The Four Movements of the Eucharist - To Be Broken

Definition of broken The Free Dictionary

1. Forcibly separated into two or more pieces; fractured: a broken arm; broken glass.
2. Sundered by divorce, separation, or desertion of a parent or parents: children from broken homes; a broken marriage.
3. Having been violated: a broken promise.
4. Subdued totally; humbled: a broken spirit.
5. Weakened and infirm: broken health.
6. Crushed by grief: died of a broken heart.

Dr. Hsin hsin Huang, a spiritual advisor and counselor, gave a wonderful presentation of the four movements of the Eucharist. Her symbolism and analogies were beautiful especially in her descriptions of the process of becoming bread and wine.   I had never heard of communion described this way.  Her website can be found at www.Hsinhsinhuang.com. 

She said the four movements of the Eucharist are:

1. The taking of the bread (hospitality and sharing with others).
2. The blessing of the bread (receiving the bread as a gift).
3. Breaking the bread (to become open out of brokenness).
4. To eat and drink (the process of taking it in).

In our small group discussion during Magis, we discussed brokenness.  To be truly open to God, we must experience brokenness.  Why?  Because we owe our life to God.  This life on Earth as humans is a gift to feel, hear, see and experience the wonders of creation.  Until we recognize our vulnerability and our dependence on God for our life, we will never experience the full joy of the gift he has given us.  In the process of breaking, we are emptying ourselves out so that God can enter in and we can become whole.

However, sometimes others are completely broken because they have been so evilly violated, the process of fully healing that can restore joy and hope cannot occur.  The best we can do is to walk with that individual in love as they pass through into the next life to be fully healed by God and work to see it never happens to another. 

The Six Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

In a wonderful presentation by Dr. Hsin Hsin Huang at the Ignatian Magis Program on Saturday, she discussed Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  Maslow's theory taught in psychology is that humans have five levels of needs starting with physiological needs.
1. Physiological needs
2. Safety needs
3. Social belonging
4. Self-esteem
5. Self-actualization

In later years, Maslow added a sixth level - transcendence which is the need for surrender to God.  "Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic levels of human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself, to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos" (Farther Reaches of Human Nature, New York 1971, p. 269).

I believe we are both human and spirit possessing not only our human gifts from God, but a soul which resides within us in this temporal space and time, but is eternal.  To be eternal is to be neither in past or future, but always with God in the present.   When we reach the sixth level, we recognize we are spirits first and humans second.  We transcend our humanity to become one with each other and God in spirit.

Ignatian Prayer

"Prayer is simply a two-way conversation between you and God."  Billy Graham

I participate in a small group called Raise the Bar that meets twice a month to discuss topics related to spirituality and community.  It was started by a group of parishioners at Trinity UCC in Belleville.  At each meeting, a group member leads us through a discussion of prepared questions.   Last night's topic was prayer.   The questions posed included what is prayer, how to pray, and what to pray.   As the discussion evolved, the group defined prayer as any conversation with God and that if we consider God, who is love, in our actions, our actions become a prayer.   The group also felt that even if we are not praying, God is listening to our hearts.

In my prayer journal I no longer ask for specific outcomes.  Instead I ask for strength, wisdom, love, and peace for myself and others.  The Ignatian prayer life has taught me that each one of us has been granted unique gifts (talents) by God and that within us is placed a dream.  When we work hard to strengthen our skills consistent with our gifts, make choices out of love for God and others, be open to other paths, work towards our dream, and then release the outcome to God, we can reveal the Kingdom of God on Earth. In this way we find peace knowing God is at work in this life and the life to come.   This is what Jesus meant when he said the Kingdom of Earth is near.