The pastor, the organist, 18 worshipers, and one butterfly were in the nave that hot August morning in Cologne, Germany. The windows of the church did not open, and everyone was warm. I couldn’t understand all of the pastor’s sermon in German. That, combined with the heat, led my mind to wander. My eyes caught sight of a butterfly fluttering about the altar and the cross.
Soon our small group gathered for the Eucharist, with the bread and wine on the table before us. As the pastor said the words of institution, the butterfly caught my attention again. It was near a stained-glass window, high in the nave, looking for the freedom of the outdoors.
I was brought back to the bread and the cup we were about to share. As I ate the bread and drank the wine, I thought with joy that here was the freedom I was looking for; the gift of Christ found in the Eucharist.
On this Maundy Thursday, we remember Jesus first sharing the bread of life and cup of salvation with his disciples before his crucifixion. This message is an excerpt of an April 2012 Women of the ELCA blog by Linda Post Bushkofsky. The readings are Exodus 12:1-4 [5-10] 11-14; Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-17, 31b-35.
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