle with the Blood of Christ.
That is the word used to describe it, “commingling.”
The history of this ritual is not clear at all, and
in the reform of the liturgy very little attention has been given to it. Traditionally the symbolic meaning has been
that the separation of bread and wine, Body and Blood, signifies the death of
Jesus, and this commingling signifies his resurrection. However, that is only
symbolism and not reality since the living Christ is present with us regardless
of the commingling.
Perhaps the best meaning is found in the words that
the priest says when he drops the piece of the host into the chalice. “May the
mingling of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to
us who receive it.”
In some ways it is too bad that the directive of
the Sacramentary says that this prayer is said quietly. Brothers and Sisters,
this is a small, hidden part of our liturgy, but even its simplicity is
something that has meaning. As the prayer says: to us, who receive the body and blood of our
Lord, is promised eternal life.