CHAPTER 5: DYNAMICS OF COMMON LIFE AND COMMON EUCHARIST 159 The breaking of the bread, the celebration of the Eucharist, or, let's say, let's start before, no? That, that as Christians, we are meant to pray together, because we're meant to love each other~ we are meant love also the Muslims and the non-Christians and everybody, but, but, first to love each other as Jesus, as Christ has loved us, no, that is sort of, so... so that means a common life, that means a common prayer, um... and that means... a sort of... very central prayer, which is thanksgiving for, for Christ’s death and resurrection, and which is also sharing in his death and resurrection, through the Baptism and in the Eucharist, and that is... is what brings us together... um... it's very central in Paul's texts, and that it's one bread we share, so we all form one body, no? It's not that because we are one body, now we merit also, we have the same bread, but it's really a bit the other way ’round, no, so in the letters of Paul, that it's Christ who brings us together, because he's one... and he cannot be divided....381 In Brother TB’s understanding, the common life indeed results in celebrating the Eucharist together. Yet, in his considerations, it is not a one-way road. The common life does not necessarily have temporal priority over the common Eucharist. The relationship is much more complex. In the next section, we will see that there is another side to the coin. On the one hand, the monastics experience sharing the Eucharist as a logical consequence of their common life. On the other hand, they experience the Eucharist just as much as the very basis for the same common life. 5.2 EUCHARIST AS A BASIS FOR THE COMMON LIFE Brother TB’s quote concluding the previous section already hints at the role of the Eucharist as the basis for the common life of the communities, which will be explored in the current section. Brother BE indicates that this is the reason for him to want to partake of the Eucharist whenever it is celebrated. For him, it is quite essential to share the Eucharist. After all, it is Christ whomwe all have in common. When you share everything in daily life, it would have made~ it would make no sense to, not to share, not to be able to share what is the heart, or whatever, the sacrament of what we try to live together, the sacrament of unity, so to say. So, it would make no sense to share everything, and not just what is, or what should be the heart, the 381 TB-1,50.
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