In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
Welcome now, my beloved, to the third and final part of the final lecture, which is the sixth lecture on this series where deep dive into the understanding of the Eucharist according to St. Cyril of Alexandria.
We've come a very long way: we've discussed the Eucharist, we've discussed the diving dilemma, we've discussed the fall of mankind and we've seen how it is that the Eucharist really, according to St. Cyril, is the remedy to so much of our existential pains and sufferings that we have suffered because of the fall of humanity, because sin has entered into the world.
In this final part, we are going to be talking about how it is that truly we are called to union with God, a life where we participate in the Lord Jesus Christ through the Lord Jesus Christ, that by participating in the Eucharist, we take Him into us. And because He is life and because He is the Lord our God, the Word incarnate, we receive Him within us. And by participating in Him through the Eucharist, we now become one with Him. Let's go ahead and take a look at this final part.
This is what makes Him be in us, so that we can also be in Him. This fulfills his prayer in John 17 where He tells God the Father that they may all be one in us just as I am in You and You are in Me that they may be one in us. So St. Cyril here, in his Commentary on John, he talks about this idea of He and us and we in Him. He says:
''And the Savior himself says, ''Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.'' Here one may especially see that Christ says that he will be in us not by a mere relation understood in terms of disposition...'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, Volume 2)
It's not just about we are one because we are friends or we are one because we are next to each other or we know each other or we're relatives, no! He says:
'' ...not by a mere relation understood in terms of disposition but by a natural participation. If one combines one piece of wax with another and [he] melts them both with fire, one piece is made from both...'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, Volume 2)
My beloved, this is so provocative and so powerful and so beautiful. He says take two pieces of wax and melt them together. Can you make the difference anymore of which piece is which? No, they become one. So, he says:
''...one piece is made from both. In the same way, by participation in the body of Christ and his precious blood, we are united so that he is in us, and we are in him.'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, Volume 2)
We can no longer separate ourselves. We don't know which parts of us He is not in and we don't know which parts of us are in Him. We have become one in this great mystery that he calls us to participate in, this unity, this participation in the life of the Word of God incarnate. And so, my beloved, this united... this united state that He calls us to is not only so that we can be one with Him but also united to each other. Listen to what he says. St. Cyril goes on and explains:
''Who could divide or separate from their natural union with one another those who are bound together through his one holy body into unity with Christ?'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, Volume 2)
Who can start separating us in saying: he belongs, he doesn't belong, this is where something begins, this is where something ends? St. Cyril seems to be saying that no one can divide or separate, especially those who are bound together through His one holy body into unity with Christ.
''If ''we all partake of the one bread'', then we are all made one body, since Christ cannot be divided... And when we come into participation with his holy body, we obtain a bodily union ─ I mean with Christ.'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, Volume 2)
We become one with Him and we become one with each other, because if I have become one with Him... And Christ is indivisible; I cannot separate the Lord Christ. If I cannot separate Him and I have union with Him, then I have union with my brother or my sister who also participate of the same body and blood.
So, my beloved, in the end, all of this says what? That truly, it is fitting for Him to be in us. Some people might hear this and they might think that this is a crazy notion, that we cannot speak in this way, that we cannot possibly consider this idea of a god who wants to be inside his creation and who wants his creation to be one in him, but this is the beauty of the Christian faith. This is the depth and the wealth of our Orthodox understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist.
This is why when people say the Eucharist is nothing but a theatrical presentation of what once happened or how some people say the Eucharist is only symbolic, no, it's not! This is
truly Emmanuel our God, God who is with us on the altar today. He offers Himself to us. He is the priest. He is the sacrifice. He is the one who offers Himself to us in this most mystical and beautiful way. It is fitting for Him to be in us. We read again from St. Cyril: in his Commentary on Luke, and this will be the last thing I will leave you with, he says:
''But He is also in us in another way by means of our partaking in the oblation of unbloody offering which we celebrate in the churches...'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Volume 2)
He is also in us, in us... It can't be made any clearer... by means of our partaking of the unbloody offering, which is the Eucharist. He says:
''It was fitting, therefore, for Him to be in us divinely by the Holy Spirit, and also so to speak, to be mingled with our bodies by his holy flesh and precious blood, which things also we possess as a life giving blessing, in the form of bread and wine.'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Volume 2)
And St. Cyril continues and he explains why it is that He chose this method. He says:
''For lest we be terrified by seeing flesh and blood placed on the holy tables of our churches, God, humbling Himself to our infirmities,...'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Volume 2)
The Lord God who humbles Himself, who hides Himself in the form of bread and wine because of our weakness, because He knows that we would not be able to handle, we would not be able to endure the sight of flesh and blood in the front of us. He says:
''God, humbling Himself to our infirmities, infuses into things set before us the power of life,...'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Volume 2)
And what are those things that we set before us? The bread, the water and the wine.
''...and transforms them into the efficacy of his flesh, that we may have them for a life- giving participation, and that the body of Life may be found in us...'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Volume 2)
And look at how he says the body of Life. Who is life? Not WHAT is Life, WHO is Life? The Lord Jesus Christ. The body of Life, the body of the Lord Jesus, may be found in us:
''...as a life-producing seed.'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Volume 2)
And so, my beloved, this is clearly the evidence that the Eucharist, in the mind of St. Cyril of Alexandria, our father among the saints, the great pillar of faith, one of the great fathers of the
Church of Egypt, in his mind, when he teaches about the Eucharist, the Eucharist fulfills all of these things that have affected the human person ever since the fall. And so, to complete this, to have the best understanding as we can, for St. Cyril, the Eucharist is one of the necessities, the great necessities by which the human being is restored, is brought back to what he was supposed to be.
That yes, we have fallen and that the human condition is now corrupted and dying and alienated, but through the Eucharist, we now go from a state of corruption to a state of incorruption. Through the Eucharist, we go from a state of death to a state where we receive life, because this is the life-giving flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Eucharist takes us from a state where we no longer have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, where we are completely separated and alienated from God back to being able to receive the Holy Spirit and back to being able to be reunited with our Lord our God, reconciled to Him, so that He can be in us and we in Him.
This is our understanding of the Eucharist. This is the beauty, the depth and the wealth of the teaching of the Church, of our Lord our God, which He has handed down to us through the teaching of our forefathers.
And so, in our Orthodox faith, in our Orthodox tradition, our father among the saints, St. Cyril of Alexandria, has made it very clear to us that, for those of us who want to be truly alive, those of us who want to live a life that is incorruptible, those of us who want to live and be partakers of the divine nature, united to the Lord our God, having the Holy Spirit indwelling us, that we must approach the altar of the Lord and know of who it is that we are communing, who it is that we are approaching and taking within us.
My beloved, I pray that these series of lectures have been edifying to you. They have been definitely edifying to me as I have researched for them and prepared for them and I pray that you are blessed for the rest of your life in knowing who it is that we approach when we participate in that mystical supper, in the beauty of coming close to the altar and taking in His holy body and His precious blood.
To our God be all glory now and forever and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.
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