St John Chrysostom: honouring Christ in the Eucharist and the poor

St John Chrysostom was born in Antioch in Roman Syria (modern-day Antakya, Turkey) around A.D. 347. In the Roman Catholic Church his feast is celebrated on 13 September, while in the Byzantine tradition his principal feast falls on 13 November. Known as ‘Golden-Mouthed’ for his eloquence in preaching, he served as Archbishop of Constantinople and died in exile in A.D. 407. He is renowned for his sermons, biblical commentaries and the Divine Liturgy that bears his name, the most commonly celebrated Eucharistic liturgy in the Eastern Orthodox Church and in many Eastern Catholic Churches.. An example of this Liturgy (translated into English) in the case of the Antiochian Orthodox Church is provided here.

In the example given, the epiclesis, the prayer invoking the Holy Spirit upon the gifts, reads as follows:

PRIEST: (Quietly) Again we offer unto thee this reasonable and unbloody service, and beseech thee and pray thee and supplicate thee: send down thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon these Gifts here spread forth:
(The Priest signs the Holy Bread with the sign of the cross, saying quietly:)
And make this bread the precious Body of thy Christ; Amen.
(The Priest makes the sign of the Cross over the Chalice, saying quietly:)
And that which is in this cup, the precious Blood of thy Christ; Amen.
(The Priest makes the sign of the Cross over both the holy Gifts, saying quietly:)
PRIEST: Changing them by thy Holy Spirit; Amen, Amen, Amen.

In one particular Orthodox parish in the USA, an answer is provided to the question, Do you really believe that Bread and Wine become the Body and Blood of Christ? As follows:

The Eucharist is the high point of the Divine Liturgy. During the Liturgy, the faithful call on the Holy Spirit to consecrate the bread and wine, making them by grace the Body and Blood of Christ. Some other Christian traditions have tried to explain this. Orthodox Christians are content to accept this Sacrament as a mystery by faith.

Roman Catholics and Orthodox both affirm:

• the Real Presence;
• the Eucharistic sacrifice; and
• that the bread and wine truly become Christ's Body and Blood.

The difference is one of theological explanation: Roman Catholics define transubstantiation as the most suitable theological description, whereas Orthodox Catholics usually emphasize the mystery and avoid defining the mechanism.

Running throughout the entire Divine Liturgy is a type of dialogue in which the Priest chants or prays and to which the Choir responds or adds a hymn.  The word liturgy comes from the Greek leitourgia, meaning ‘public service’ or ‘the work of the people’. The word divine means ‘of God’. The Divine Liturgy is therefore the Church's common worship of God, in which the faithful participate in Christ's saving work. It is the primary public form of Orthodox Christian worship, wherein the Eucharist, our Holy Communion with God in Christ, is celebrated.

St John spoke about the abuse of wealth and the leaving aside of the poor in these terms in his homily on the Gospel of St Matthew:

Would you do honor to Christ's body? Neglect Him not when naked; do not while here you honor Him with silken garments, neglect Him perishing without of cold and nakedness. For He that said, This is my body, and by His word confirmed the fact, This same said, You saw me an hungered, and fed me not; and, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. Matthew 25:42, 45 For This indeed needs not coverings, but a pure soul; but that requires much attention.

Poignantly, he writes:

For what is the profit, when His table indeed is full of golden cups, but He perishes with hunger? First fill Him, being an hungered, and then abundantly deck out His table also. Do you make Him a cup of gold, while you give Him not a cup of cold water?