4492 Communion....
November 21, 1948: Book 52
Eating the bread and drinking the wine is a token of what you should be doing in order to become blessed.... You must consume bread and wine, that is, you must give nourishment to your soul, by ingesting the bread of heaven with its strength, by accepting My Word and withdrawing the strength from it, hence, by feeding your soul with the sustenance offered to you from above by My love. Thereby I wanted to explain to you that the soul needs as much nourishment as the body and that it must be fed in the same way as the body, by consuming bread and wine. Yet the consumption of nourishment for the soul at no time depends on an external consumption of bread and wine.... This was merely a comparison intended to illustrate to My disciples what they needed and what they should offer their fellow human beings in order to attain bliss. It solely concerns the life of the soul, and the fact that the soul does not require physical bread and physical wine is clearly self-evident. However, I have only ever had your spiritual life in mind, I only wanted to ensure your soul's life and therefore will not demand external formalities where nourishment for the soul is instead sought in all sincerity. Your hunger and thirst for My Word is, by itself, enough in order to be satisfied by the bread of life which comes from heaven, which in truth is My flesh and My blood, which assures the soul's survival, which permeates it with strength and thus provides it with eternal life.... The external intake of bread and wine can never provide nourishment for a person's soul if he has no heartfelt desire for My Word, if he does not want to be fed by Me with the bread of heaven. For only he will come to Me and take communion with Me. He will let Me speak to him. He feeds the soul with nourishment which sustains it and makes it happy. Consequently, anyone who merely enjoys actual bread and wine cannot claim that he is My guest digesting sustenance for his soul at My table. Only people's half-heartedness towards My Word made it possible to produce this misunderstanding of My Words and action, for as soon as the human being makes a serious effort to attain life for his soul, he will automatically understand the meaning of My Words, and then no person will ever be satisfied with merely performing an external act.... which seems to every thinking person a figurative comparison, which in fact it was.... The fact that the people of My church also maintained the external formality in the beginning was justified, insofar as in their heartfelt unity they always envisioned My presence, that they really congregated in remembrance of Me and together accepted My Word.... And I was in the midst of them and filled them with My spirit, thus they were My guests in truth with whom I took Communion.... I broke the bread and offered it to them....
They heard My Word within themselves.... And they practised the same, they also distributed the bread.... they informed each other about what I revealed to them through the voice of the spirit. The first disciples understood the meaning of the external symbol, yet those who followed them already started to pay greater importance to the external symbol and this is how it remained, and only a few grasp the deeper meaning and take Supper with Me, because only a few connect with Me inwardly so that they have the desire to hear Me Myself, that My Word is so delectable and precious to them as to make them hunger and thirst for it, so that I can invite them to take Communion with Me, that I can distribute the bread of heaven and refresh them with the wine of truth for the salvation of their souls. Anyone who is so intimately connected with Me always lives in 'remembrance of Me', he will always allow Me to be present no matter where he is and what he does, thus I will also always be present with him as a guest at every actual meal, he will always remember Me and desire to feel My presence through My Word.... He will be so imbued by love for Me that he will also tell his fellow human beings and he will share what he owns, spiritual and earthly gifts, because he will feel impelled into actions of love as soon as he is inwardly in contact with Love Itself. Then his soul will constantly receive nourishment and also distribute it constantly, he will constantly communicate, he will stay in communion with Me and also be conscious of My presence.... Do understand, you humans, the act of Communion is not just a matter of a moment which is only carried out by the external consumption of bread and wine; understand that I expect more than merely a temporary commitment. Your heart must be completely prepared for My admission, an act of cleansing must have preceded it which only requires a life of love, and a loving person will also desire a sign of reciprocated love, he will desire to hear Me Myself speak.... and thus he will distribute first in order to receive from My hand a delectable gift in return.... My Word as nourishment for the soul is indispensable for him. And if he desires it he will indeed be fed, he will eat My flesh and drink My blood.... I will take Supper with him and he with Me....
Amen
This proclamation
download as MP3
Print view
Handwritings