O Bread of Life from Heaven, ELW 480
1 O bread of life from heaven,
O food to pilgrims given,
O manna from above: feed with the blessed sweetness of your divine completeness the souls that want and need your love.
2 O fount of grace redeeming,
O river ever streaming from Jesus' wounded side: come now, your love bestowing on thirsting souls, and flowing till all are fully satisfied.
3 We love you, Jesus, tender, in all your hidden splendor within these means of grace.
Oh, let the veil be riven, and our clear eye in heaven behold your glory face to face.
Devotion
My thoughts wander back to the two sides of the gospel that I have talked about this week. Even the hymns that we use as part of worship proclaim exactly what I am getting at. When we easily see ourselves as the sinner of the story the most comfort we can find comes to us in communion. I love this hymn, “O Bread of Life from Heaven” because it brings us right to the heart of what we come to the table seeking: “Feed with the blessed sweetness of your divine completeness the souls that want and need your love.” It is at the table that we sinners unmistakably find the love of our God. And we are reminded of this love day in and day out as we experience the common elements that life is centered around, bread and celebratory drink.
Prayer
Loving God, reveal yourself to me in the bread and wine of communion so that I, a sinner, may know of your love, forgiveness and grace completely. Amen.