During the anaphora in the Divine Liturgy, the priest raises the Chalice and Paten and proclaims; "Thine own of Thine Own, we offer unto Thee on behalf of all and for all."  This is one of the most beautiful expressions mankind can offer to God. In this moment the entire congregation is fullfilling its prestly ministry. Notice the important words, "we offer." We are collectively thanking God for all that He has given us and acknowledge that all we have is His gift to us. All of what we have, and all our gratitude, is summed up in the offering of the bread and wine. The bread and wine were fashioned by human hands from the raw materials God give us - the sunshine, rain, wheat, the grapes and the soil.

When we offer God thanksgiving, we acknowledge that He is the sustainer of our very lives. In turn God accepts the sacrifice and He joins Himself with the bread and the wine, both becoming His precious body and precious blood - the two, the bread and the wine and God Himself becomes one. God offers back to us the bread and wine - changed by the power of the Holy Spirit and we receive it not as mere bread and wine - but the whole of creation joined with God, which is meant to nourish the mind a liven the soul.

What an awesome, beautiful and terrifying mystery. As St. John of Damascus proclaims; "In the Divine Liturgy, time and space collapse. Heaven bends down to Earth. The Holy Communion is the fire of the Godhead, the same fire in the burning bush, but not consumed by it." This fire of Holy Communion is love and warmth for the Saints and torment for the unrepentant! Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let us properly prepare ourselves to venture to partake of the fire of the Godhead by fasting, repenting, and reciting our pre-communion prayers, and reading the Holy Scriptures, so as to not eat and drink to our condemnation but unto the healing of both soul and body.