The Spirit of Truth

The longer you take part in the Consecration of the Human Being, the more astonishing it may be that the miracle of the Transubstantiation takes place every time.  Not just now and then, but every time anew.  True, our attention is but wavering and changeable, but nevertheless you always come back strengthened from the altar.  What causes that?  On the one hand, it is the words of the sacrament that give us strength.  Someone once said, when she was asked why she kept going back to the service: “Where in the world can you experience hearing for a whole hour nothing but truth?”  That is because no human words sound at the altar, but angel words.

But even more than by these words are we nourished and quenched by the meal of bread and wine that is permeated by the presence of the Resurrected One.  “Christ in you,” this promise is literally and bodily fulfilled in the Communion.  With the Peace, He touches us, just as He did after His Resurrection, when He spoke to His disciples: “Peace be with you.  Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 21:21-22)  These words marked the beginning of a new era: the era of the Spirit of Truth.  This Spirit was not only meant for the first followers of Christ.  He is meant for all who want to follow Him.

Just as the miracle of the Transubstantiation is enacted every day anew, the Spirit of Truth also wants to touch us every day anew, every time when at the altar the words sound: “The Peace be with you.”

Rev. Bastiaan Baan, May 19, 2024