Holy Communion and Worship

At mass, we as Christians re-create the Last Supper between Jesus and his Disciples before he was crucified.

This is a central feature of many churches but it is not so important for many of the 25,000 denominations of Christianity. The Last Supper, which was performed by Jesus, was in fact a Passover meal that Jewish people celebrate to commemorate the escape of Moses and the Jews from Egypt.The Passover meal was celebrated as normal, but Jesus told his disciples that the bread and wine were in fact his body and blood, which would be sacrificed to save mankind from sin.The Christian faith has many names for this celebration, which includes Mass, Eucharist, Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, Liturgy and the Breaking of The Bread. Whilst the name is different, the belief is the same; it reminds us of Jesus' sacrifice upon the cross.

As well as this one unified idea, the outlook of the various denominations of Christianity varies quite a lot.In the Catholic Church, the Holy Communion is the main focus of their daily worship.Catholics celebrate mass the most frequently, at once a day and on all feast days. The Orthodox Church calls their celebration a mass or a liturgy whereas the Roman Catholic Church celebrates it as Eucharist.The Catholic Faith believes in a process called Transubstantiation, which is the belief that all things are made of Accidence and Substance.

The Catholics believe that the bread and wine change into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord by changing its Substance. This belief has developed and mass is used to emphasise how sanctified the Mass is to usIn the Roman Catholic Church, the Eucharist is administered by a thin slice of unleavened bread. The priest says 'The Body of Christ' and the person receiving the Eucharist replies, 'Amen'. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, it is given by the bread dipped it the wine and is given to the person on a spoon.

They too believe that the bread and wine are transubstantiated into the body and blood of Jesus.Protestants, however, view things differently. The mass is more of a symbol of Jesus' death than a renewal of it. Also, mass is celebrated a lot less often, maybe once or twice a month. The Protestant church, unlike the Catholic Church, believe that mass is consubstantiate rather than transubstantiate, meaning that the bread and wine are just a symbol rather than the body and blood of Christ. This symbolism shows a strong agreement between themselves and Christ and his Suffering, Death and Resurrection.

The Mass itself is often a straightforward service but in their celebration there is less emphasis on the Holy Communion and more emphasis on the bible and the word of God.Holy Communion is spiritual food for the soul. It provides us with the initiative to carry out the work of God. It fills us with the Holy Spirit, and allow us to do God's work. The Priests of the Roman Catholic Faith back this up, when they say at the end of mass, 'Go in peace to love and serve the lord', which is giving us a subtle hint to do God's work.To love and serve the lord includes making many big sacrifices.

This is shown in the story of the widow at the treasury, (Mk 12:41-44) when he pointed out that the woman who gave probably all the money she had had given a lot more than the fat cats who gave their spare change. Jesus also points this out in the story of the rich man, (Mk 10:17-27) when he says, 'It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle'.Holy Communion is a central feature for Christians today. This signifies that we are destined to be with God if we follow the same path as Jesus and live as he did. To do this we must 'Love your neighbour as yourself' and 'Love god with all your heart, soul, strength and mind'.

If we do this, we can be one with Christ.We can be good Christians by following all the commandments and following the example shown to us by Jesus. If we celebrate Holy Communion, we are receiving a little bit of the Holy Spirit to aid us in becoming one with Christ. Jesus taught that if we heed his call and continue his work, we would receive eternal life and this is the path many monks and nuns have taken.

Holy Communion is a reminder of the meal that Jesus shared with his disciples before Judas betrayed him and we should carry this tradition on for generations. This celebration draws us nearer to the gift that our lord died for 2000 years ago, and we should never forget this.This is a pretty awkward situation because there are conflicting arguments on both sides.Many people believe that others shouldn't work on a Sunday because in the story of creation does it not say that '..

. God rested on the seventh day' and therefore they believe that they should do the same. It also says that we should 'Keep holy the Sabbath day', and some Christians believe that this means that we should go to church on a Sunday and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and we should not work.Yet, many people believe that work should be done on a Sunday, for Jesus himself actually did work on the Sabbath, as in the story of the man with the paralysed hand (Mk 3:1-6). People may also argue that only certain types of work should be done on a Sunday, like Jesus said 'is it better to help or to harm?' So in theory, only work that is for a greater good should be done on a Sunday. In a way, Jesus was teaching that only work that is for a greater good should be done on God's Holy DayIn my opinion, work shouldn't be done on a Sunday if it is for the sole purpose of making money.

Jesus taught that money is not needed to obtain eternal life with God.The Old Testament also teaches that money is bad as in the commandments, 'Do not worship false idols' In other words, do not depend on something that you don't need, like money and gold.So, in conclusion, I believe that work should not be done on a Sunday unless it is going to be of a benefit to humanity.