Gezegend (Tafelgebed) = Blest be the One, 1979 - 1983

A Tableprayer of Thanksgiving The eucharistic tableprayers originated in a traditional Jewish evening meal, when family and often with friends gathered for the blessing of food and drink, and shared stories and songs about the events in their salvation history. This was a berakah - blessing, a ritual of thanksgiving. The mother of the house lit two evening candles, singing a prayer for peace over all gathered at table. The father took the first cup, said the blessing,and in silence passed it around for all to share. He broke and shared the bread in this manner. Blessings follow for each course. At the end of the meal, he blessed the final blessings, with intercessions for God's continuous presence, restoring the nation to glory. All share this cup.

At the Last Supper, Jesus celebrated a similar chaburah - friendship meal with his friends, but most likely not the more complex Seder ritual. After taking the cup, and likewise the bread, and singing berekah, he deviated from custom and spoke during the distribution, saying this is his body this is my blood. And this was how the strangers on the Road to Emmaus recognized him. But John's Gospel in chapter 6 differs from the Last Supper, with Jesus, feeding the crowd without any words of Institution. In the centuries which followed, the koinonia - community of new ways - likewise attached no such narrative to what they were doing. This is born out by the Didache - Teaching of the Apostles, a late 1st Century document of the text of what was said, sung, and done during a gathering for thanksgiving. An acclamatory form of memorial song had evolved, about Jesus’ gift to the koinonia and his offering to the Father. Then, after the early 4th Century Council of Nicea, the Third Person of the Trinity was added, as sanctifying the gifts and the gathering. A more crystalized anamnesis - remembering God's deeds in history and epiklesis - praying for God's continued presence in the Spirit evolved, and the element of story-telling faded. Inevitably, after Constantine's 4th Century mandate that a priestly caste be imposed, akin to the pagan Roman Court, the acclamatory dialogue nature of this song became a sacral monologue, the simple thanksgiving naarative overtaken by a theology of redemptive sacrifice, offered by a sacred person with an ontologically sacramental empowerment. Prio to this, each community had elected one of its own to lead.

In Blest Be The One, Oosterhuis preserves the Jewish style of blessing. His focus however is not on redemptive suffering but on the Risen Jesus being entangled within the human condition. It is a litany of simple gratitude for all people who make visible the Unseen One through their actions, expressive of who they are. This is where we meet the Living One, in the sugfferings and joys of one another from day-to-day. When they first composed this piece, it was a tableprayer with 7 verses. They shared it with Joseph Jungmann, author of The Mass Of The Roman Rite, who expressed great delight. But there was caveat. While rich in anamnesis, it was lacking in epiklesis, with was no counterbalance about empowerment by the Spirit. In response, Oosterhuis agreed to write additional verses, which then appeared as an appendix to the original setting, and published as a separate number in the Amsterdam Hymnal numbers 221 and 222.