Liturgy – Lesson 17 Questions to guide discussion

• What does the word “” mean?

• Why do we call the Liturgy a “bloodless worship”?

• Why do we beseech the Holy Spirit to come down upon the bread and the wine on the ?

• How is Christ’s crucifixion important in relation to the ?

• Why is the entire Liturgy leading up to the Epiclesis important as opposed to jumping right into the Epiclesis?

• Do we know exactly how the Eucharist becomes the body and of Christ?

• Why do we believe that the Eucharist is Christ’s body?

• Why do we even celebrate the Liturgy and have the Eucharist in the first place? Can you think of any reasons not mentioned in the video?

BONUS questions for discussion:

• What are some instances that you remember in scripture where the Holy Spirit descends upon someone or something?

Liturgy – Lesson 17 Answers

• The word “Epiclesis” literally translates from the Greek ἐπίκλησις meaning “invocation” or “to call upon”.

• We call the Liturgy a bloodless worship because, in contrast to the ancient Jewish Temple worship found in the Old Testament, there is no blood sacrifice. In the Old Testament, worshipers would bring animal sacrifices to offer to God. Christ has fulfilled the Old Testament and so we no longer offer blood sacrifices. Instead, we offer ourselves in worship and the work of our hands in the bread and wine to God.

• In the Liturgy, we beseech the Holy Spirit to come down upon the bread and the wine on the altar in order to transform them and show them to truly be the body and blood of Christ.

• The Crucifixion is important to us not only because Christ has overcome death for us, but also because the sacrifice He made on the cross provides for us His body and blood which we partake of in the Eucharist in order to commune with Him.

• The entirety of the Liturgy is important for us because each specific part of the Liturgy leading up to the Epiclesis is preparing us to ask God to transform the bread and wine we have offered into the body and blood of Christ that we can then partake of. The whole of the Liturgy is necessary for us to get to a place spiritually that we are ready to meet Christ with one another in the Eucharist.

• No, we do not know exactly how the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ aside from knowing that it is through the work of the Holy Spirit. Some in the past have tried to explain it, but we see it sufficient to admit that there are things beyond our ability to understand and we instead acknowledge the transformation of the Eucharist as a Holy Mystery.

• We believe that the Eucharist is truly Christ’s body and blood first and foremost because this is the way Christ Himself presented the Eucharist to us; as His own body and blood. Additionally, we look to the person of Christ as an image of how we can understand the Eucharist. Just as Christ is both fully divine, which we cannot see, and fully man, which we can see, so too the Eucharist is fully Christ’s body and blood, which we cannot see, and at the same time still fully bread and wine, which we can see.

• There are many reasons why we celebrate the . Three of the most important reasons are:

1. Himself told us to do so. He not only instructed us to offer worship to God with one another, but He also specifically instructed us in the event of the to celebrate and partake of the Eucharist together and so we do this with one another as the Church. 2. It is in the worship of the Liturgy and in the partaking of the Eucharist that we most fully reconnect ourselves to Christ who is the Tree of Life. In contrast to the Garden where Adam and Eve were separated from the Tree of Life, the Liturgy reunites us to the Tree of Life and allows us to partake of It’s fruit in the Eucharist. 3. The Eucharist helps us to fully be what we are called to be as human beings. We are created in the image and likeness of God and more fully become so when we partake of Christ Himself in the Eucharist. We unify ourselves mystically with Christ by partaking of His body and blood and therefore become closer to God in His image and likeness.