Timotheos3: 1-13
Credible is the word: Anyone who seeks a guardianship desires a beautiful effectiveness. 2 But now a supervisor shall be blameless, a woman’s husband, sober, prudent, respectable, hospitable, and literate; 3 no drinker, no brawler, but mild, not merchantable, not avaricious; 4 One who presides well in his own house and keeps the children with all dignity in check, 5 but if one does not know how to preside over his own house, how will he care for the church of God? -, 6 not a freshman, so he will not be puffed up and fall into the judgment of the devil. 7 But he must also have a good testimony from those outside [the church], lest he fall into the blasphemy and the noose of the devil.
8 Likewise, the deacons should also be respectable, not duplicitous, not devoted to wine, not profit-making; 9 they shall keep the mystery of faith in a pure conscience. 10 And these should first be tested; then they may serve, if they are irreproachable.
11 Your women should also be respectable, not slanderous but sober, faithful in everything.
12 The deacons should each have only one wife, well in charge of their children and home; 13 For if they do their service well, they will gain for themselves a beautiful degree, and much boldness in the faith in Christ Jesus.
Anyone who holds office is responsible to those he leads. Actually, every person has responsibility – be it the family, the work, the superior – but as a Christian, we are responsible to God and only to Him, because all other responsibility results in this particular responsibility. A Christian who is responsible to God can not act irresponsibly in daily life. If he does, however, he sometimes forgets what responsibility he has, then only deep prayer and consideration can lead him back to the right path. It is a mission that is given to every Christian. Priests, in particular, have a great responsibility to believers, to serve the Lord, to teach the faithful of Christ, to lead them to Christ, and to show the path back to those who have strayed from the right path. The path leading from Christ is wide and easy to walk. Returning to the right path requires greater effort to be accomplished with the help of the pastor, with prayer to the Holy Spirit and effort, for this path is narrow and arduous – but at its end shines divine forgiveness and glory.
1 Paul to the Corinthians:
23 For I have received from the Lord what I have also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus took bread in the night that he was betrayed, broke it with thanksgiving, and said, 24 Take, eat, this is my body, the is broken for you, such does to my memory! 25 So also the cup, after the meal, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood; such does, as often as you drink it, to my memory! 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
27 Therefore, whoever unworthily eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But a man testeth himself, and therefore he eats of the bread, and drinketh out of the cup; 29 For he who eats and drinks unworthily, he eats and drinks himself a judgment, because he does not distinguish the body of the Lord.
We are called to test ourselves honestly before dare to take in the bread and the wine, for if we take the meal unworthily we will be damned.
And yet – Jesus calls all to come to him, that he may take the burden and trouble from them. With honest repentance and humility, with forgiveness to those who have done us evil, and the plea for forgiveness of those whom we have harmed, we can attain the necessary purity that makes us worthy to participate in the Eucharist. We confess that we are not worthy and ask the Lord to accept our repentance and heal our soul. We walk the path to the glory of God, a new way, a way that leads away from evil. Only those who choose this new path, change their lives, can find the way that leads them to God and to his salvation. It is a “stripping” of the old man, a departure from the worldly temptations. The spirit will then be above the flesh, we will learn how to serve the Lord. We promise ourselves to renounce evil. When we practice obedience to the Lord, we will gain true joy. Paul received the commission of the “holy meal” from the Lord, he passes it on to his followers. Our holy meal is not a simple ritual.
Luke 22
14 And when the hour came, he sat down to table and the twelve apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I was earnestly required to eat this passover with you before I suffer.
16 For I say to you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, saying, Take this and share it among you. 18 For I say unto you, from henceforth I shall drink no more of the plant of the vine, until the kingdom of God has come.
Incorporation of the Holy Supper
19 And he took the bread, thanked, broke it, gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you; that does to my memory! 20 So also the cup after the meal, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.
The Lord has given his life for us to live. The innocent blood has been shed to save the world. This celebration of the holy meal is the union of Christians among themselves, they come together to celebrate the meal together. The church is the community, each member is a member of the great whole, the body of which Jesus is the head. In truth, no single member is capable of living alone, because each part of the body needs the other part, no part works in isolation. To His memory we celebrate the meal, in the community, the members of the Christian community, in unity with the head, with Christ.
Jesus says we should check each time before we eat the bread and the wine (body and blood). It is no ordinary bread, no ordinary wine, no snack, as we usually eat it. It is a special moment to receive this special gift.
We ask the Lord to cleanse us, that we may be worthy to receive the holy meal, for he is the goodness, the forgiveness, the blessedness, the eternal joy.