Look at these two pictures.  One is quite old.  Painted in 1516.  The other is quite new.  Painted in the last few years.  The style of the pieces is quite different.  And yet their point is the same.

The first is called “Christ With The Four Evangelists”  by Fra Bartolomeo.  At the bottom of the painting you see a circular shape filled with a picture of some random place on earth.  This entire painting was designed by Bartolomeo to be hung behind the altar where communion was celebrated.  When the priest lifted up the host for the Supper, it would in the sight of the congregation fill this circle, reminding them that it was in this meal that the ruling Christ would come and bless them.  It was the place the ascended Christ came to be with his people on earth.  It was the place where heaven and earth met for the salvation of God’s people.

The other picture is called “The Kiss” by Ira Thomas. ((You can find her work at http://www.catholicworldart.com.  This copyrighted image is used with her written permission.))  When you first look at the picture you see a picture of Jesus embracing a woman with a hug.  Such images are common in modern Christian art which tends towards abstract images of Christ’s love.  However, this painting is not like most of those.  It is very concrete.  It does not leave you wondering where it is that Jesus embraces you.  On the left of the painting, the priest’s hand extends to place the host into the mouth of the one being embraced.  It is at the rail that Jesus comes to show us his love.  It is there that we are kissed by Christ.

Although these images are separated by their style and several centuries, they are joined together by a truth as old as the first Maundy Thursday.  If you wish to be blessed by the ruling Christ, go to the rail.  if you wish to kissed by the Christ who loves you, go to the rail.  If you desire to be with God, go to the rail.  There is God.  There is Jesus in His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins.