10/06/2007 - Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ - Year C
First Reading: Genesis 14,18-20 Psalm: 109
Second Reading: 1Corinthians 11;23-26 Gospel: Luke 9,11-17
If our faith is mature, it brings fruits, and these fruits are hope and love. Mature faith does not give us permission to be dejected; faith means to abandon oneself to the love of the Father; he gave us garanties that He will not abandon us. "The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want… Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side". This psalm expresses the hope that is the normal fruit of a simple and strong faith. Hope is realy the normal result of a strong faith. Our holiness gives us the serenity which is coming from the fact that we know, we are in the hands of the Lord, our Father. Faith and Hope go together, hand in hand; they fortify each other. Thanks our faith, we know that we shall never be abandoned by God and that in the long run God is turning everything to the good of his faithfull children.
In order to nourish our faith in Jesus Christ the Father gave us a food. Without
this food our will fall ill; our love will weaken and our hope begins to doubt;
our relationship with the brothers disappears.
In one sense this food is a true food; but it is not only food. The bread that
is broken in every celebration of the Eucharist is that food which nourishes
in us our spiritual life. In order to receive is a deep humility is requested.
The faith we have in God gives us security that this bread He gives us is the
support of our life, of our unity with the other brothers, of our going on,
on the way to eternity. This bread is so precious that God himself war thinking
of it since long before. He thought about it when He was calling Abraham, asking
him to began that long journey of faith which will go first to the people of
the Hebrews and then to all the nations. A priest of the Lord came to Abraham;
it was a mysterious priest. In Abraham's name this priest offered to God a mysterious
sacrifice: bread and wine. Until than, Abraham and the other people were accustomed
to offer animals; he, on the contrary offers the result of human hands and toils,
bread and wine. This offering God will than give back to humanity, but in a
more excellent form; that is they will be the body and blood of His son Jesus
Christ. This gift of the body and blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine
gives strength to go on, on the way of Lord; it will also change, transform
our whole life; giving us the grace to be children of God and to have a way
of life according to this childhood, to this God's love.
This mystery is beyond our egoistic capacities; but Jesus gives us this bread
as a sign of His love for us, and in order that the Church may be able to continue
to give it to the believers. In order to be worthy to eat His bread we have
to stay with the Lord Jesus until late; i.e. far from all the solicitations
and temptations calling us to go away. And we have to receive this bread through
the ministers of the Church, because in the hands of each one of the Twelve
Apostles is remained a basket of the remaining bread. And it is not important
if His ministers are like us sinners, if they are not perfect; we have to receive
this bread asking for it as a special gift coming from the Lord.
To-day we will give thanks to the Lord for this gift of His Holy Bread, thinking
about it even when we are walking through the streets of our city.
Blessed be you, Lord for the bread and wine that give us your own Son; His own
life. Blessed be you, Lord, who through this life gives us divine life and unity
with You and with one another!