Corpus Christi

              Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

                  A cycle

 

      

After the completion of the Easter season, we are presented with three great feast days, all designed to follow up and reinforce the great message of Easter. Two weeks ago we celebrated the feast of Pentecost commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and on us. Last week we celebrated the feast of the Holy Trinity which brought to mind the ways in which God works in our world. Today we celebrate the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, formerly the feast of Corpus Christi, which celebrates our intimate relationship with Jesus, Himself. 

 

Today’s first reading takes us back to the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert after their escape from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. Moses reminds them of how the Lord has sustained them on their long journey. They had been fed with manna, a new and miraculous food unknown to them and their fathers. This had been done in order to show them that,

 

      Not by bread alone does one live,

      But by every word that comes forth

      From the mouth of the Lord.

 

In the beginning of the John’s gospel Jesus, himself, is called the Word of God. Today’s gospel from the sixth chapter of that gospel contains the hardest, perhaps the most difficult, words that Jesus ever uttered. They were so difficult that not only did they strike consternation among His Jewish hearers, but they also caused some of His disciples to leave Him. He said.

 

      I am the living bread that came down from heaven;

      Whoever eats this bread will live forever;

      And the bread that I will give

      Is my flesh for the life of the world.

 

To make his point clear He repeats it over and over.

 

      Amen, amen, I say to you,

      Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood,

      You do not have life within you.

 

This was especially shocking and disgusting to the Jews because of their traditional abhorrence to eating even the blood of animals. These words remain a stumbling block today to many who cannot accept them as literally true. What are we to make of them? How do we eat His flesh and drink His blood?

 

Of course, Catholics have always believed the answer is in the Holy Eucharist. At the Last Supper, Jesus took bread into His hands, broke it, and gave it to them to eat saying that it was His Body. He also took the cup of wine and told them to drink it for it was His Blood. No Pope or theologian made this up. We get it from Jesus Himself. We live by the Word of God; Jesus is the Word of God: and “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my Blood remains in Me and I in him.”

 

What could the Apostles have been thinking when they saw Jesus take the bread, offer thanks, break it, and then say, "This is my body that is for you?" How could the bread be His Body? Or what about, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." How could the wine be His Blood? We know that they believed it because He said it and because He would raise His Body from the dead only three days later. We also know that the first Christian communities also believed it, and from the beginning repeated the Lord's words whenever they gathered together "in remembrance of Him."

 

Since the beginnings of Christianity theologians have tried to come to a better understanding of what our Lord meant. In the Middle Ages they came up with an explanation that is as good as any that has been offered since. Guided by the rediscovery of the works of ancient Greek scientists and philosophers, theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas developed the concept of "transubstantiation."

 

Like most scientific words "transubstantiation" is a long word made up of different parts in order to give greater clarity and precision. But if we break the word down into its parts, we will get a better idea of what it means. First, let's deal with the prefix, "tran." It means going from one thing to another, like in transport or transmit. The suffix, "ation", at the end of the word means a process or action, like in transportation. So if we get rid of the prefix and suffix, we're left with the root or core of the word: "substance." Now "sub" means under and "stance" comes from the Latin verb, "stare" which means, "to stand." 

 

When we deal with substance we're dealing with that which stands under a thing, it's real core, what it is. So "transubstantiation" means that the bread and wine although they still look, and feel, and taste like bread and wine, have become something else. It's something like when we advance through the different stages of life, from infancy to old age. Although our bodies change, aren't we always the same person?

 

However, transubstantiation is an attempt to explain a mystery. It is not the mystery itself. Like the early Christians we believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist because our Lord said so at the first Eucharist. What we do today at each Mass is what the first Christians did from the very beginning. As St. Paul said in today’s second reading,

 

      The cup of blessing that we bless,

      Is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?

      The bread that we break,

      Is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

###

Reading 1. Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14b-16a

Reading II. 1 Corinthians 10: 16-17

Gospel. John 6: 51-59 (the living bread).

Road to Emmaus

                  3rd Sunday of Easter

                  A cycle

 

 

In the Sundays after Easter the readings usually give us testimony or witness to the Resurrection of the Lord. Last Sunday, for example, we had the touching account of doubting Thomas. Remember our Lord's words to Thomas, "do not be unbelieving, but believe." These words were addressed not only to Thomas but to all of us. Today's readings are also addressed to us.

 

The scriptures are the Word of God. As such they are addressed to every generation not just to those living 2000 years ago. So when as in today's first reading Peter stands up in front of a congregation much like ours, we should consider that he is speaking to us. When he says, "You who are Jews,"... "You who are Israelites, hear these words," he means us. 

 

In his oration Peter  gives witness to the life, death and Resurrection of the Lord. 

 

Peter says about Jesus,

 

      This man...you killed, using lawless men to crucify Him.

 

At the famous church Council of Trent, held over 400 years ago, the Church fathers refused to blame the Jews for the death of Christ. They said that inasmuch as Christ died for all men's sins, then all of us are responsible for His death. This position was reiterated at the Second Vatican Council. 

 

He died for all of us and He was raised from the dead for all of us. Peter then quotes the great Jewish King David as foretelling the resurrection of Jesus. Now Peter was no scripture scholar or learned rabbi. Perhaps he got this reference to David from the disciples who met the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

 

Some of us must remember that old series of movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope--with titles like "The Road to Morocco" and "The Road to Zanzibar." In each movie the two traveled, usually by accident, to some exotic locale where their comic adventures took place. Well, the road to Emmaus is a journey to the most exotic of all locations and it is a journey that all of us must take. 

 

Today's gospel account is so familiar that sometimes it is easy to overlook what is really going on. As two of the disciples were walking along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, Jesus falls in with them but St. Luke tells us that "their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him."  They take him for a stranger. When He asks them what they had been discussing, they tell Him of the events since the Crucifixion and how some of the women had seen an angel who gave them the incredible news that Jesus was alive. The news astonished them and they found it difficult to believe.

 

The stranger scolds them,

 

      Oh, how foolish you are! 

      How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke.

 

Scholars tell us that what follows is like a Mass or liturgy. Jesus reminds them of the scriptures which has referred to the Messiah beginning with Moses and continuing down through the prophets. As they approach Emmaus, the disciples ask the stranger to stay with them. He accepts and they sit down to share a meal. He then offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving or eucharist in the same way that He does at every Mass.

 

      he took bread, said the blessing,

      broke it, and gave it to them.

 

Finally, in the breaking of the bread they recognized Him. At every Mass we hear the Scriptures read. They tell us not only of the predictions of a Messiah, but of the actual words and deeds of the Messiah. Then after the readings we join Him at the altar table and He comes to us and we come to Him in the breaking of the bread.

 

In today's second reading St. Peter again speaks and reminds us of our journey. He says,

 

      conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning...

 

Peter uses a strange expression here. He says that we were "ransomed." Today we think of ransom as a payment made to free someone from kidnappers. In the ancient world slavery was much more common than it is today. Prisoners taken in battle or piracy were sold into slavery. Only if family or friends could raise enough money could the captive be bought back out of slavery. Obviously, if someone came up with the ransom to free you, you would be eternally grateful to that person. Moreover, once freed you would never want to return to slavery. 

 

Isn't it obvious from reading the newspapers or watching TV that so many of us are enslaved to one harmful addiction or another. Has Easter made any real difference in our conduct or relationships? Now we are halfway through the Easter season. In the weeks to come we can discover the road to happiness. Our journey to Emmaus can begin today. We have heard the Scriptures. Now in a few minutes we will have the opportunity to recognize Him in the breaking of the bread.

 

###

Reading 1. Acts of the Apostles 2: 14, 22-33

Reading II. 1 Peter 1: 17-21

Gospel. Luke 24: 13-35 (road to Emmaus.)

Corpus Christi

                  Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

                  C cycle

 

The feast of the Body and Blood of Christ used to be called the feast of Corpus Christi, from the Latin words which literally mean the Body of Christ. The feast commemorates not just the Body of Christ but also the fact that it was given up or sacrificed for us. That's probably why each of the Mass readings features a priest who makes an offering to God. 

 

The first reading goes back to the first book of the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis, where the mysterious priest-king, Melchizedek, offers up bread and wine to "God Most High." Although little else is known about Melchizedek, the early Fathers of the Church  viewed him as a forerunner of Christ as both priest and king. At Mass if the priest uses the first Eucharistic prayer, he will compare our Eucharistic sacrifice with Melchizedek's.

 

The gospel is St. Luke's account of the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes. This miracle, where Jesus provided food for the 5000, has also always been viewed as a precursor of the Eucharistic sacrifice. Like many of the miracles of Jesus this one follows a standard format. Jesus is busy at his work of teaching and healing when a problem--a hungry crowd--is brought to his attention. At first He doesn't see what it has to do with Him, and tells his disciples to take care of it themselves. "Give them some food yourselves." When they confess their own inability, He takes over. 

 

      Then taking the five loaves and two fish,

      and looking up to heaven,

      he said the blessing over them, broke them,

      and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

 

St. Luke concludes that "they all ate and were satisfied," and that plenty was left over.

 

Despite the fact that this miracle is the only one to appear in all four gospels, it is one of the most difficult for many people to accept. Today it is fashionable to offer a purely natural or sociological explanation. Some think that people were shamed by the selfless sharing of Jesus, and proceeded to take food which they had hidden about their persons and share it with their neighbors. 

 

That's one theory but I prefer to think that the God who is responsible for every grain of wheat that grows on the earth, and for every fish that swims in the sea, could feed 5000 people. Right after this miracle St. Mark tells us that Jesus saved His disciples from drowning when he calmed the storm at sea. St. Mark relates this incident to the miracle of the loaves. He says that the disciples in the boat "were utterly beside themselves with astonishment, for they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was blinded."

 

Many people also find it hard today to believe that the Body and Blood of Jesus are offered in the Sacrifice of the Mass. In the second reading from St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians we have what is probably the first written account of our Lord's offering of His own Body and Blood at the Last Supper. It's obvious that Paul didn't make these words up. He says that he heard them from the Lord Himself in much the same way that the other Apostles did at that Passover meal.

 

What could the Apostles have been thinking when they saw Jesus take the bread, offer thanks, break it, and then say, "This is my body that is for you?" How could the bread be His Body? Or what about, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." How could the wine be His Blood? We know that they believed it because He said it and because He would raise His Body from the dead only three days later. We also know that the first Christian communities also believed it and from the beginning repeated the Lord's words whenever they gathered together "in remembrance of Him."

 

Since the beginnings of Christianity theologians have tried to come to a better understanding of what our Lord meant. In the Middle Ages they came up with an explanation that is as good as any that has been offered since. Guided by the rediscovery of the works of ancient Greek scientists and philosophers, theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas developed the concept of "transubstantiation."

 

Like most scientific words "transubstantiation" is a long word made up of different parts in order to give greater clarity and precision. But if we break the word down into its parts, we will get a better idea of what it means. First, let's deal with the prefix, "tran." It means going from one thing to another, like in transport or transmit. The suffix, "ation", at the end of the word means a process or action, like in transportation. So if we get rid of the prefix and suffix, we're left with the root or core of the word, "substance." Now  "sub" means under and "stance" comes from the Latin verb, "stare" which means "to stand." 

 

When we deal with substance we're dealing with that which stands under a thing, it's real core, what it is. So "transubstantiation" means that the bread and wine although they still look, and feel, and taste like bread and wine, have become something else. It's something like when we advance through the different stages of life, from infancy to old age. Although our bodies change, aren't we always the same person?

 

However, transubstantiation is an attempt to explain a mystery. It is not the mystery itself. Like the early Christians we believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist because our Lord said so at the first Eucharist.

 

###

Reading 1. Genesis 14: 18-20

Reading II. 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26

Gospel. Luke 9: 11b-17 (Loaves and Fishes).  

Wisdom

                       20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                      B cycle

 

       

Wisdom is not intelligence, or book learning. We all know that sometimes the smartest people are not necessarily wise. Indeed, people with no learning at all can often be very wise. Wisdom is the virtue that helps us distinguish right from wrong in any endeavor. It will also help us in making the most important decisions in our lives. You might also say that wisdom is the ability to make a decision.

 

In making decisions it is usually good to turn to others for advice. Wisdom often means looking outside of ourselves for guidance. Today we regularly turn to doctors, lawyers, and financial advisors for advice in matters of their expertise. It would be foolish to ignore their advice or suggestions.

 

In today’s first reading we hear that Wisdom’s banquet is available to all. To eat at that banquet means that we will be filled with understanding, the opposite of foolishness. 

 

Forsake foolishness that you may live;

Advance in the way of understanding.

 

In today’s gospel we continue the famous discourse on the Bread of Life from the sixth book of John's gospel. In today’s passage the words of Jesus were regarded as foolish by many of his hearers. Jesus had said,

 

I am the living bread that came down from heaven,

Whoever eats this bread will live forever;

And the bread that I will give

Is my flesh for the life of the world.

 

Today many still find these words hard to believe. Nevertheless, at the Last Supper Jesus said a prayer, broke the bread, and offered it and the wine to his disciples and told them that the bread and wine were his body and blood. He also washed their feet as a sign that they must dedicate themselves to serving one another. Finally, he told them to “do this in remembrance of Me.”

 

For almost two thousand years Christians have recognized the living bread, the body and blood of Jesus, in the Holy Eucharist that we celebrate at Mass. It is the central element in our faith. Even unbelievers realize it.  When they attack and persecute the Church, they inevitably attack the Mass and try to desecrate the Host. 

 

So, are we foolish to attend Mass every Sunday? Are there better things to do with the one hour it takes? Each of us will have to answer these questions in our own way. Would it be wiser to sleep in? Would it be wiser to read the Sunday comics? Would it be wiser to search the web headlines for the latest scandals and revelations of the rich and famous? Would it really be wise to add another hour of video gaming to our daily game routine?

 

Many of us have important things to do on Sunday? Family commitments make it necessary to attend to many duties that cannot be accomplished during our busy week. But everyone will admit that much of our day is involved in things that can only be called foolish. Are the innumerable texts we send and receive every day so important? Will they bring lasting happiness?

 

In every avenue of life, whether politics, business, sports or education, we all recognize that it is important to set priorities and do what is necessary to achieve our goals. 

 

In today’s second reading from the letter to the Ephesians St. Paul expressed what could be called the wisdom of the ages.

 

Watch carefully how you live,

Not as foolish persons but as wise,

Making the most of the opportunity,

Because the days are evil.

 

While ago I read that in a nearby town about 100 revelers were taken seriously ill after taking drugs spiked with some chemical. Fortunately,  none died but statistics tell us that drug overdose has become one of the leading causes of death in our very prosperous country.

 

We have so much to be thankful for in this country but that should not lead us to act foolishly and waste our time and effort on foolish things. In the Bible wisdom is represented not as an old man but as a  young woman full of life whose banquet is available to all. We just have to come to the table and eat.

 

###

Reading 1.  Proverbs 9: 1-6

Reading II. Ephesians 5: 15-20

Gospel. John 6: 51-58 (my flesh is true food).

Bread of Life

                   18^h Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  B cycle

 

      

Today’s gospel reading contains a statement of Jesus that has been difficult  to understand from His time to ours.

 

I am the bread of life;

Whoever comes to me will never hunger,

And who ever believes in me will never thirst.

 

As usual, today’s gospel passage is introduced by our first reading taken from the Old Testament. It is the famous story from the book of Exodus of the manna or food that fell from the skies to feed the hungry Israelites during their sojourn in the desert after their escape from Egypt. The Israelites had lost their faith in the Lord. The passage says that they grumbled and complained about their lack of food, and wished that they were back living in slavery in Egypt where at least their bellies were full. But the Lord fed them anyway, perhaps because at least one man, Moses, believed.

 

It seems to be he same way in today’s gospel passage from John. After Jesus had fed a hungry crowd with a few loaves and fishes, the crowd followed him across the Sea of Galilee to the city of Capernaum. Even though the crowd had been fed, it is clear that they found it hard to believe. Otherwise, why would they have asked him for a sign. 

 

What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?

 

The miraculous increase of the loaves and fishes was not enough and they reminded Him that their ancestors had eaten the manna in the desert. He then tells them that there is a bread from Heaven that gives life to the world. They implore him to give them that bread and then he utters the famous words. 

 

I am the bread of life;

Whoever comes to me will never hunger,

And who ever believes in me will never thirst.

 

 

It has always been difficult for people to accept these words. Even some of his disciples found it hard to accept and left Him. Down through the centuries it has also been hard to believe. Things came to a head five hundred years ago when some reformers, later called Protestants, could not believe, despite the words of Jesus in scriptural passages like today’s, that the bread and wine offered in the Eucharistic sacrifice could actually become the body and blood of Jesus. The words of Jesus could not be taken literally. They were just symbolic.

 

Abuses in the customs and practices of the church at the time of the Reformation even led reformers to complain that the church had departed from the original practices and beliefs of the earliest Christians. Reformers argued that they were not leaving the church but restoring it to its original purity.

 

Nevertheless, today, the more scholars have studied the early church, the more they have seen that from the beginning Christians took the words of Jesus in John’s gospel to mean what he said. Almost immediately after the Resurrection of Jesus they began to regularly share a Eucharistic meal together in the same way as He did at the Last Supper when He told them to “do this in remembrance of me.” The earliest Christians believed that Jesus was the bread of life, and that they ate this bread when they shared the Eucharistic meal.

 

In today’s world it is just as hard to believe as ever.

 

However, what does it mean to believe? How do we know we believe? Over and over, Jesus told us that belief is not what we think or say, but belief is shown in what we do. St. Paul was one of those early Christians, and he knew that Christian belief is shown in what we are and in what we do. In today’s reading he told the Ephesians to “put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth. 

 

All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling

must be removed from you, along with all malice,

and be kind to one another, compassionate,

forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

 

The early Christians understood that you could not say you loved someone if you treated them badly. If they did harm to their loved ones or to their neighbor, they knew that they must seek forgiveness and repair the damage.  

 

###

Reading 1.  Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15

Reading II. Ephesians 4: 17, 20-24

Gospel. John 6: 24-35 (the bread of life)

Loaves and Fishes

Mosaic in front of Altar
Church of the Loaves and Fishes
Capernaum near Sea of Galile

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's first reading from the Book of Kings tells the story of how the prophet Elisha fed a hundred people with just twenty barley loaves and some fresh grain. It is in today's readings because it obviously introduces the feeding of five thousand people by Jesus that is recounted in today's gospel. 

We notice that Elisha's servant questioned how they could feed so many with so little but that the prophet insisted that he distribute what food they had. Just as in the gospel after all had eaten, there was still food left over. Finally, Elisha took no credit for himself. He said that he was just following the instructions of the Lord.

In today's gospel we have St. John's account of the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes where instead of 100, Jesus fed 5000 people with only five loaves and two fish. Despite the fact that this miracle is the only one to appear in all four gospels, it is one of the most difficult for many people to accept. Today it is fashionable to offer a purely natural or sociological explanation. Some think that people were shamed by the selfless sharing of Jesus, and proceeded to take food which they had hidden about their persons and share it with their neighbors.

That's one theory but I prefer to think that the God who is responsible for every grain of wheat that grows on the earth, and for every fish that swims in the sea, could feed 5000 people. Right after this miracle we read in St. Mark's gospel that Jesus saved His disciples from drowning when he calmed the storm at sea. St. Mark relates this incident to the miracle of the loaves. He says that the disciples in the boat "were utterly beside themselves with astonishment, for they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was blinded."

 Like many of the miracles of Jesus the loaves and fishes follows a standard format. Jesus is busy at his work of teaching and healing when a problem--a hungry crowd--comes to his attention. He asks Philip where can they find enough food to feed the multitude. Like Elisha's servant, Philip expresses doubt. He explains that even if they could find the food, the cost would be beyond their means. At this point Andrew, Peter's brother, chimes in and says that a boy has five barley loaves and two fish. Jesus then performed a kind of liturgy that should remind us of what happens at every Mass.

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted

When all the five thousand had eaten their fill, there was enough left over to fill five wicker baskets.


When Jesus performed a physical miracle like this, we can usually be sure that it had a spiritual dimension. Remember how after he had forgiven the sins of a paralyzed man, he healed his paralysis as a sign he could also forgive his spiritual malady. This miracle, where Jesus provided food for the 5000, has also always been viewed as a precursor of the Eucharistic sacrifice. Although many people in the world today still are hungry, many more seem to duffer from a real spiritual hunger.

This miracle, where Jesus provided food for the 5000, has also always been viewed as a precursor of the Eucharistic sacrifice. Many people find it hard today to believe that the Body and Blood of Jesus are offered in the Sacrifice of the Mass. Perhaps this lack of belief is one of the things that has led to so much of the spiritual hunger in our world. 

The Apostles must have been reminded of the loaves and fishes at the Last Supper when they saw Jesus take the bread, offer thanks, break it, and then say, "This is my body that is for you?" How could the bread be His Body? Or what about, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." How could the wine be His Blood? We know that they believed it because He said it and because He would raise His Body from the dead only three days later. We also know that the first Christian communities also believed it and from the beginning repeated the Lord's words whenever they gathered together "in remembrance of Him."

In today's second reading from the letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul calls for unity in that community of new Christians. He says that there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. No where is this unity seen more than when we all join together to receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord during the sacrifice of the Mass. It is there that He feeds us in the same way that he did the 5000 on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

###

Reading 1. 2 Kings 4: 42-44
Reading II. Ephesians 4: 1-6

Gospel. John 6: 1-15 (Loaves and Fishes). 

Corpus Christi

                   Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

                  B cycle

 

 

      

After the completion of the Easter season, we are presented with three great feast days, all designed to follow up and reinforce the great message of Easter. Two weeks ago we celebrated the feast of Pentecost commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. Last week we celebrated the feast of the Holy Trinity which brought to mind the ways in which God works in our world. Today we celebrate the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, formally called the feast of Corpus Christi, which celebrates our intimate relationship  with Jesus, Himself. 

 

Today’s first reading takes us back to the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert after their escape from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. To many of us today this particular passage might sound offensive. Why was it necessary to kill those poor animals for sacrifice? Why was if necessary to sprinkle the blood of animals all over the altar and on the assembled congregation? 

 

Even though we love our animals today, the animals of the Jews were of much greater value and importance to them. The Jews of the Exodus were a tribe of wanderers whose very lives depended on their flocks. To sacriice some young bulls as they did in today’s reading was to give up a great deal. In effect, to sacrifice these animals was as close to sacrificing themselves as they could get. To give up something of such great value was to acknowledge that the covenant or agreement with God was of even greater importance.

 

It was only with the Last Supper that St. Mark describes in today’s Gospel, that the followers of Jesus, all of them Jews, first began to realize that they would no longer have to slaughter their animals and sprinkle their blood. Here are St. Mark’s words: 

 

      While they were eating,

      He took bread, said the blessing,

      Broke it, gave it to them, and said,

      “Take it, this is my body.”

      Then he took a cup, gave thanks and gave it to them,

      And they all drank from it.

      He said to them,

      “This is my blood of the covenant,

      which will be shed for many.”

 

Certainly, we know that the earliest Christians took these words literally. They realized that “the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes” were no longer necessary. The sacrifice of Christ on the Cross opened up the door for all of us. In today’s second reading from the letter to the Hebrews we heard the following words:

 

 

 

 

 

How much more will the blood of Christ,

Who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God,

Cleanse our consciences from the dead works

To worship the living God.

 

 

In this famous letter we are told that Jesus is the “mediator of a new covenant.” What does that mean? A mediator is someone who stands in the middle between two parties trying to bring them together. How does Jesus act as a mediator? On one occasion his disciples asked Him to “show us the way.” He replied “I am the way.” 

 

They didn’t understand and its hard for us to understand although he gave them and us a pretty good road map in his words and in his life. How many times did he have to tell us that He didn’t want our sacrifices, that His sacrifice which we celebrate every Sunday on the altar is sufficient. How many times did he heal people, feed them, comfort them and tell us to do likewise? The only sacrifice pleasing to the Father was that we love our neighbor as ourselves, and that whatever we do for the least of the brethren, we do for Him.

 

Since the beginnings of Christianity theologians have tried to come to a better understanding of what our Lord meant. In the Middle Ages they came up with an explanation that is as good as any that has been offered since. Guided by the rediscovery of the works of ancient Greek scientists and philosophers, theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas developed the concept of "transubstantiation."

 

Like most scientific words "transubstantiation" is a long word made up of different parts in order to give greater clarity and precision. But if we break the word down into its parts, we will get a better idea of what it means. First, let's deal with the prefix, "tran." It means going from one thing to another, like in transport or transmit. The suffix, "ation", at the end of the word means a process or action, like in transportation. So if we get rid of the prefix and suffix, we're left with the root or core of the word, "substance." Now  "sub" means under and "stance" comes from the Latin verb, "stare" which means, "to stand." 

 

When we deal with substance we're dealing with that which stands under a thing, it's real core, what it is. So "transubstantiation" means that the bread and wine although they still look, and feel, and taste like bread and wine, have become something else. It's something like when we advance through the different stages of life, from infancy to old age. Although our bodies change, aren't we always the same person?

 

However, transubstantiation is an attempt to explain a mystery. It is not the mystery itself. Like the early Christians we believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist because our Lord said so at the first Eucharist. What we do today at each Mass is what the first Christians did from the very beginning. As St. Paul once said

 

      The cup of blessing that we bless,

      Is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?

      The bread that we break,

      Is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

 

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Image Note: Stained Glass window, Assumption church, Fairfield, CT.

Reading 1. Exodus 24: 3-8

Reading II. Hebrews 9: 11-15

Gospel. Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26 (this is my body).

Loaves and Fishes

                  18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                  A cycle

 

The first reading each Sunday is usually from the Old Testament or Hebrew scriptures. Besides it’s own value, the first reading serves as an introduction to the Gospel reading. I think that the majority of these readings are taken from the Prophet Isaiah whose words, uttered more than six hundred years before the birth of Jesus, have always been thought to refer to the Messiah.

 

However, these words are not Isaiah’s words since he tells us that he is merely passing on the word of the Lord to us. In today’s reading the Lord invites all those who are thirsty to “come to the water;” and all who are poor to drink wine and milk “without paying and without cost;” and all who are hungry to “eat well,…and delight in rich fare.”

 

The Church uses this passage from Isaiah to introduce St. Matthew’s gospel account of the feeding of the 5000, a miracle that has always been regarded as pointing to the miracle of the Holy Eucharist. But before we get to the actual account of the “loaves and fishes” let’s look at the beginning of this gospel passage.

 

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist,

He withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.

 

We believe that Jesus was true God and true Man, but I think that we tend to overlook the actual humanity of Jesus. We might have reverence for His Sacred Heart but sometimes I think we read a gospel passage like this and think that Jesus had a heart of stone. There is no sign of grief or sorrow in Matthew’s account. He just tells us that Jesus went off by himself when he heard the awful news.  

 

Maybe the Evangelist wanted us to use our own imagination or experience to understand the actual emotional response of Jesus. My eye surgeon once told me that only 2% of the eye drops I have to put in my eye each day actually get through the defensive wall that protects our eyes. In the same way, I think that our souls have been made with a defensive wall that protects us from most of the horror and tragedy we hear about each day on the news. Otherwise, how could we calmly read about murders, wars, earthquakes, tsunamis, and famine and calmly go about our business each day? Once in a while, a public event like September 11 stops us dead in our tracks but it doesn’t take long for things to get back to normal unless we have been personally involved.

 

It is only when the bad news becomes personal that it can penetrate the outer defenses of our souls.  The death of a loved one especially if that person was young or in the prime of life is truly devastating. Sickness and suffering within our families can be overwhelming. I have heard it said that everyone in church is there for a reason. Despite our outward calm most of us have some hidden pain that we bring to the altar each Sunday. How can we deal with it? How did Jesus deal with the tragic news of the death of John the Baptist?

      

He had a human as well as a divine nature and so we see him act like many of us would do when faced with a great tragedy. He needed some time to Himself. But then, He got back to work. He saw the vast crowd and despite His own grief, “his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.”

 

Some people think that suffering and pain come from God. It is hard not to sympathize with those people who ask, “How could God have allowed this suffering to come to me?” The pain and suffering does not come from God, it comes from the world we live in. Much of it is even caused by our own efforts. But Jesus was a healer who never hurt anyone. He came to bring us happiness, not sorrow. His words and miracles provide a way for us to deal with the sorrows that this world provides. 

 

 Look at today’s account of the feeding of the hungry crowd. This miracle should remind us of the way we are fed in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Jesus took the little bit of food that they had and offered it up to his Father in heaven. He said a blessing and broke the loaves just as the priest does at Mass. Then he asked the Apostles to distribute the food to the assembly. They were all fed just as Isaiah had predicted. Despite his own personal grief Jesus took care of the needs of others. He expects us to do the same.

 

It is interesting to note that before the miracle Jesus had expected the Apostles themselves to provide for the hungry crowd. He said, “There is no need for them to go away, give them some food yourselves.” Is it in the Eucharist and in the care for others that we will find solace for our own pain? The love of God is the true food that Isaiah talks about, and it is given freely, not like the false or junk food that we accept today as a costly substitute.

 

In today’s second reading from the Letter to the Romans St. Paul says that no amount of tribulation can separate us from the love of Christ. Despite all of his own pain and suffering, he could write, 

 

What will separate us from the love of Christ?

Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?

 

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,…

Nor any other creature will be able to separate us

From the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Reading 1. I Isaiah 55: 1-3

Reading II. Romans 8:35, 37-39

Gospel. Matthew 14: 13-21 (Loaves and Fishes)

Happy Thanksgiving

 

The first Thanksgiving in America was celebrated in St. Augustine in Florida when a Spanish priest said the first Mass on the newly discovered continent. That would have been about a century before the Pilgrims landed.

The word eucharist is a Greek word that means thanksgiving. Its root, from which our word charity is derived, literally means a gift of love, in particular a gift of divine love. The earliest Fathers of the Church used the word Eucharist to describe the Sacrifice of the Mass. Holy Eucharist means Holy Thanksgiving.

The Mass consists of two parts: a liturgy of the Word, and a Liturgy of the Eucharist. The second part begins with the Offertory. Members of the congregation, representing the entire assembly, bring up the gifts of bread and wine that will be offered to the Father. What is the purpose of the procession? What is the nature of these gifts?

It is a natural thing for people who have been blessed or gifted to want to give back. As the Psalmist says, “What return shall I make to the Lord for all that He has given me?” Here we have the basic reason for attendance at Mass. We come not to get something out of it but to try to give thanks to the Lord for all that we have been given.

What can we give back? A few dollars? A tenth of all we earn? What do a few coins or pieces of paper matter to the Creator who has given us every good thing? The only thing we have of any real value is our immortal soul. Again the Psalmist says, “a soul contrite and humble You will not spurn.” Ultimately, the gift that we bring to the altar at the Offertory is the gift of our very selves, the promise that we will give our whole life in service to God and our neighbor.

After the Offertory procession the priest goes up to the altar and prays that the bread might become “the bread of life,” and that the wine might become “our spiritual drink.” Then he prays that our sacrifice “may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.”

Please note that it is “our” sacrifice. The priest acts as our agent, our representative, our ambassador in presenting our offering to the Father. Will the offering of ourselves be acceptable?

After the completion of the Offertory, the priest begins the Eucharistic or Thanksgiving prayer. He asks us to “lift up our hearts,” and says, Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. Thanksgiving is the theme of all that follows. In the Preface we pray: “Father, it is our duty and our salvation…to give you thanks through your beloved Son, Jesus Christ.”

Again, is our gift worthy? The priest understands his own unworthiness and introduces a new priest or ambassador. “We come to you Father, with praise and thanksgiving, through Jesus Christ your Son. Through Him we ask you to accept and bless these gifts we offer you in sacrifice.” In other words, our gift, our sacrifice, the gift of our very selves must be merged with the gift of our Lord, with His own Sacrifice on the Cross.

We then proceed to the Consecration of the Mass. The words of consecration in our missals were being used by the earliest Christians even before they were written down by the four Evangelists and St. Paul. Our Lord had said to “do this in remembrance of Me.” When we hear the words of Consecration we are taken back to that first Eucharist which our Lord celebrated on Holy Thursday. When the priest pronounces the words of Consecration not only does the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, the celebrant becomes Christ. We believe that at every Mass it is our Lord himself who is he celebrant, our agent, our ambassador.

If we believe this, we have been given a great gift, the gift of Faith. At the end of the Eucharistic prayer we join in the acclamation or “Great amen.” Through Him, with Him, in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father.”

Now we can proceed to Communion. We have brought our gifts to the altar. The sacrifice has been offered and accepted and now we publicly prepare to receive back more than we could ever give—the Body and Blood of Christ. To prepare ourselves we first recite the Lord’s Prayer to ask for forgiveness and healing. In the Rite of Peace we offer the Kiss of Peace to our neighbors as a sign of reconciliation.

Just before the reception of Communion we say two more prayers asking for peace and forgiveness. First, the ancient Agnus Dei or Lamb of God, and then we paraphrase the words of the Roman centurion: “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.” Now we are ready to receive the body and Blood of the Lord.

After Communion there is very little left to be done in church. Our Eucharist or thanksgiving has been accepted. Our gifts have been returned to us a hundredfold. The priest dismisses us telling us to “Go in the peace of Christ to love and serve the Lord.” We have been transformed and now we are dismissed to go and transform the little corner of the world in which we live.

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The Bread of Life

                      19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

                      B cycle

 

       

The gospel readings for this year, the B cycle of readings, are usually taken from the Gospel of Mark. But here in the midst of summer we are presented on five successive Sundays with a series of readings from the famous sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. It is famous because of its exposition of the theme of the Eucharist as the bread of life, the bread that will never fail, and will give eternal life.

 

We recall that two weeks ago the sixth chapter of John began with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes whereby Jesus fed a large crowd with only a few loaves of bread and a couple of small fish. Immediately after that Jesus calmed a storm on the Sea of Galilee and after the Apostles expressed amazement, he told them that they did not understand the significance of the multiplication of the loaves.

 

Last week Jesus reminded the crowd that followed him not to look for signs or miracles but “to work for food that endures for eternal life which the Son of Man will give you.” 

 

Today’s readings take up the theme of the food from heaven that will give life. It is clear that the food given to the starving prophet Elijah in today’s first reading was not ordinary food. A hearth cake and a jug of water would not be sufficient to revive a dying man and enable him to embark on a journey of 40 days and nights.

 

Today we are in the midst of John’s great Eucharistic discourse and we hear the famous words of Jesus.

 

Amen, amen, I say to you,

whoever believes has eternal life.

I am the bread of life.

Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert but they died,

This is the bread that comes down from heaven

so that one may eat it and not die.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven;

whoever eats this bread will live forever;

and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

 

It has always been difficult for people to accept these words. Even some of his disciples found it hard to accept and left Him. Down through the centuries it has also been hard to believe. Things came to a head five hundred years ago when some, although not all, Protestant reformers could not believe, despite the words of Jesus in scriptural passages like today’s, that the bread and wine offered in the Eucharistic sacrifice could actually become the body and blood of Jesus. The words of Jesus could not be taken literally. They were just symbolic.

 

Abuses in the customs and practices of the church at the time of the Reformation even led reformers to complain that the church had departed from the original practices and beliefs of the earliest Christians. Reformers argued that they were not leaving the church but restoring it to its original purity.

 

Nevertheless, in the past five hundred years, the more scholars have studied the early church, the more they have seen that from the beginning Christians took the words of Jesus in John’s gospel to mean what he said. Almost immediately after the Resurrection of Jesus they began to regularly share a Eucharistic meal together in the same way as He did at the Last Supper when He told them to “do this in remembrance of me.” The earliest Christians believed that Jesus was the bread of life, and that they ate this bread when they shared the Eucharistic meal.

 

However, what does it mean to believe? How do we know we believe? St. Paul was one of those early Christians. Christian belief is shown in action. 

 

All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling

must be removed from you, along with all malice,

and be kind to one another, compassionate,

forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

 

The early Christians understood that you could not say you loved someone if you treated them badly. If they did harm their loved ones or their neighbor, they knew that they must repair the damage.

 

During Roman times pagans came to see that Christians behaved differently than others. Often when plague or disease struck Roman cities, pagan priests and officials fled the cities for fear of contamination but Christians stayed behind to care for not only their co-believers but also for their pagan neighbors.

 

It is not hard to find this caring among believers all over the world today. Despite scorn, ridicule, and outright persecution, Christians continue to act on their beliefs. I recall one teacher at an inner-city Catholic school whose students were mostly non-Catholic, who said “we teach them not because they are Catholic, but because we are Catholic.”

 

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Reading 1.  1 Kings 19: 4-8

Reading II. Ephesians 4: 30-5:2

Gospel. John 6: 41-51 (the bread of life)