For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1Corinthians 11: 23-26)

In many churches these words are repeated at each celebration of the Lord's Supper. For those at Corinth this was already a sort of religious ritual which they referred to as eukharistia or thanksgiving.

The Greek word suggests giving thanks for having been shown favor. It was perceived that God has shown favor to us by extending eu (excellent) kharis (gift, generosity, beauty, light) through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

In ancient Greek kharis was was understood as the outcome of reciprocal pleasure. According to Bonnie MacLachlan the ancient Greeks perceived that kharis "transforms the ugly into the beautiful, the dying into the living."

Ms. MacLachlan's book the Age of Grace is available at Amazon.com.