Hi Monica:
Jesus is the incarnate Word of the Lord. What this means is that in any circumstance where divine wisdom dictates action, Christ is present in essence. When wisdom is heard and obeyed, it 'activates,' and love changes hands to heal the sick, feed the poor, support the oppressed, forgive the sinful - the Spirit of the Lord is present in energy.
It is unhelpful to attempt to deconstruct the Word from the Spirit, because the presence of one naturally contributes to the presence of the other in ways that human beings cannot control - yet can rely upon.
The divine liturgy is unique in that it operates as a concrete icon of the new created world. This is the world that Jesus ascended to prepare - and it is a created reality that will co-exist with the reality we live in only long enough for the passage of the newly resurrected who are judged worthy of entry. At that point the divinely sustained order of the world of today is molted - the second death begins - serving as the footstool for the new creation that is firmly and decisively established against it with Jesus as its head architect.
We approach the liturgy with a great deal of humility, therefore, because our worthiness to enter the Kingdom depends entirely on our willing participation in the fashioning of ourselves in Christ's image by God.
The fact that we approach the sacrifice so humbly and with as much fear, faith and love for God - this indicates that in a very real sense the Eucharist brings to mind the words of Christ - if a person does not eat his flesh and drink his blood, they have no part in him.
Metaphor extended, if a person does not eat at the table of the king - remembering carefully and meticulously all of the rights and responsibilities that is entails, the person has no right to partake in eternal life. You cannot simply observe it - you must ingest Christ into every part of your being - particularly the 'heart' or core. This would not be possible with just bread and wine - you must be immersed. This is also why we do not sprinkle in baptism - we immerse.
So it is not the accidents of the food that are significant to Christ's presence. Rather, it is the fact that you are entering Christ's kingdom, stepping to Christ's antechamber, being given food from Christ's own table and according to the same sacrifice that he offered for us - yet with the bloodless sacrifice. Christ asked the apostle, 'would you drink the cup I am about to drink?' This is the point where Christ recognizes the obligations of the life-giving king when faced with a sinful people who are destined for destruction quid pro quo.
You asked if Christ is present the Eucharist in a special way - I hope you can see that Christ is present in the entire liturgical process in many ways. It's not just about Christ's Body and Blood, it's about Christ's Table, Christ's kingship, Christ's Servants, Christ's Sacrifice, Christ's kingdom - the New Creation, Christ's blessing, etc.
This is why it is likely inappropriate to have communion at your dining room table, or at some place out in the woods - there is an entire sacred element that is preserved by apostolic tradition - the sense of Christ as king. The sense of the church as Christ's palace. This is not entirely unique to eastern orthodox tradition, but despite the lack of general knowledge on the significance of the liturgy, the inertia of the faith has preserved most of these symbols intact, so that Christians can rediscover them again and again throughout history.
Icons depict the saints in regal form - with honor - because they have become heirs by faith in the promises of God. And yet for many of them, taking the body of Christ is their first liturgical act of dedication toward humble service within the constraints of the new creation.
The question is, can you take the sense of the liturgy outside the four walls? Can you mindfully and intentionally see the world as God's kingdom? Can you see the house of the rich and the poor alike as God's house? Can you love selflessly and give life to those in need? If you can already do this all the time - then you are a royal priest and the world is your church. But if you ever need a refresher or if you think you may have forgotten how or lost your way - the Church is there. (You could ask, when is a church not 'the Church' - but that's an entirely different thread.)
Christ not only helps us do this through his example - but we believe that through Christ and the Holy Spirit, God is able to reallocate created resources to repair and do the things we fail to do - either out of fear, doubt or ignorance. It is truly a fascinating process - to see how resourceful God can be when He gets around to fixing something. And sometimes we are the rod - though God breaks the rod too.
thanks, that's very deep, wow
it helped me understand some things..
you mentioned 'sacrifice' - so the Orthodox too see the Eucharist as a sacrifice (the original one)? like "the sacrifice of the Mass"?
I think I kind of see what you are saying, that the liturgy in the church is like a visible representation of the new kingdom that God is making, and has its own unique spiritual reality? (or did I phrase that incorrectly).
the way I see it, at DL or Mass, we worship together with the Angels and Saints, and the Blessed Virgin Mary is there too. So there is a spiritual reality that we can not see. If one is at a highly decorated beautiful church (such as a cathedral, for example) the visible reality is made to reflect the spiritual.. but there are also little mission churches out there with only a few icons, or churches in new buildings, - where you have to look beyond it all to the invisible spiritual.. (and maybe with practice, we would be able to do this too outside the church) sometimes by grace a person can get little hints of what is "really" happening at liturgy. And what is happening is that we are essentially at Calvary, before the timeless sacrifice, and when we receive Christ's Body and Blood we do enter into something greater.. into the 'new' life, a new way of 'being'.. and the liturgy is like the 'bridge' between heaven and earth, we're on earth but united in worship with those in Heaven, because we're all worshipping the "Lamb that was slain" physically present before us.
So in that way I agree with you that it's more than just about Christ's present in the Eucharist itself. It's an entire spiritual event. The liturgy reminds us of that, either in the icons that remind people of Saints, or at Mass how we sing "Holy holy holy" together with Heaven..
yet I think since when we're before the Eucharist we're before the Lord Himself, it must be sufficient that we simply believe this and love Him when we receive Communion.. if we come to Him like children, with pure hearts, we would not receive any fewer graces than someone who really understands what happens in the liturgy. It is love the Lord is looking for, not intellectual or spiritual understanding. For this reason I find it helpful to focus entirely on His presence in the Eucharist after the consecration.. before then, we prepare for His coming by prayer, worship, reading Scripture, repentance.. and afterwards, - He is there - physically present before us - and all the angels that no doubt are there at liturgy too, are worshipping Him as well..
So while I agree with you that "Christ is present in the entire liturgical process in many ways. It's not just about Christ's Body and Blood, it's about Christ's Table, Christ's kingship, Christ's Servants, Christ's Sacrifice, Christ's kingdom - the New Creation, Christ's blessing, etc."
I also think that Christ is present in the Eucharist in the most special and exclusive way, because it IS Him. Christ's Table, Kingship, Servants, etc - all very important, yet they are not Himself.. the Blessed Sacrament is. That's why I asked the question in the OP, because some people (for example, my Protestant friend) have been saying that Christ is not present there any more than in other places.. and I think differently, I think He's present in the Eucharist just like in Heaven (His Body is in heaven), and just like 2000 years ago. So when we receive Communion, many things happen, but the most important and special thing is that we become united with Christ.. Him in us, and us in Him. And then our job is to just love Him and allow Him to change us.
my two cents
I don't disagree with anything you said, maybe we just have different ways of approaching this..