LENT iii
CHRIST broke his mysterious body and gave it to his disciples
at the Supper without explaining at that time what the breaking and giving
would mean. There was no need, the facts would presently make it
clear. What, then, was done to this body? It was stripped,
scourged, and nailed to a cross: stripped of all dignity and all possession,
scourged with the stroke of penal justice, and nailed up like a dead thing
while it was still alive. The body you receive in this sacrament
accomplished its purpose by nailing to a tree. You are to become
this body, you are to be nailed: nailed to Christ’s sacrificial will.
The nails that hold you are God’s commandments, your rules of life, prayers,
confessions, communions regularly observed. Let us honour the nails
for Christ’s sake, and pray that by the virtue of his passion they may
hold fast.