From The American Bible Society:
June 26, 2011
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE
John 6.51-58 (Good News Translation)
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If you eat this bread, you will live forever. The bread that I will give you is my flesh, which I give so that the world may live. ” 52 This started an angry argument among them. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked. 53 Jesus said to them, “I am telling you the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to life on the last day. 55 For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. 57 The living Father sent me, and because of him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This, then, is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread that your ancestors ate, but then later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever. ”
Other Readings: Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16; Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17;
Lectio
What we celebrate today has to a large extent the same content as the ‘Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper’ on Holy Thursday, the Eucharist. What is the point in having two different holy days on the same subject? The fact is, we are approaching the same reality from two different viewpoints. On Holy Thursday, the liturgy fixed its attention on the historical institution of the sacrament, and that is the reason for its name: ‘the Lord’s Supper’. Today, however, we celebrate the presence of the Lord in the bread and wine we use in the mass, which are sacramentally transformed into the body and blood of the Lord. The origin of this holiday goes back to 1246, and it is celebrated mainly in the Roman Catholic Church, but also in the Anglican Communion and some other Christian denominations. Its aim is to underline that, by means of the Eucharistic celebration, Jesus is fulfilling his promise: “I will be with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). And that presence is not only a pious remembrance, a romantic feeling of having the Lord in our spirit, but a real presence in the Christian community which comes together to celebrate the memorial of his death and resurrection The readings underline the material, physical reality of God’s presence in the midst of his people: manna, water, wine and bread, they are all signs of God’s benevolence and care for the people of Israel in the Old Testament and for the Church, his new people. When the Israelites were wandering in the desert on their way to the Promised Land, hunger and thirst were some of the dangers and troubles they had to suffer. On several occasions, the Lord assisted them in different ways: he fed them with quails and manna (Exodus 16), made water spring from a rock to quench their thirst (Exodus 17), and he finally gave them the land that “produced wheat and barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and honey” (Deuteronomy 8). Even so, today’s text underlines that believers should depend not only on bread, “but on everything that the Lord says.” Today’s Gospel provides us with another sign of God’s generosity, but it takes a deeper spiritual dimension. After feeding the crowd with bread and fish in a miraculous way, Jesus announces a different type of food: his own body and blood, the source of life for the world. It is not just the physical life we get from food, but a new, eternal life that only he, the son of God, can give us as a divine gift. The fact of sharing in his body and blood goes beyond the almost cannibalistic idea that some of his listeners got. It means, first, that God has become a real man with flesh and blood, not an empty appearance of humanity. Besides, being incorporated into his body, through a rite of Eucharistic fraternity, means becoming a member of a new body, the body of Christ. That is the new dimension with which this holiday of Corpus Christi provides us as compared with that of Holy Thursday: Christ was present, not only in an historical moment in the past, but he is with us, here and now.
Meditatio
Think of your church attendance. Do you feel at home? If you do so, what makes you feel comfortable? The readings from the Bible? The music and hymns? The preaching? The silence you devote to your personal prayer? Which role does Jesus’ presence play in the celebration as such and in your relationship with him? Are you aware of his special presence in the communion we share?
Oratio
Pray for those who feel abandoned, that they may experience that the Lord is close to them. Pray for those who have stopped going to church, that they may recover their ‘taste’ for Jesus’ presence in worship, especially in the Eucharist, and that they may share again their prayers and communion with their community. Pray for the community you belong to, that the Eucharistic table around which we celebrate the Lord’s Supper may become a familiar space to share our faith and hope in an atmosphere of love. Pray for the whole Christian community, that the fact of sharing the Eucharistic bread may give us the strength and eagerness to share our daily bread with our brothers and sisters.
Contemplatio
On your way back home, or when you are doing your daily shopping, drop into any church or chapel you may happen to find. Sit in silence for a few minutes and thank Jesus for his presence and help.
Reflections written by Revd. Fr. Mariano Perrón Director of Inter-Religious Affairs Archdiocese of Madrid, Spain
© 2010 American Bible Society. All Rights Reserved.
June 26, 2011
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE
John 6.51-58 (Good News Translation)
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If you eat this bread, you will live forever. The bread that I will give you is my flesh, which I give so that the world may live. ” 52 This started an angry argument among them. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked. 53 Jesus said to them, “I am telling you the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to life on the last day. 55 For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. 57 The living Father sent me, and because of him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This, then, is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread that your ancestors ate, but then later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever. ”
Other Readings: Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16; Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17;
Lectio
What we celebrate today has to a large extent the same content as the ‘Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper’ on Holy Thursday, the Eucharist. What is the point in having two different holy days on the same subject? The fact is, we are approaching the same reality from two different viewpoints. On Holy Thursday, the liturgy fixed its attention on the historical institution of the sacrament, and that is the reason for its name: ‘the Lord’s Supper’. Today, however, we celebrate the presence of the Lord in the bread and wine we use in the mass, which are sacramentally transformed into the body and blood of the Lord. The origin of this holiday goes back to 1246, and it is celebrated mainly in the Roman Catholic Church, but also in the Anglican Communion and some other Christian denominations. Its aim is to underline that, by means of the Eucharistic celebration, Jesus is fulfilling his promise: “I will be with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). And that presence is not only a pious remembrance, a romantic feeling of having the Lord in our spirit, but a real presence in the Christian community which comes together to celebrate the memorial of his death and resurrection The readings underline the material, physical reality of God’s presence in the midst of his people: manna, water, wine and bread, they are all signs of God’s benevolence and care for the people of Israel in the Old Testament and for the Church, his new people. When the Israelites were wandering in the desert on their way to the Promised Land, hunger and thirst were some of the dangers and troubles they had to suffer. On several occasions, the Lord assisted them in different ways: he fed them with quails and manna (Exodus 16), made water spring from a rock to quench their thirst (Exodus 17), and he finally gave them the land that “produced wheat and barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and honey” (Deuteronomy 8). Even so, today’s text underlines that believers should depend not only on bread, “but on everything that the Lord says.” Today’s Gospel provides us with another sign of God’s generosity, but it takes a deeper spiritual dimension. After feeding the crowd with bread and fish in a miraculous way, Jesus announces a different type of food: his own body and blood, the source of life for the world. It is not just the physical life we get from food, but a new, eternal life that only he, the son of God, can give us as a divine gift. The fact of sharing in his body and blood goes beyond the almost cannibalistic idea that some of his listeners got. It means, first, that God has become a real man with flesh and blood, not an empty appearance of humanity. Besides, being incorporated into his body, through a rite of Eucharistic fraternity, means becoming a member of a new body, the body of Christ. That is the new dimension with which this holiday of Corpus Christi provides us as compared with that of Holy Thursday: Christ was present, not only in an historical moment in the past, but he is with us, here and now.
Meditatio
Think of your church attendance. Do you feel at home? If you do so, what makes you feel comfortable? The readings from the Bible? The music and hymns? The preaching? The silence you devote to your personal prayer? Which role does Jesus’ presence play in the celebration as such and in your relationship with him? Are you aware of his special presence in the communion we share?
Oratio
Pray for those who feel abandoned, that they may experience that the Lord is close to them. Pray for those who have stopped going to church, that they may recover their ‘taste’ for Jesus’ presence in worship, especially in the Eucharist, and that they may share again their prayers and communion with their community. Pray for the community you belong to, that the Eucharistic table around which we celebrate the Lord’s Supper may become a familiar space to share our faith and hope in an atmosphere of love. Pray for the whole Christian community, that the fact of sharing the Eucharistic bread may give us the strength and eagerness to share our daily bread with our brothers and sisters.
Contemplatio
On your way back home, or when you are doing your daily shopping, drop into any church or chapel you may happen to find. Sit in silence for a few minutes and thank Jesus for his presence and help.
Reflections written by Revd. Fr. Mariano Perrón Director of Inter-Religious Affairs Archdiocese of Madrid, Spain
© 2010 American Bible Society. All Rights Reserved.
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