Common Ground Song 87 ‘Memorial Acclamation’
Words: liturgical / Music: James MacMillan © Boosey & Hawkes
Featured image: A silver chalice and paten © Diocese of Leeds

What this song and the last (‘Lord of Mercy’) have in common are that they are settings by the same contemporary composer of parts of the Mass. The words are those spoken (or sung) by the congregation shortly before sharing the consecrated bread: ‘When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus, until you come in glory’. The setting is a simple congregational chant in 3/4 time, except that a four-part setting is also offered for choirs.

There are many reasons why the Communion / Mass is the central focus of worship for most Christians. Among them is the belief that Jesus’s death, violent though it was, was necessary in order that he could be resurrected into eternal life, and the belief that follows from it, that he will (as promised) return again, not in the humility of a working man, but in some glorious form that everyone alive will immediately recognise. We therefore share in the bread and wine. They are (according to your tradition) either a memorial meal echoing the Last Supper before the crucifixion or a sacrifice of bread and wine that becomes Christ’s actual body and blood. Either way, it is important to us that they symbolise the unity of all Christians as we await the Second Coming. See my recent post ‘Casting out Fear’ for a sermon on one aspect of this unity.