The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Lectionary: 169
Reading I
In those days, Melchizedek, king of Salem,
brought out bread and wine,
and being a priest of God Most High,
he blessed Abram with these words:
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
the creator of heaven and earth;
and blessed
be God Most High,
who delivered your foes into your hand."
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Responsorial Psalm
R (4b) You are a priest for
ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The LORD said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand
till I make
your enemies your footstool."
R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion:
"Rule
in the midst of your enemies."
R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
"Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the
daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you."
R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent:
"You
are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."
R You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
Reading II
Brothers and sisters:
I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way also the cup, 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 death of the Lord until he comes.
Sequence
Lauda Sion
Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
Laud with hymns of exultation,
Christ, your
king and shepherd true:
Bring him all the praise you know,
He is more than you bestow.
Never can
you reach his due.
Special theme for glad thanksgiving
Is the quick’ning and the living
Bread today
before you set:
From his hands of old partaken,
As we know, by faith unshaken,
Where the
Twelve at supper met.
Full and clear ring out your chanting,
Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
From your
heart let praises burst:
For today the feast is holden,
When the institution olden
Of that
supper was rehearsed.
Here the new law’s new oblation,
By the new king’s revelation,
Ends the
form of ancient rite:
Now the new the old effaces,
Truth away the shadow chases,
Light
dispels the gloom of night.
What he did at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
His memorial
ne’er to cease:
And his rule for guidance taking,
Bread and wine we hallow, making
Thus our
sacrifice of peace.
This the truth each Christian learns,
Bread into his flesh he turns,
To his
precious blood the wine:
Sight has fail’d, nor thought conceives,
But a dauntless faith believes,
Resting on a
pow’r divine.
Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things to sense forbidden;
Signs, not
things are all we see:
Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
Yet in either wondrous token
Christ
entire we know to be.
Whoso of this food partakes,
Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
Christ is
whole to all that taste:
Thousands are, as one, receivers,
One, as thousands of believers,
Eats of him
who cannot waste.
Bad and good the feast are sharing,
Of what divers dooms preparing,
Endless
death, or endless life.
Life to these, to those damnation,
See how like participation
Is with
unlike issues rife.
When the sacrament is broken,
Doubt not, but believe ‘tis spoken,
That each
sever’d outward token
doth the
very whole contain.
Nought the precious gift divides,
Breaking but the sign betides
Jesus still
the same abides,
still
unbroken does remain.
The shorter form of the sequence begins here.
Lo! the angel’s food is given
To the pilgrim who has striven;
see the
children’s bread from heaven,
which on
dogs may not be spent.
Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
Isaac bound, a victim willing,
Paschal lamb,
its lifeblood spilling,
manna to the
fathers sent.
Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
Jesu, of your love befriend us,
You refresh
us, you defend us,
Your eternal
goodness send us
In the land of life to see.
You who all things can and know,
Who on earth such food bestow,
Grant us
with your saints, though lowest,
Where the
heav’nly feast you show,
Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of
God,
and he healed those who needed to be cured.
As the day was drawing to a close,
the Twelve approached him and said,
"Dismiss the crowd
so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms
and find lodging and provisions;
for we are in a deserted place here."
He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves."
They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have,
unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people."
Now the men there numbered about five thousand.
Then he said to his disciples,
"Have them sit down in groups of about fifty."
They did so and made them all sit down.
Then taking the five loaves and the 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.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And when the leftover fragments were picked up,
they filled twelve wicker baskets.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
Central to our faith and central to our lives should be the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of our Lord Savior Jesus Christ. Oftentimes, the most important things can be the things that are most taken for granted and overlooked as we become accustomed to their presence and their abundance. 71% of the the Earth’s surface is water. 78% of the human body is comprised of the same. We need water to survive and must consume it daily to remain healthy. A person cannot go without it for more than 3 days without suffering consequences including death. In comparison, we can survive over 30 days without any food intake. Even though this is the case, because of its accessibility, not much thought is given to its importance. Its resources are often squandered and overused with the expectation that it will always be there. There is a lack of appreciation and overall concern as it is wasted and not preserved. This can be said for many of our natural resources. There is an assumption that these things that we have will always be with us, so there little planning for the future.
It is the same with spiritual things and may even apply to a higher degree. Even though we live in the physical world, we do have a connection with the spiritual realm. How strong is that connection and how much we are aware of it depends completely on the individual. Unfortunately, because our five senses are designed, for the most part, to develop a connection to things that are of a physical nature, it becomes a lot easier to dismiss that which is spiritual. It becomes a real task to encounter Jesus Christ and enter into a relationship with Him. Jesus knows this and, through the work of miracles, He enforced the faith of those whom He interacted with. The things that He did were not only for the benefit of the individual, but also for the witnesses who would then pass these things onward to future generations without end. The most profound miracle can be seen in the Eucharist. Knowing that we would be challenged throughout our lives and knowing that we would be weak in matters of faith, He gave this to us to strengthen us spiritually and enter into a closer relationship with us spiritually, mentally, and physically.
The physical aspects of the Eucharist are obvious, consisting of bread and wine. What happens when the priest says the Prayer of Consecration are less pronounced. As it is written in the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
“The Eucharist is the very sacrifice of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus which he instituted to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until his return in glory. Thus he entrusted to his Church this memorial of his death and Resurrection. It is a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet, in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.”
We are receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ into our body and are transformed as a result. We are united with our Savior and become one with our God. It is an opportunity to experience His Divine Mercy, love, and presence in an incomparable way. A foreshadowing of this can be seen in the offering that the King of Salem gave to Abram after his victory over the four kings, an offering of bread and wine. He then blessed Abram. He was not only a king, but a priest and prophet whose lineage and history remains enshrouded in mystery, foreshadowing the coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of Israel. As the Letter to the Hebrews proclaims:
“This Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High”, “ met Abraham as he returned from his defeat of the kings”, “and blessed him.” And Abraham apportioned to him “a tenth of everything.” His name first means righteous king, and also was “king of Salem,” that is, king of peace. Without father, mother, or ancestry, without beginning of days or end of life, thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.”
This was an early revelation of Jesus Christ and that bread and wine is now witnessed through the Sacrificial Mass and the Eucharist.
The Apostle Paul further tells us that, as believers, we are obligated to celebrate the Eucharist and Jesus’ Sacrifice. He iterates that these instructions come Jesus and are being passed to all of us. Jesus Himself proclaims that the Eucharist is indeed His body and His blood. It is through it that His divinity is proclaimed. Because of what Jesus said and what Paul passed down to us, there can be no deviation from we are to do so as to live a fulfilling life with Jesus Christ at it center. What He gives us cannot be overcome by anything in this world. This is no mere ritual but a mystical experience and something that goes far beyond human comprehension. It is no wonder why the powers of darkness seek to undermine its influence by overwhelming us with the material aspects of this world and the temptations that they bring. We can also be led astray by crisis and our own self-will, thinking that we can overcome all obstacles and challenges without Jesus’ help. Yet, He is always here, right in front of us, offering His help and comfort completely in the Eucharist. It is our spiritual food which can give us strength, encouragement, and a life centered on the Christian Message, which also comes directly from Him. As Saint John Paul II wrote:
“1. The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. In a variety of ways she joyfully experiences the constant fulfilment of the promise: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20), but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this presence with unique intensity. Ever since Pentecost, when the Church, the People of the New Covenant, began her pilgrim journey towards her heavenly homeland, the Divine Sacrament has continued to mark the passing of her days, filling them with confident hope.”
We never have to be alone. We never have to be downtrodden. We never have to be hopeless. Through Christ and the Eucharist, we have the most powerful things: faith, hope, and love. All these and more are encompassed in the Blessed Sacrament. God’s gift to us. Take advantage of it and live the full experience of Him.
Deacon Tom
