Eucharist: Wonderful Exchange or Trade?

One of the terms that the early Christian writers used to talk about the Mass was that it was a wonderful exchange or even a wonderful trade (Admirabile Commercium). 

As the Eucharist was celebrated, they saw a wonderful act of trading going on!  And they saw that this was a very unbalanced sort of trade.  They deliberately called it ‘wonderful’ or ‘admirable’ because it was taking place between God and ourselves, with ourselves as the beneficiaries.  The Latin phrase could even be translated as the great bargain!

This way of speaking pointed to the reality that in the Eucharist we bring ourselves and our lives before God and present ourselves to God.  In return, God gives himself to us in Christ.  He gives us a sharing in his wonderful life. 

The Eucharist is not just a meeting with Christ; it is a receiving of the life of the resurrection that he already lives. 

As Last Sunday’s prayer after communion prayed: 

Lord,

we give thanks for these holy mysteries which bring to us here

on earth a share in the life to come, through Christ our Lord.

This is not what we see or touch or hear; it is what we believe about what we are doing at Mass.  It is what the signs we use to celebrate this mystery show us. 

These signs are bread and wine; things that we eat and drink, things that we take into ourselves, things that nourish our everyday selves and lives, which transformed in the Eucharist nourish us on the life of the resurrection.  This is the great bargain that God gives us.

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin