Can someone help me out on this?

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johnquinn39
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Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2004 4:44 pm
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Can someone help me out on this?

Post by johnquinn39 »

I read somewhere a while ago (was it in the SSG journal?), that St Augustine suggested that on receiving communion, we might reply (to 'Body of Christ') 'I am'.

Have I got this right?

Does this ring any bells with anyone?
festivaltrumpet
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Re: Can someone help me out on this?

Post by festivaltrumpet »

Augustine in Sermon 272 wrote:One bread; what is this one bread? The one body which we, being many, are. Remember that bread is not made from one grain, but from many. When you were being exorcised, it’s as though you were being ground. When you were baptized it’s as though you were mixed into dough. When you received in the fire of the Holy Spirit, it’s as though you were baked. Be what you can see, and receive what you are.
Southern Comfort
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Re: Can someone help me out on this?

Post by Southern Comfort »

A better response to "The Body of Christ" would be "Yes, we are". Perhaps that's what johnquinn39 remembers.
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FrGareth
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Re: Can someone help me out on this?

Post by FrGareth »

Could you be thinking of this?

St. Augustine, Sermons, [227] A.D. 391-430: ... I promised you, who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the Sacrament of the Lord's Table, which you now look upon and of which you last night were made participants. You ought to know what you have received, what you are going to receive, and what you ought to receive daily. That Bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Blood of Christ. Through that bread and wine the Lord Christ willed to commend His Body and Blood, which He poured out for us unto the forgiveness of sins. If you receive worthily, you are what you have received.

St. Augustine, Sermons, [272] A.D. 391-430: What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the Body of Christ and the chalice the Blood of Christ. ... How is the bread His Body? And the chalice, or what is in the chalice, how is it His Blood? Those elements, brethren, are called Sacraments, because in them one thing is seen, but another is understood. What is seen is the corporeal species, but what is understood is the spiritual fruit. ... `You, however, are the Body of Christ and His members.' If, therefore, you are the Body of Christ and His members, your mystery is presented at the table of the Lord, you receive your mystery. To that which you are, you answer: `Amen'; and by answering, you subscribe to it. For you hear: `The Body of Christ!' and you answer: `Amen!' Be a member of Christ's Body, so that your `Amen' may be the truth.

from http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/713449/posts
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Revd Gareth Leyshon - Priest of the Archdiocese of Cardiff (views are my own)
Personal website: http://www.garethleyshon.info
Blog: http://catholicpreacher.wordpress.com/
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