13.06.2004 The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ - Year C
First Reading: Genesis 14, 18-20
Psalm 109
Second Reading: I Corinthians 11, 23-26 Gospel Reading: Luke 9, 11-17
At the end of the Easter period we once again contemplate the mystery of the
love of God that stays with us in a visible, palpable manner in the form of
the sacrament. In fact in every church the Body of Christ is kept, so that every
time a Christian enters he or she will have a concrete sign of his Presence.
Not only the readings, but also Holy Mass bring to our attention this Sacrament
which remains with us and accompanies us every day.
Today's preface teaches us to pray as follows: "in this great mystery you
nourish and sanctify your faithful so that the one faith may illumine and the
one love unite all humanity on earth. And we come to the Lord's Supper, that
the overflowing of your Spirit may transform us into the image of your glory".
We are nourished and sanctified by this mystery, the participation of the Holy
Eucharist.
We are nourished: our lives need nourishment that is not only food for our bodies,
but also as motivation to continue our commitment, food for our need for affection,
for the worries that afflict our minds. This is the food that Jesus gave to
the five thousand who followed him into a deserted area. He knew that man did
not have sufficient resources to continue following him, but had to be given
them. He gave them the bread of his love, of his prayers, of his faith in the
Father! That bread "nourished" the crowd who were able to stay with
him and receive his Word and his Spirit.
We are sanctified: by means of the sacrament the real, live Presence of our
Lord Jesus enters in us. He brings us into communion with the Father by means
of his Spirit and hence, we become divine reality, true saints.
We are nourished and sanctified for all men and women. Through us, having become
the abode of the Lord, his light may be spread afar and reach all whom we meet,
and the love of God which lives in us, thanks to Jesus, will attract many others
to him.
We come to the Lord's Supper with joy, therefore, to receive from Jesus himself
his Body and his Blood. We come with joy because our lives, besides being nourished
by him and united with him takes on new meaning: we become instruments of the
meeting of Jesus, our Saviour and redeemer, and other men and women in need
of his pardon and salvation. Nourished by the Body and the Blood of Jesus, we
become carriers of spiritual riches for which every person hungers and thirsts.
We are like the disciples who distributed the five loaves of bread and the two
fish to the five thousand. Those five thousand who ate Jesus' loaves became
a pacific community who were able to contemplate Jesus who raised his eyes full
of trust and love to the Father and to listen to his voice transmitting the
wisdom of God.
The Body and Blood of Jesus are his sacrifice: he offered himself for us, spilled
his blood, as prophesied by Isaiah for our iniquity. We celebrate this sacrifice,
therefore, with gratitude. Furthermore, each time we take the body of Christ,
we unite ourselves with this sacrifice and offer our bodies and our lives to
the Father that His will be done and His kingdom brought closer. This sacrifice
takes place by means of the signs of bread and wine, signs given us by Abraham.
The great patriarch of the people chosen by God as a blessing for all peoples,
was blessed by the offering of bread and wine by Melchisedek, God's High Priest!
Today Jesus offers us bread and wine. He is the new priest who makes of us an
alter for the victim which is he himself!
As mentioned, we will leave together, praying and singing in the streets, those
streets where we are involved in various services or where we rush and are distracted
by many things. We will accompany the sacramental sign of the Presence of Jesus:
showing our faith to the world. On other days we are not always able to manifest
our faith because of the worries that hide it; today we do a deed of justice.
Jesus is worthy to be seen as the food we are nourished with and the Master
we listen to: so that whoever appreciates our love and our hope, knows that
to have the serenity and peace and love that can be seen in our faces and in
our actions, they must turn to Jesus.