"I have called you by name, you are mine...

... when you pass through the waters I will be with you; 

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; 

when you walk through fire you  will not be burned

and the flame will not consume you"

So says the Lord in Isaiah 43: in many ways it is a simple but profound  message and one which brings much comfort. However, along with many others I think, I can find it difficult to take in this immense faithfulness of  God's love, especially when life feels hard even when those hardships are relatively minor. One of the things which helps me to remember God's love and faithfulness is being communicated by name as happened at both celebrations of the eucharist during the weekend I mentioned in my previous post On the Importance of the Eucharist . 

This, and a fabulous blog post by Claire, one of the priests who administered communion, started me thinking about how important being reminded personally of God's love in this way can be.  Communicating people by name can be a tricky business; it could feel exclusive in many situations such as in a 'normal' parish where visitors, or even those with less easily remembered names, could feel excluded if not given communion by name. They could be given the impression that God's love is only for the favoured few who are given communion by name and are 'first class Christians' so to speak. However, I think that in particular situations giving and receiving communion by name can be an important expression of God's particular love for and relationship with each person. 

This can be a particularly powerful experience for those of us who find it difficult to accept and believe at the deepest levels that 'God loves me' and 'God is calling me'.  It can be much easier to believe that God loves everyone else, but feel unworthy of God's love oneself: something I frequently feel.  Therefore to be given the gift of someone, through whom God is working, telling me that God loves me through God's sacramental incarnation in the Eucharist is the most amazing and powerful thing.  This is a love which has no edges, where none are unworthy and all are special to God individually as well as generally. Wow!  This is too large and wonderful to fully contemplate.  The only possible response I have is wordless worship, and being moved to tears of joy.

The Chapel at Compton Durville

This experience first happened at the Anglican Franciscan house at Compton Durville, in Somerset (which has now sadly closed) where I used to go on retreat.  Receiving the eucharist daily is awesome enough as it is, but on Saturdays and sometimes at other times, a retired priest called Arthur, who is a close friend of the Community, would celebrate the eucharist.  He must have celebrated the eucharist hundreds if not thousands of times, but each time he celebrated it was as if he was celebrating for the first time: a really fresh, alive sense of the presence of God.  This seemed to be felt by everyone present and was a great blessing to all.

I used to retreat at Compton Durville several times per year and so eventually got to know Arthur a little.  One day he gave us all communion by name, including me.   This was a significant turning point or me: when I realised that God turned to me, loves me and calls me as me, however imperfect.  Sometimes that knowledge of God's love and faithfulness is hard to hold on to, but the memory of God's powerful call and love through Arthur 's, and now other priests including Claire's and Kathryn's mediation is helpful at these times.

God is truly an incarnate God, incarnate through the bread and wine at the eucharist and flowing through others who open up a channel for God's love on Earth.