Canonical Imagination, COVID-19, and Communion: Illumination from Isaiah’s Banquet and Purim in Esther

Abstract

Theological interpretation offers a matrix within which theology, ecclesial realities, Scripture, and contemporary life can intersect. This article foregrounds how the era of COVID-19 is an occasion when the church should accentuate a tenet central in Communion: victory over death. As a work of canonical imagination, we draw upon two Old Testament feasts that celebrate victory over death—Isaiah’s eschatological banquet (25:6–8) and Purim in Esth 9—to further infuse our theological reflection on the Eucharist with the theme of victory over death during the times of COVID-19. Isaiah 25:6–8 underscores how the eschatological feast to which Communion points will be an occasion where death is annihilated. Purim illuminates how the Eucharist is an occasion for celebrating the passing of a death sentence and for forging bonds between the displaced.