Sunday, October 27: “Blessed in Gratitude”

1 Corinthians 10: 16: “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?”

The Greek word St. Paul uses here for ‘bless’ can mean either ‘to give thanks for’ or ‘to speak well of’. There are not two different Greek terms, for these are not considered two separate actions. When Jesus blessed the bread, both on the Galilean hillside and in the Upper Room, He was giving thanks, and in so doing it was blessed (made more than it was before; quantitatively and substantially). Now it’s our turn to bless things and make them more than they were, by giving God thanks for them.