Hand to Mouth

Some religious reflections for this Sunday

In our Catholic faith we are taught that the host at communion becomes the actual body of Christ when it is blessed. This has always been a concept hard for me to accept, too much of a cannibalistic act to go through to achieve a spiritual union with God, and something that has maybe had its meaning slightly altered from its original intention. The church tells us this is the actual body of Christ the man, who is sharing Himself with us much the same as when He took the loaves and fishes and fed thousands, rather than Christ the Lord who is sharing His blessings with us through the communion host. Maybe I've been making it confusing for myself, so lately I've come to see it in a different way. I always thought of the mind and body being separate entities, but now I'm coming to think that our spiritual and physical existences are in more of a symbiotic relationship than I always believed and that the way we treat our bodies affects our core being, and our emotional state has an affect on our physical self. So to put my doubts about communion to rest I think of the Body of Christ as just what it is; Food for our bodies that is blessed to help us spiritually. That's not the exact way the church would have me see it, but it's a way I can accept and take a certain peace from the experience.

Just kind of a side note... I rarely, if ever, have seen anyone drop the host at communion. Granted, its a short exchange from the priest's hand to the hands of the recipient to his mouth, but given the amount of older people whose nerves cause them to shake a lot, and the younger kids who drop everything they touch, it's kind of amazing that it doesn't happen at least once in awhile.

Second side note... Having said that I'm sure I just jinxed myself.