Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)
Lectionary: 167
Lectionary: 167
Moses said to the
people:
"Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God,
has directed all your journeying in the desert,
so as to test you by affliction
and find out whether or not it was your intention
to keep his commandments.
He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,
and then fed you with manna,
a food unknown to you and your fathers,
in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.
"Do not forget the LORD, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
that place of slavery;
who guided you through the vast and terrible desert
with its saraph serpents and scorpions,
its parched and waterless ground;
who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock
and fed you in the desert with manna,
a food unknown to your fathers."
"Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God,
has directed all your journeying in the desert,
so as to test you by affliction
and find out whether or not it was your intention
to keep his commandments.
He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,
and then fed you with manna,
a food unknown to you and your fathers,
in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.
"Do not forget the LORD, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
that place of slavery;
who guided you through the vast and terrible desert
with its saraph serpents and scorpions,
its parched and waterless ground;
who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock
and fed you in the desert with manna,
a food unknown to your fathers."
Responsorial Psalm PS 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
R/ (12) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R/ Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R/ Alleluia.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R/ Alleluia.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R/ Alleluia.
or:
R/ Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R/ Alleluia.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R/ Alleluia.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R/ Alleluia.
Reading 21 COR 10:16-17
Brothers and
sisters:
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?
Because the loaf of bread is one,
we, though many, are one body,
for we all partake of the one loaf.
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?
Because the loaf of bread is one,
we, though many, are one body,
for we all partake of the one loaf.
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.
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.
Gospel JN 6:51-58
Jesus said to the
Jewish crowds:
"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."
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"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.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."
"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."
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"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.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."
Scripture Study
June 22, 2014 - Corpus Christi - The Body and Blood of Christ
FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 8: 2-3; 14-16. Moses said to the people:
"You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you these
forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know
what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not. And he
humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know,
nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live
by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth
of the Lord.
"And you shall remember the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna which your fathers did not know."
EXPLANATION: Deuteronomy as its Greek title signifies is a repetition in an abbreviated form of the law already given in the first four books of the Old Testament and also a brief resume of the historical events already narrated in these books. In the four verses read today the reference is to the "manna," the food God gave to his Chosen People during their forty years of wandering in the desert. This reference is made today because the manna has always been looked on as a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, the real heavenly food.
remember . . . years: The author of Deuteronomy is here a tempting to repeat a speech delivered by Moses to the Chosen People when they had reached Mount Moab on the eastern bank of the Jordan and were about to enter Canaan, "the Promised Land." He wanted them never to forget all God had done for them during the past forty years.
fed . . . manna: We have here a resume of what happened within a few weeks after God had liberated the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt (see Ex. 16). They ran out of food and grumbled against Moses and against God. God then rained around their camps each night a kind of bread, "fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground" (Ex. 16:15). When the people saw it they said: "What is this?", in Hebrew Man hu, and that is how this special food given them by God got its name.
not . . . alone: It was not the ordinary bread they had always eaten, yet it was as nourishing as any bread, which showed God could feed his people without the earthly materials which man normally used to feed himself.
word . . . Lord: The power of God had done this. He does not need human aid or earthly materials.
unmindfu; . . . God: Moses is now reminding them as they are about to enter the "promised land" where they would have all they needed, that they must not forget God's goodness to them in the past. He liberated them from the slavery of Egypt, he miraculously gave them water from the rocks (Ex. 17; Num. 20) and food from the skies.
a food . . . fathers: Hence its name "what is it?" They had never seen a similar kind of food before. According to Wisdom (16: 21) the manna "was blended to whatever flavor each one wished," hence our response at Benediction "omne delectamentum in se habentem."
APPLICATION: Abraham, the father and founder of the Chosen People, was told by God to leave his home and pagan surroundings in Mesopotamia and come to a land that he would give to his descendants. Abraham trusted God and came to that foreign land. He and his descendants suffered many hardships before God eventually gave them possession of the Promised Land. Among these sufferings and hardships was the slavery they underwent in Egypt for several generations, until finally God stepped in and liberated them.
Their journey from Egypt to Palestine, or Canaan as it was then called, led through the vast desert of Sinai, an expanse of wilderness without food or water---where they could have perished to a man if their good God had not provided for them. This he did by giving them a special food which fell around their encampments every evening---a food that has ever since been called "manna," expressing the wonderment of the Israelites when they first saw it.
This food, as well as water which burst forth from the rocks at the command of Moses, nourished and sustained them during their forty years' journeying in the desert until they eventually reached home---the land promised to them by God.
That this "manna," this miraculous food from the skies, was a symbol, a foreshadowing, of the more miraculous food from heaven which our divine Lord was to give to us to sustain and nourish us spiritually on our journey toward our eternal promised land, hardly needs emphasizing. Our Lord himself refers to the "manna" given by God to their ancestors in the desert but says that he will give them the true bread from heaven (Jn. 6: 31ff).
This promise he fulfilled on the night before he was crucified when he took bread, broke and gave it to his disciples, saying: "This is my body, which will be given for you" and taking the cup of wine he said: "This cup is the New Covenant in my blood which will be poured out for you" (Lk. 22. 19). God the Son took our human nature, came on earth, in order to make all men not only God's Chosen People, but God's chosen children. By becoming man he raised us to the status of sons of God, heirs to God's kingdom, heaven. To do this he suffered humiliations and torture at the hands of the men he had come to save, but through his death and resurrection he won for us the right to the eternal "promised land."
However, to reach our inheritance we have to journey through the desert of this life, a journey during which we need above all a spiritual nourishment to sustain us and strengthen us to persevere amidst the many difficulties and hindrances our human nature and this earthly world put in our way. Christ, because he was God, because he foresaw our weaknesses and our needs, and because "he loved us to the end," found a way of remaining with us to sustain us on our journey. He left us himself---under the form of food, bread and wine, to nourish us and help us to grow daily stronger in our spiritual, supernatural life and thus be able to reach the eternal home he has prepared for us.
God was surely good to the Israelites---he fed them miraculously in the desert and finally brought them into their "promised land." But how much more generously and more miraculously has he dealt with us? Our promised land is not some strip of earth on which we can enjoy a few years of comfort---it is an everlasting home of peace and joy---it is a sharing in the happiness of the Blessed Trinity. The nourishment he has miraculously provided for us on our journey is not some food to sustain our earthly life, but the body and blood of his divine Son which only he, God, could give us and which only he, a God of infinite love, could think of giving. That we can never thank him enough goes without saying, but we can and we must strive to appreciate this, his greatest of gifts, to his Church and thus to us, by always trying to make ourselves worthy to receive him with the greatest respect and devotion of which we are capable.
SECOND READING: 1 Cor. 10: 16-17. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
EXPLANATION: St. Paul has much to say about the Blessed Eucharist in this first Epistle to the Corinthians. In chapter 11 he corrects abuses that had crept in during the celebration of the Lord's Supper since he had left them. He repeats the account of the institution of the Blessed Eucharist at the Last Supper and the words of consecration which he gives are identical with those in Luke (22: 19-20) and agree in all essentials with those given in Matthew (26: 26-29) and Mark (14: 22-25). In the verses which precede and follow the two verses read today he has warned the Gentile converts to have no part in sacrifices offered to idols (still a common practice among the pagans of Corinth), for Christians take part in the real sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ and are therefore in communion with God. The sacrifices offered by the pagans are sacrifices offered to "demons who are not God. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, you cannot share at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons" (verses 20-21).
The cup . . . bless: He inverts the order and begins with the cup. The cup of blessing was the cup of consecrated wine which by the consecration had become the blood of Christ, as he explains later in 11: 24. Christ said that his blood was the new covenant, that is, the seal which ratified the election of his followers into the new Chosen People. God and Moses had ratified the making of the old covenant with the blood of animals (see Ex. 24: 1-8) thus electing the Israelites as the Chosen People of the Old Testament. The latter was but a shadow of the new covenant as the means of ratification proves.
participation . . . Christ: Communion under both species was the practice in the early Church. Those who drank of the consecrated cup received the blood of Christ.
break . . . bread: A loaf or loaves of bread broken up into small portions became the body of Christ by means of the words expressed over them; the words of consecration are given in 11:24. That what Christ did at the Last Supper was to be continued is clear from the express command he gave to his Apostles: "do this as a memorial of me" (ibid).
participation . . . body of Christ: When the Christians ate that consecrated bread they were eating the body of Christ. Neither Paul nor his Corinthian converts had any doubts regarding this fact.
because . . . body: All Christians are members of the mystical body of Christ. The participation in the Eucharist, the partaking in the one bread which had become Christ, proved and strengthened the cementing of all Christians into the unity of one body. Lack of true unity was one of the biggest faults of the Corinthian converts. Paul now tells them there can be no divisions, no disunity, among those who are united with Christ and in Christ by their participation in the one body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.
APPLICATION: The feast of Corpus Christi or the Body of Christ is a commemoration or calling to mind of that extraordinary act of love for us which our Divine Lord performed on the night before he died. Through his divine power he left to his Church, to his followers, the power to re-present again and again the sacrifice of his human nature which he was about to offer to the Father next day on the cross for the salvation and elevation of mankind.
As he could die only once in his being God he was able to do so (that natural body, he ordained) because this death of his could be repeated time and again under the form of the separation of his precious blood from his body, as happened on Calvary, by means of the separate acts of consecration of bread and wine performed by those to whom he gave this power. This is the meaning of the Eucharist as sacrifice.
It is as true a sacrifice as his death on the cross was, for so he willed it to be. In fact it is the same sacrifice, but under such another form as makes its repetition possible. As God he could do this, he said he was doing it and he gave a command to his Apostles (and through them to their successors) to continue doing it. The follower of Christ who believes he was what he claimed and proved himself to be, God in human nature, is left no room for doubt. Instead he ought to be full of wonder and admiration at the love and thoughtfulness of Christ who has left us a means of giving God infinite honor. We give him this by re-offering in the Eucharistic sacrifice his divine Son's sacrifice of his human life on the cross. Sacrifice was always an essential part of all religions. In the Old Testament God commanded the offerings of animals and fruits of the field. They had value insofar as God accepted them as a sign, a token, of the true sacrifice of infinite value to be offered later by his divine Son.
Our sacrifice of the Mass therefore is a sacrifice which gives infinite honor and glory to God and renews for us all the divine blessings won on calvary.
The Eucharist, the Body of Christ, is also a sacrament, in fact the sacrament, he left to the Church. Under the external signs of bread and wine which are a natural bodily nourishment, we are given to eat and drink the body and blood of Christ. They are really present because of the divine power of the consecration pronounced by the celebrant acting in Christ's name. This eucharistic food is for us our spiritual nourishment.
The receiving of Holy Communion, as it is called, is an essential sequence to the offering of Christ in the sacrifice of the Mass. He is present on our altars to re-offer his sacrifice of Calvary; his coming has the added purpose of nourishing us spiritually. When instituting the sacrifice he associated the sacrament with it, when he said of the consecrated bread: "take it and eat," and of the cup: "drink all of you from this." To partake of part of the sacrifices offered by pagans to their gods (and by the Jews to the true God) was looked on as a way of uniting the offerer with God. In the Mass all those present are the offerers, the celebrant alone has the power of consecration, but all are taking part in offering the sacrifice and should therefore take part in the eating of the sacrifice offered.
While the sacrifice of the Mass honors God of itself, our participation puts us in intimate union with God for we take within us Christ who is God. Thus we become the abode of the divine and the recipients of God's most abundant graces. This is what Holy Communion means---union with the holy of holies, intimate union with God.
GOSPEL: John 6:51-58. Jesus said to the Jews, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."
EXPLANATION: Today's lesson from St. John's gospel is taken from a discourse in which Jesus foretold that he would give his "flesh," his body and blood, to give true life to all who would accept him. The previous day he had worked the "miracle of the loaves": he had fed 5,000 men (the number of women and children not included) with five barley loaves. Because of this, huge crowds followed him to Capernaum, some undoubtedly for more free bread, some because of this astounding miracle. He took this occasion to give a long discourse on the "bread of life"---the bread that would give eternal life, and not merely satisfy bodily hunger.
While in the first part of this discourse, verses 26-50, Jesus most likely was speaking of faith in him who had come down from heaven, from the Father, as a necessity for all those who wanted real, eternal life, the section read today seems to speak of Christ as the "bread of life" in the strict Eucharistic sense. Some authors think that this section belongs to the discourse at the Last Supper during which the institution of the Eucharist took place, John does not mention the institution because it was already so universally known and accepted when he wrote his gospel (between 90 and 100 A.D.). He therefore placed these words of Christ in the discourse at Capernaum. It would seem just as likely that John did not describe the institution of the Eucharist at all because he gave in this section Christ's very clear and definite forecast of its institution, and his readers knew Christ's promise had been fulfilled.
Leaving aside these questions it is generally admitted that this section of Chapter 6 of John refers directly to the fact that Christ's human body---his "flesh" and "blood" would be the sacrificial victim that would win eternal life for men and at the same time as a sacrament it would be their heavenly food and drink. It was only after the sacrifice on Calvary, and the glorious resurrection, that this truth was really understood; Christ's instructions were faithfully carried out from Pentecost day onward in every Christian community. John's gospel (and the synoptic gospels also, even if written some 30 years earlier) was written when no Christian had the slightest doubt about the meaning of Christ's promise and Christ's fulfillment of the promise at the Last Supper.
I am . . . heaven: In the previous verse he had referred to the "manna," the bread from heaven as the Jews had called the food that Moses had given their fathers in the desert. But their fathers all died, he says. He, Christ, is living bread, his "flesh" (his body) will win for them eternal life. His "flesh" will be "given", sacrificed, for the life of the world.
Jews . . . disputed: The Jews disputed his statement: How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" they said. They saw in him a mere man, a man like the prophets of old. He had power from God but he was still a mere man.
truly . . . you: He does not solve their difficulty. They could not then grasp the explanation that he was more than mere man; he simply repeats his previous statement.
my flesh . . . indeed: There is no question here that his words, "my flesh is food indeed" are of any metaphorical sense; to eat one's flesh metaphorically in the language of the Jews of that time was to calumniate one; and to drink blood, even mere animal blood, was a heinous crime---the blood belonged to God. So Christ's words had to be taken in a literal sense, but this sense could be understood only after the crucifixion and glorification of Christ. His glorified body still united with his divinity would be the food of eternal life.
abides . . . him: The result of Holy Communion would be a real, holy and intimate union between the eucharistic Christ and those who received him sacramentally.
As . . . me: As the Father and Son live the one divine life of intimate union, so will those who receive Christ under his eucharistic mode of existence be intimately united with Christ and therefore with the Father also.
bread . . . heaven: Unlike the manna of the desert, Christ who has truly come from heaven as the incarnate God, is as bread the source and means of attaining eternal, not merely temporal, life.
APPLICATION: We are told in the verse which follow the part of Christ's discourse read today, that not only the incredulous Jews, but even many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve: Will you too go away? Simon Peter answered him, "Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (verses 66-68). Peter did not say he and the other Apostles understood what Christ had said, or that they had no difficulty in accepting his statement. Instead he made the profound act of faith: you have the words of eternal life---if we leave you, if we doubt your word, who else can teach us the truth?
I think we can all repeat today this humble and sincere act of faith which Peter made in Capernaum in that far-off day. Like Peter we cannot say that we can easily understand the mystery of Christ's real presence under the appearance of bread and wine after the words of consecration have been pronounced by the celebrant. But we are certain that Christ said that he was doing this and that he gave a command to his Apostles (and their successors) to continue doing as he had done. We have one big advantage over Peter, we are certain that Christ was God as well as man---Peter was not convinced of this until after the resurrection---and we know that with God all things are possible.
While on earth the God-man Christ hid his divinity. No one who saw or met him would suspect God was truly present within that human frame. No one could think that the infinite who created the whole universe was within a tiny morsel of that universe, in a human nature. Even his twelve chosen ones to whom he gave many hints and many proofs of his divinity could not bring themselves to admit it, until the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit finally convinced them.
Now, if Christ could hide his divinity under his human nature, it certainly is not impossible for him to hide his divinity and his glorified body, which does not occupy space, under the form of bread and wine. Not only is it not impossible, but if he willed to do so as he clearly stated he did, then it is a fact.
We have a further advantage too over Peter: the two thousand long years of the Church's acceptance of this truth. The "breaking of bread," their term for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist as sacrifice and sacrament, was practiced in the Church from the first day after the descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:42), and has been practiced ever since, even by parts of the Church who left the successor of Peter and established a "separate brotherhood."
Admitting the fact then is not our difficulty. Rather our total unworthiness of such love and consideration, and our lack of gratitude in return, are what should give us serious food for thought today. Christ, the Son of God, comes into my home, my heart, every time I receive the Blessed Eucharist! And what kind of a home, what kind of a heart have I prepared for him? Our Sunday Mass is a repetition of the Last Supper---the institution of the Eucharist, which anticipated the death, resurrection, and glorification of the Son of God. Through his death and subsequent glorification he not only made heaven accessible to us, but he left us this crucified and glorified body of his, to be a communal meat for us, his followers, when we are gathered to honor God through him. Do we think of ourselves as being present in that Upper Room in Jerusalem as we come together in our local church to take an active part in the offering of this divine sacrifice for ourselves and for all men?
Sunday Mass and Holy Communion should not be an obligation to be fulfilled but a privilege to perform. An honest look into our hearts and into our attitude would do each one of us a lot of spiritual good and might make many of us find we have an urgent need to turn over a new leaf.
"And you shall remember the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna which your fathers did not know."
EXPLANATION: Deuteronomy as its Greek title signifies is a repetition in an abbreviated form of the law already given in the first four books of the Old Testament and also a brief resume of the historical events already narrated in these books. In the four verses read today the reference is to the "manna," the food God gave to his Chosen People during their forty years of wandering in the desert. This reference is made today because the manna has always been looked on as a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, the real heavenly food.
remember . . . years: The author of Deuteronomy is here a tempting to repeat a speech delivered by Moses to the Chosen People when they had reached Mount Moab on the eastern bank of the Jordan and were about to enter Canaan, "the Promised Land." He wanted them never to forget all God had done for them during the past forty years.
fed . . . manna: We have here a resume of what happened within a few weeks after God had liberated the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt (see Ex. 16). They ran out of food and grumbled against Moses and against God. God then rained around their camps each night a kind of bread, "fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground" (Ex. 16:15). When the people saw it they said: "What is this?", in Hebrew Man hu, and that is how this special food given them by God got its name.
not . . . alone: It was not the ordinary bread they had always eaten, yet it was as nourishing as any bread, which showed God could feed his people without the earthly materials which man normally used to feed himself.
word . . . Lord: The power of God had done this. He does not need human aid or earthly materials.
unmindfu; . . . God: Moses is now reminding them as they are about to enter the "promised land" where they would have all they needed, that they must not forget God's goodness to them in the past. He liberated them from the slavery of Egypt, he miraculously gave them water from the rocks (Ex. 17; Num. 20) and food from the skies.
a food . . . fathers: Hence its name "what is it?" They had never seen a similar kind of food before. According to Wisdom (16: 21) the manna "was blended to whatever flavor each one wished," hence our response at Benediction "omne delectamentum in se habentem."
APPLICATION: Abraham, the father and founder of the Chosen People, was told by God to leave his home and pagan surroundings in Mesopotamia and come to a land that he would give to his descendants. Abraham trusted God and came to that foreign land. He and his descendants suffered many hardships before God eventually gave them possession of the Promised Land. Among these sufferings and hardships was the slavery they underwent in Egypt for several generations, until finally God stepped in and liberated them.
Their journey from Egypt to Palestine, or Canaan as it was then called, led through the vast desert of Sinai, an expanse of wilderness without food or water---where they could have perished to a man if their good God had not provided for them. This he did by giving them a special food which fell around their encampments every evening---a food that has ever since been called "manna," expressing the wonderment of the Israelites when they first saw it.
This food, as well as water which burst forth from the rocks at the command of Moses, nourished and sustained them during their forty years' journeying in the desert until they eventually reached home---the land promised to them by God.
That this "manna," this miraculous food from the skies, was a symbol, a foreshadowing, of the more miraculous food from heaven which our divine Lord was to give to us to sustain and nourish us spiritually on our journey toward our eternal promised land, hardly needs emphasizing. Our Lord himself refers to the "manna" given by God to their ancestors in the desert but says that he will give them the true bread from heaven (Jn. 6: 31ff).
This promise he fulfilled on the night before he was crucified when he took bread, broke and gave it to his disciples, saying: "This is my body, which will be given for you" and taking the cup of wine he said: "This cup is the New Covenant in my blood which will be poured out for you" (Lk. 22. 19). God the Son took our human nature, came on earth, in order to make all men not only God's Chosen People, but God's chosen children. By becoming man he raised us to the status of sons of God, heirs to God's kingdom, heaven. To do this he suffered humiliations and torture at the hands of the men he had come to save, but through his death and resurrection he won for us the right to the eternal "promised land."
However, to reach our inheritance we have to journey through the desert of this life, a journey during which we need above all a spiritual nourishment to sustain us and strengthen us to persevere amidst the many difficulties and hindrances our human nature and this earthly world put in our way. Christ, because he was God, because he foresaw our weaknesses and our needs, and because "he loved us to the end," found a way of remaining with us to sustain us on our journey. He left us himself---under the form of food, bread and wine, to nourish us and help us to grow daily stronger in our spiritual, supernatural life and thus be able to reach the eternal home he has prepared for us.
God was surely good to the Israelites---he fed them miraculously in the desert and finally brought them into their "promised land." But how much more generously and more miraculously has he dealt with us? Our promised land is not some strip of earth on which we can enjoy a few years of comfort---it is an everlasting home of peace and joy---it is a sharing in the happiness of the Blessed Trinity. The nourishment he has miraculously provided for us on our journey is not some food to sustain our earthly life, but the body and blood of his divine Son which only he, God, could give us and which only he, a God of infinite love, could think of giving. That we can never thank him enough goes without saying, but we can and we must strive to appreciate this, his greatest of gifts, to his Church and thus to us, by always trying to make ourselves worthy to receive him with the greatest respect and devotion of which we are capable.
SECOND READING: 1 Cor. 10: 16-17. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
EXPLANATION: St. Paul has much to say about the Blessed Eucharist in this first Epistle to the Corinthians. In chapter 11 he corrects abuses that had crept in during the celebration of the Lord's Supper since he had left them. He repeats the account of the institution of the Blessed Eucharist at the Last Supper and the words of consecration which he gives are identical with those in Luke (22: 19-20) and agree in all essentials with those given in Matthew (26: 26-29) and Mark (14: 22-25). In the verses which precede and follow the two verses read today he has warned the Gentile converts to have no part in sacrifices offered to idols (still a common practice among the pagans of Corinth), for Christians take part in the real sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ and are therefore in communion with God. The sacrifices offered by the pagans are sacrifices offered to "demons who are not God. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, you cannot share at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons" (verses 20-21).
The cup . . . bless: He inverts the order and begins with the cup. The cup of blessing was the cup of consecrated wine which by the consecration had become the blood of Christ, as he explains later in 11: 24. Christ said that his blood was the new covenant, that is, the seal which ratified the election of his followers into the new Chosen People. God and Moses had ratified the making of the old covenant with the blood of animals (see Ex. 24: 1-8) thus electing the Israelites as the Chosen People of the Old Testament. The latter was but a shadow of the new covenant as the means of ratification proves.
participation . . . Christ: Communion under both species was the practice in the early Church. Those who drank of the consecrated cup received the blood of Christ.
break . . . bread: A loaf or loaves of bread broken up into small portions became the body of Christ by means of the words expressed over them; the words of consecration are given in 11:24. That what Christ did at the Last Supper was to be continued is clear from the express command he gave to his Apostles: "do this as a memorial of me" (ibid).
participation . . . body of Christ: When the Christians ate that consecrated bread they were eating the body of Christ. Neither Paul nor his Corinthian converts had any doubts regarding this fact.
because . . . body: All Christians are members of the mystical body of Christ. The participation in the Eucharist, the partaking in the one bread which had become Christ, proved and strengthened the cementing of all Christians into the unity of one body. Lack of true unity was one of the biggest faults of the Corinthian converts. Paul now tells them there can be no divisions, no disunity, among those who are united with Christ and in Christ by their participation in the one body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.
APPLICATION: The feast of Corpus Christi or the Body of Christ is a commemoration or calling to mind of that extraordinary act of love for us which our Divine Lord performed on the night before he died. Through his divine power he left to his Church, to his followers, the power to re-present again and again the sacrifice of his human nature which he was about to offer to the Father next day on the cross for the salvation and elevation of mankind.
As he could die only once in his being God he was able to do so (that natural body, he ordained) because this death of his could be repeated time and again under the form of the separation of his precious blood from his body, as happened on Calvary, by means of the separate acts of consecration of bread and wine performed by those to whom he gave this power. This is the meaning of the Eucharist as sacrifice.
It is as true a sacrifice as his death on the cross was, for so he willed it to be. In fact it is the same sacrifice, but under such another form as makes its repetition possible. As God he could do this, he said he was doing it and he gave a command to his Apostles (and through them to their successors) to continue doing it. The follower of Christ who believes he was what he claimed and proved himself to be, God in human nature, is left no room for doubt. Instead he ought to be full of wonder and admiration at the love and thoughtfulness of Christ who has left us a means of giving God infinite honor. We give him this by re-offering in the Eucharistic sacrifice his divine Son's sacrifice of his human life on the cross. Sacrifice was always an essential part of all religions. In the Old Testament God commanded the offerings of animals and fruits of the field. They had value insofar as God accepted them as a sign, a token, of the true sacrifice of infinite value to be offered later by his divine Son.
Our sacrifice of the Mass therefore is a sacrifice which gives infinite honor and glory to God and renews for us all the divine blessings won on calvary.
The Eucharist, the Body of Christ, is also a sacrament, in fact the sacrament, he left to the Church. Under the external signs of bread and wine which are a natural bodily nourishment, we are given to eat and drink the body and blood of Christ. They are really present because of the divine power of the consecration pronounced by the celebrant acting in Christ's name. This eucharistic food is for us our spiritual nourishment.
The receiving of Holy Communion, as it is called, is an essential sequence to the offering of Christ in the sacrifice of the Mass. He is present on our altars to re-offer his sacrifice of Calvary; his coming has the added purpose of nourishing us spiritually. When instituting the sacrifice he associated the sacrament with it, when he said of the consecrated bread: "take it and eat," and of the cup: "drink all of you from this." To partake of part of the sacrifices offered by pagans to their gods (and by the Jews to the true God) was looked on as a way of uniting the offerer with God. In the Mass all those present are the offerers, the celebrant alone has the power of consecration, but all are taking part in offering the sacrifice and should therefore take part in the eating of the sacrifice offered.
While the sacrifice of the Mass honors God of itself, our participation puts us in intimate union with God for we take within us Christ who is God. Thus we become the abode of the divine and the recipients of God's most abundant graces. This is what Holy Communion means---union with the holy of holies, intimate union with God.
GOSPEL: John 6:51-58. Jesus said to the Jews, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."
EXPLANATION: Today's lesson from St. John's gospel is taken from a discourse in which Jesus foretold that he would give his "flesh," his body and blood, to give true life to all who would accept him. The previous day he had worked the "miracle of the loaves": he had fed 5,000 men (the number of women and children not included) with five barley loaves. Because of this, huge crowds followed him to Capernaum, some undoubtedly for more free bread, some because of this astounding miracle. He took this occasion to give a long discourse on the "bread of life"---the bread that would give eternal life, and not merely satisfy bodily hunger.
While in the first part of this discourse, verses 26-50, Jesus most likely was speaking of faith in him who had come down from heaven, from the Father, as a necessity for all those who wanted real, eternal life, the section read today seems to speak of Christ as the "bread of life" in the strict Eucharistic sense. Some authors think that this section belongs to the discourse at the Last Supper during which the institution of the Eucharist took place, John does not mention the institution because it was already so universally known and accepted when he wrote his gospel (between 90 and 100 A.D.). He therefore placed these words of Christ in the discourse at Capernaum. It would seem just as likely that John did not describe the institution of the Eucharist at all because he gave in this section Christ's very clear and definite forecast of its institution, and his readers knew Christ's promise had been fulfilled.
Leaving aside these questions it is generally admitted that this section of Chapter 6 of John refers directly to the fact that Christ's human body---his "flesh" and "blood" would be the sacrificial victim that would win eternal life for men and at the same time as a sacrament it would be their heavenly food and drink. It was only after the sacrifice on Calvary, and the glorious resurrection, that this truth was really understood; Christ's instructions were faithfully carried out from Pentecost day onward in every Christian community. John's gospel (and the synoptic gospels also, even if written some 30 years earlier) was written when no Christian had the slightest doubt about the meaning of Christ's promise and Christ's fulfillment of the promise at the Last Supper.
I am . . . heaven: In the previous verse he had referred to the "manna," the bread from heaven as the Jews had called the food that Moses had given their fathers in the desert. But their fathers all died, he says. He, Christ, is living bread, his "flesh" (his body) will win for them eternal life. His "flesh" will be "given", sacrificed, for the life of the world.
Jews . . . disputed: The Jews disputed his statement: How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" they said. They saw in him a mere man, a man like the prophets of old. He had power from God but he was still a mere man.
truly . . . you: He does not solve their difficulty. They could not then grasp the explanation that he was more than mere man; he simply repeats his previous statement.
my flesh . . . indeed: There is no question here that his words, "my flesh is food indeed" are of any metaphorical sense; to eat one's flesh metaphorically in the language of the Jews of that time was to calumniate one; and to drink blood, even mere animal blood, was a heinous crime---the blood belonged to God. So Christ's words had to be taken in a literal sense, but this sense could be understood only after the crucifixion and glorification of Christ. His glorified body still united with his divinity would be the food of eternal life.
abides . . . him: The result of Holy Communion would be a real, holy and intimate union between the eucharistic Christ and those who received him sacramentally.
As . . . me: As the Father and Son live the one divine life of intimate union, so will those who receive Christ under his eucharistic mode of existence be intimately united with Christ and therefore with the Father also.
bread . . . heaven: Unlike the manna of the desert, Christ who has truly come from heaven as the incarnate God, is as bread the source and means of attaining eternal, not merely temporal, life.
APPLICATION: We are told in the verse which follow the part of Christ's discourse read today, that not only the incredulous Jews, but even many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve: Will you too go away? Simon Peter answered him, "Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (verses 66-68). Peter did not say he and the other Apostles understood what Christ had said, or that they had no difficulty in accepting his statement. Instead he made the profound act of faith: you have the words of eternal life---if we leave you, if we doubt your word, who else can teach us the truth?
I think we can all repeat today this humble and sincere act of faith which Peter made in Capernaum in that far-off day. Like Peter we cannot say that we can easily understand the mystery of Christ's real presence under the appearance of bread and wine after the words of consecration have been pronounced by the celebrant. But we are certain that Christ said that he was doing this and that he gave a command to his Apostles (and their successors) to continue doing as he had done. We have one big advantage over Peter, we are certain that Christ was God as well as man---Peter was not convinced of this until after the resurrection---and we know that with God all things are possible.
While on earth the God-man Christ hid his divinity. No one who saw or met him would suspect God was truly present within that human frame. No one could think that the infinite who created the whole universe was within a tiny morsel of that universe, in a human nature. Even his twelve chosen ones to whom he gave many hints and many proofs of his divinity could not bring themselves to admit it, until the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit finally convinced them.
Now, if Christ could hide his divinity under his human nature, it certainly is not impossible for him to hide his divinity and his glorified body, which does not occupy space, under the form of bread and wine. Not only is it not impossible, but if he willed to do so as he clearly stated he did, then it is a fact.
We have a further advantage too over Peter: the two thousand long years of the Church's acceptance of this truth. The "breaking of bread," their term for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist as sacrifice and sacrament, was practiced in the Church from the first day after the descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:42), and has been practiced ever since, even by parts of the Church who left the successor of Peter and established a "separate brotherhood."
Admitting the fact then is not our difficulty. Rather our total unworthiness of such love and consideration, and our lack of gratitude in return, are what should give us serious food for thought today. Christ, the Son of God, comes into my home, my heart, every time I receive the Blessed Eucharist! And what kind of a home, what kind of a heart have I prepared for him? Our Sunday Mass is a repetition of the Last Supper---the institution of the Eucharist, which anticipated the death, resurrection, and glorification of the Son of God. Through his death and subsequent glorification he not only made heaven accessible to us, but he left us this crucified and glorified body of his, to be a communal meat for us, his followers, when we are gathered to honor God through him. Do we think of ourselves as being present in that Upper Room in Jerusalem as we come together in our local church to take an active part in the offering of this divine sacrifice for ourselves and for all men?
Sunday Mass and Holy Communion should not be an obligation to be fulfilled but a privilege to perform. An honest look into our hearts and into our attitude would do each one of us a lot of spiritual good and might make many of us find we have an urgent need to turn over a new leaf.
Meditation: "Whoever eats this bread will live forever"
Why did Jesus offer himself as "food and drink"? The
Jews were scandalized and the disciples were divided when Jesus said "unless
you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you." What
a hard saying, unless you understand who Jesus is and why he calls himself the bread
of life. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves (John 6:3-13),
when Jesus said the blessing, broke and distributed the loaves through his
disciples to feed the multitude, is a sign that prefigured the superabundance
of the unique bread of the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper. The Gospel of John has
no account of the Last Supper meal (just the foot washing ceremony and Jesus'
farewell discourse). Instead, John quotes extensively from Jesus' teaching on
the bread of life.
In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in a
thanksgiving sacrifice as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator as
the giver and sustainer of life. Melchizedek, who was both a priest and king
(Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1-4), offered a sacrifice of bread and wine. His
offering prefigured the offering made by Jesus, our high priest and king
(Hebrews 7:26; 9:11; 10:12). The remembrance of the manna in the wilderness
recalled to the people of Israel that they live - not by earthly bread alone -
but by the bread of the Word of God (Deuteronomy 8:3).
At the last supper when Jesus blessed the cup of wine, he gave
it to his disciples saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my
blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew
26:28). Jesus was pointing to the sacrifice he was about to make on the cross,
when he would shed his blood for us - thus pouring himself out and giving
himself to us - as an atoning sacrifice for our sins and the sins of the world.
His death on the cross fulfilled the sacrifice of the paschal (passover) lamb
whose blood spared the Israelites from death in Egypt.
Paul the Apostle tells us that "Christ, our paschal lamb,
has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians5:7). Paul echoes the words of John the
Baptist who called Jesus the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of
the world" (John 1:29). Jesus made himself an
offering and sacrifice, a gift that was truly pleasing to the Father. He "offered
himself without blemish to God" (Hebrews 9:14) and "gave
himself as a sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:2).
Jesus chose the time of the Jewish Feast of Passover to fulfill
what he had announced at Capernaum - giving his disciples his body and his
blood as the true bread of heaven. Jesus' passing over to his Father by his
death and resurrection - the new passover - is anticipated in the Last Supper
and celebrated in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, which fulfills the Jewish
Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the church in the glory of God's
kingdom. When the Lord Jesus commands his disciples to eat his flesh and drink
his blood, he invites us to take his life into the very center of our being.
That life which he offers is the very life of God himself. Do you hunger for
the bread of life?
"Lord Jesus, you nourish and sustain us with your very own
presence and life-giving word. You are the bread of life - the heavenly food
that sustains us now and that produces everlasting life within us. May I always
hunger for you and be satisfied in you alone."
SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF
CHRIST
SUNDAY, JUNE 22. JOHN 6:51-58
SUNDAY, JUNE 22. JOHN 6:51-58
(Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14b-16a; Psalm 147; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17)
KEY VERSE: "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them" (v 56).
READING: In John's account of Jesus' multiplication of the loaves in the wilderness, he moved from the wisdom theme of Jesus' discourse on the Bread of Life, to the Sacramental theme. The vocabulary changes graphically: "flesh and "blood," and "eat and drink." Jesus spoke clearly of the nourishment of his body and blood given to us in the Eucharist. His flesh was "real food" and his blood was "real drink." The Greek word used for eating (phago) is not merely symbolic; it means "to gnaw," or "to munch." In Jewish thought blood stood for life, and the blood belonged to God. That is why to this day orthodox Jews will not eat meat that is not completely drained of blood (kosher). When Jesus told his followers that they must drink his blood he meant that they must take his very life into themselves. Jesus is the supreme "sacrament" of God, nourishing the faithful with his own body and blood on their spiritual journey. Without this sacred food, we cannot have eternal communion with him and his Father. How unfortunate that those who claim a literal interpretation of other passages of scripture, deny the reality of Jesus' real presence in the Eucharist as explained by Christ himself.
REFLECTING: Do I understand the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist? Could I explain it to others?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, feed me at your table of eternal life.
NOTE: The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms: "At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ's Body and Blood" (#1333).
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
Trust In Jesus
The next time you’re in defeat or in despair, remember that your
trust is in Jesus. Where others failed, He has succeeded.
Praise the Lord, Jerusalem
Is the exaltation of the self in conflict with the exaltation of
God?Once, Thomas Merton was talking to the novices on how the self and God are in relationship. A brother remarked, ‘We came here to lose ourselves.’ Merton replied, ‘First we must have a self to lose.’ Today’s readings are firm as to whom the benefits of a blessed life are to be attributed—to God alone. Indeed, St Paul remarks on the need to identify who is set before us, and our response to him. But for Jesus, speaking to us as the life giver, the invitation is personal and has little criteria apart from faith and acceptance. How does this relate to us in our current way of life? What of ourselves do we bring to the table? How will we look when we are in Christ?
June
22
St. Thomas More
(1478-1535)
St. Thomas More
(1478-1535)
His belief that no lay ruler has jurisdiction over the Church of
Christ cost Thomas More his life.
Beheaded
on Tower Hill, London, on July 6, 1535, he steadfastly refused to approve Henry
VIII’s divorce and remarriage and establishment of the Church of England.
Described
as “a man for all seasons,” More was a literary scholar, eminent lawyer,
gentleman, father of four children and chancellor of England. An intensely
spiritual man, he would not support the king’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon
in order to marry Anne Boleyn. Nor would he acknowledge Henry as supreme head
of the Church in England, breaking with Rome and denying the pope as head.
More was
committed to the Tower of London to await trial for treason: not swearing to
the Act of Succession and the Oath of Supremacy. Upon conviction, More declared
he had all the councils of Christendom and not just the council of one realm to
support him in the decision of his conscience.
Stories:
When the executioner offered to blindfold him, More said that he
would do this himself. But after he had stretched his head over the low
block—it was merely a log of wood—he made a signal to the man to wait a moment.
Then he made his last joke: His beard was lying on the block and he would like
to remove it. At least that had committed no treason. The heavy axe went slowly
up, hung a moment in the air and fell.
Comment:
Four hundred years later in 1935, Thomas More was canonized a saint of God. Few saints are more relevant to our time. In the year 2000 in fact, Pope John Paul II named him patron of political leaders. The supreme diplomat and counselor, he did not compromise his own moral values in order to please the king, knowing that true allegiance to authority is not blind acceptance of everything that authority wants. King Henry himself realized this and tried desperately to win his chancellor to his side because he knew More was a man whose approval counted, a man whose personal integrity no one questioned. But when Thomas resigned as chancellor, unable to approve the two matters that meant most to Henry, the king had to get rid of Thomas More.
Four hundred years later in 1935, Thomas More was canonized a saint of God. Few saints are more relevant to our time. In the year 2000 in fact, Pope John Paul II named him patron of political leaders. The supreme diplomat and counselor, he did not compromise his own moral values in order to please the king, knowing that true allegiance to authority is not blind acceptance of everything that authority wants. King Henry himself realized this and tried desperately to win his chancellor to his side because he knew More was a man whose approval counted, a man whose personal integrity no one questioned. But when Thomas resigned as chancellor, unable to approve the two matters that meant most to Henry, the king had to get rid of Thomas More.
Patron Saint of:
Attorneys
Civil servants
Court clerks
Lawyers
Politicians, public servants
Attorneys
Civil servants
Court clerks
Lawyers
Politicians, public servants
LECTIO DIVINA:
BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (A)
Lectio:
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Jesus is the Bread of Life
“Anyone who eats this Bread will live forever”
John 6, 51-58
“Anyone who eats this Bread will live forever”
John 6, 51-58
1. OPENING PRAYER
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us read the Scriptures with
the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the
light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped them to discover the
presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence and death. Thus, the
cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life
and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
2. READING
a) A key to the reading:
On the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ we meditate on the
last part of the long discourse on the Bread of Life. During this
discourse, the Gospel of John helps us to understand the deep meaning of the
multiplication of the bread and of the Eucharist. During the reading, we will
try to be attentive to the words of Jesus which help people to understand the sign of
the Bread of Life.
b) A division of the Text to help in the reading:
John 6,51: The initial affirmation which summarizes everything
John 6,52: The contrary reaction of the Jews
John 6, 53-54: The response of Jesus affirms what he said before
John 6,55-58: Jesus draws the conclusion for life
John 6,52: The contrary reaction of the Jews
John 6, 53-54: The response of Jesus affirms what he said before
John 6,55-58: Jesus draws the conclusion for life
c) The Text:
51 I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone
who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my
flesh, for the life of the world.' 52 Then the Jews started arguing among
themselves, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' 53 Jesus replied to
them: In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man
and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Anyone who does eat my flesh
and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the
last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats
my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person. 57 As the
living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will
also draw life from me. 58 This is the bread which has come down from heaven;
it is not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats
this bread will live for ever.
3. A MOMENT OF PRAYERFUL SILENCE
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. SOME QUESTIONS
to help us in our personal reflection.
a) Which part of the text struck me the most? Why?
b) How many times in the text, is the word life used and what does it tell us about life?
c) Jesus says: “I am the living Bread which has come down from heaven”. What does this mean? Look for an answer in the text.
d) What does this text tell us about the Person of Jesus: titles, functions, etc.?
e) In what way does this text help us to understand better the significance of the Eucharist?
b) How many times in the text, is the word life used and what does it tell us about life?
c) Jesus says: “I am the living Bread which has come down from heaven”. What does this mean? Look for an answer in the text.
d) What does this text tell us about the Person of Jesus: titles, functions, etc.?
e) In what way does this text help us to understand better the significance of the Eucharist?
5. FOR THOSE WHO DESIRE TO GO DEEPER INTO THE DISCOURSE OF THE
BREAD OF LIFE.
a) Context in which our text is situated in the discourse of the
Bread of Life:
The discourse on the Bread of Life (Jn 6,22-71) is a sequence of
seven brief dialogues between Jesus and the persons who were with him after the
multiplication of the loaves. Jesus tries to open the eyes of people, making
them understand that it is not sufficient to struggle to get the material
bread. The daily struggle for material bread does not touch the roots if it is
not accompanied by mysticism. The human being does not only live by bread! (Dt
8,3) the seven brief dialogues are a very beautiful catechesis which explains
to people the profound significance of the multiplication of the loaves and of
the Eucharist. Throughout the dialogue appear the exigencies which the living out
of faith in Jesus traces for our life. People react. They remain surprised by
the words of Jesus. But Jesus does not cede, he does not change his
requirements. And because of this, many abandon him. Even now the same thing
happens: when the Gospel begins to demand a commitment, many people abandon it.
In so far as the discourse of Jesus advances, less people remain around him. At
the end, only the twelve remain and Jesus cannot even trust in them!
Here is the sequence of the seven dialogues which compose the
long discourse on the Bread of Life:
John 6, 22-27:
1st Dialogue: People seek Jesus because they want more bread
John 6, 28-33:
2nd Dialogue: Jesus asks the people to work for the true bread
John 6, 34-40:
3rd Dialogue: The true bread is to do the will of God
John 6, 41-51:
4th Dialogue: He who opens himself to God accepts Jesus and his proposal
John 6, 52-58:
5th Dialogue: Flesh and Blood: expression of life and of the total gift
John 6, 59-66:
6th Dialogue: Without the light of the Spirit these words cannot be understood
John 6, 67-71:
7th Dialogue: Confession of Peter
John 6, 22-27:
1st Dialogue: People seek Jesus because they want more bread
John 6, 28-33:
2nd Dialogue: Jesus asks the people to work for the true bread
John 6, 34-40:
3rd Dialogue: The true bread is to do the will of God
John 6, 41-51:
4th Dialogue: He who opens himself to God accepts Jesus and his proposal
John 6, 52-58:
5th Dialogue: Flesh and Blood: expression of life and of the total gift
John 6, 59-66:
6th Dialogue: Without the light of the Spirit these words cannot be understood
John 6, 67-71:
7th Dialogue: Confession of Peter
b) Comment on the seven dialogues which make up the discourse of
the Bread of Life:
The year 2005 is the Year of the Eucharist. This is the reason
why, instead of commenting only on the eight verses of the Gospel of this
Sunday (John 6, 51-58), we have thought of giving a general key to understand
the seven brief dialogues which make up the whole discourse. A global vision of
the whole will help to understand better the meaning and the importance of the
eight verses of the liturgical text of this day of Corpus Christi.
1st Dialogue - John 6, 22-27: The
people look for Jesus because they want more bread
22 Next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set off by themselves. 23 Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place where the bread had been eaten. 24 When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?' 26 Jesus answered: In all truth I tell you, you are looking for me not because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. 27 Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of man will give you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.
22 Next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set off by themselves. 23 Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place where the bread had been eaten. 24 When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?' 26 Jesus answered: In all truth I tell you, you are looking for me not because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. 27 Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of man will give you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.
The people see the miracle, but they do not understand that it
is a question of asign of something greater and more profound. They
stop only on the superficial aspect of the fact, in the distribution of the
food. They look for the bread of life, but only for the body. According to the
people, Jesus does something which Moses had already done in the past: to feed
everyone. And the people wanted the past to be repeated. But Jesus asks the
people to take one more step. Do not work for food that goes
bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life.
2nd Dialogue – John 6, 28-33: Jesus
asks the people to work for the true bread
28 Then they said to him, 'What must we do if we are to carry out God's work?' 29 Jesus gave them this answer, 'This is carrying out God's work: you must believe in the one he has sent.' 30 So they said, 'What sign will you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe in you? What work will you do? 31 Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' 32 Jesus answered them: In all truth I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread; 33 for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
28 Then they said to him, 'What must we do if we are to carry out God's work?' 29 Jesus gave them this answer, 'This is carrying out God's work: you must believe in the one he has sent.' 30 So they said, 'What sign will you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe in you? What work will you do? 31 Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' 32 Jesus answered them: In all truth I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread; 33 for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
The people ask: What must we do if we are to carry out God’s
work? And Jesus answers: Believe in the One God has sent! That is, believe in
Jesus. And the people react: Give us a sign to understand that you are truly
the one sent by God. Our fathers ate the manna that Moses gave them! According
to the people, Moses is and continues to be the great leader, in whom to
believe. If Jesus wants the people to believe in him, he has to give them a
greater sign than that given by Moses. Jesus answers that the bread given by
Moses was not the true bread, because it did not guarantee the life of anyone.
All died in the desert. The true bread of God is the one which overcomes death
and gives life! Jesus tries to help people to liberate themselves from the
schema of the past. For Jesus, fidelity to the past does not mean to close up
oneself in the things of the past and to refuse or reject renewal. Fidelity to
the past means to accept that which is new which is the fruit of the seed
planted in the past.
3rd Dialogue - John 6, 34-40: The
true bread is to do the will of God.
34 'Sir,' they said, 'give us that bread always.' 35 Jesus answered them: I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever thirst. 36 But, as I have told you, you can see me and still you do not believe. 37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me; I will certainly not reject anyone who comes to me, 38 because I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 Now the will of him who sent me is that I should lose nothing of all that he has given to me, but that I should raise it up on the last day. 40 It is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and that I should raise that person up on the last day.
The people ask: Lord, give us that bread always! They thought
that Jesus was speaking of a special bread. Then, Jesus answers clearly: “I am
the bread of life!” To eat the bread of heaven is the same as believing
in Jesus and accepting the path that he has shown us, that is: “My
food is to do the will of the Father who is in heaven!” (Jn 4, 34). This is the
true food which nourishes the person, which always gives us a new life. It is a
seed that guarantees resurrection!
4th Dialogue – John 6, 41-51: He who opens
himself to God accepts Jesus and his proposal
41 Meanwhile the Jews were complaining to each other about him, because he had said, 'I am the bread that has come down from heaven.' 42 They were saying, 'Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know. How can he now say, "I have come down from heaven?" ' 43 Jesus said in reply to them, 'Stop complaining to each other. 44 'No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God; everyone who has listened to the Father, and learnt from him, comes to me. 46 Not that anybody has seen the Father, except him who has his being from God: he has seen the Father. 47 In all truth I tell you, everyone who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate manna in the desert and they are dead; 50 but this is the bread which comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.'
41 Meanwhile the Jews were complaining to each other about him, because he had said, 'I am the bread that has come down from heaven.' 42 They were saying, 'Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know. How can he now say, "I have come down from heaven?" ' 43 Jesus said in reply to them, 'Stop complaining to each other. 44 'No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God; everyone who has listened to the Father, and learnt from him, comes to me. 46 Not that anybody has seen the Father, except him who has his being from God: he has seen the Father. 47 In all truth I tell you, everyone who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate manna in the desert and they are dead; 50 but this is the bread which comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.'
The discourse becomes more demanding. Now it is the Jews, that
is, the leaders of the people, who murmur: “Is he not Jesus, the son of Joseph,
whose father and mother we know? How can he say that he has come down from
heaven?” They considered themselves capable of knowing and of recognizing the
things that come from God. But they are mistaken. If they were truly open to
the things of God, they would feel the impulse of God in themselves which
attracts them toward Jesus and would recognize that Jesus comes from God (Jn 6,
45). In the celebration of the Passover, the Jews remembered the bread of the
desert. Jesus helps them to take a step forward. The one who celebrates the
Passover remembering only the bread which the fathers ate in the desert, will
die like all of them died! The true sense of the Passover is not that of
recalling the manna which in the past fell from heaven, but to accept Jesus,
the Bread of Life who came down from Heaven and to follow the path that he has
traced. It does not mean to eat the flesh of the paschal lamb, but the flesh of
Jesus, who came down from heaven to give life to the world!
5th Dialogue - John 6, 52-58: Flesh
and Blood: the expression of life and of the total gift.
52 Then the Jews started arguing among themselves, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' 53 Jesus replied to them: In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person. 57 As the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will also draw life from me. 58 This is the bread which has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.
52 Then the Jews started arguing among themselves, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' 53 Jesus replied to them: In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person. 57 As the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will also draw life from me. 58 This is the bread which has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.
The Jews react: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
They did not understand these words of Jesus, because the profound respect for
life demanded that from the time of the Old Testament it was forbidden to eat
blood, because the blood was the sign of life (Dt 12, 16.23; At 15, 29).
Besides, it was close to the Passover and in a few days everyone would have
eaten the meat and the blood of the Paschal Lamb in the celebration of the
night of the Passover. They took literally the words of Jesus, this is why they
did not understand. To eat the flesh of Jesus meant to accept
Jesus as the new Paschal Lamb, his blood will free them from slavery. To
drink the blood of Jesus meant to assimilate his same way of life
which characterized the life of Jesus. What gives life is not to celebrate the
manna of the past, but rather to eat this new bread which is Jesus, his flesh
and his blood. Participating in the Eucharistic Supper, we assimilate his life,
his gift of self, his dedication.
6th Dialogue – John 6, 59-66: Without
the light of the Spirit these words cannot be understood,
59 This is what he taught at Capernaum in the synagogue. 60 After hearing it, many of his followers said, 'This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?' 61 Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, 'Does this disturb you? 62 What if you should see the Son of man ascend to where he was before? 63 'It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 'But there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the outset who did not believe and who was to betray him. 65 He went on, 'This is why I told you that no one could come to me except by the gift of the Father.' 66 After this, many of his disciples went away and accompanied him no more.
59 This is what he taught at Capernaum in the synagogue. 60 After hearing it, many of his followers said, 'This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?' 61 Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, 'Does this disturb you? 62 What if you should see the Son of man ascend to where he was before? 63 'It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 'But there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the outset who did not believe and who was to betray him. 65 He went on, 'This is why I told you that no one could come to me except by the gift of the Father.' 66 After this, many of his disciples went away and accompanied him no more.
Here ends the discourse of Jesus in the Synagogue of Capernaum.
Many of his disciples thought: Jesus is exaggerating too much! He is putting an
end to the celebration of the Passover! He is taking the central place of our
religion! For this reason many people abandoned the community and no longer
followed Jesus. Jesus reacts by saying: “It is the spirit who gives life, the
flesh has nothing to offer. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and
they are life”. We should not take literally what he says. It is only with the
help of the light of the Holy Spirit that it is possible to understand the full
sense of everything that Jesus says (Jn 14, 25-26; 16, 12-13).
7th Dialogue - Jn 6, 67-71: Confession
of Peter.
67 Then Jesus said to the Twelve, 'What about you, do you want to go away too?' 68 Simon Peter answered, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life, 69 and we believe; we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.' 70 Jesus replied to them, 'Did I not choose the Twelve of you? Yet one of you is a devil.' 71 He meant Judas son of Simon Iscariot, since this was the man, one of the Twelve, who was to betray him.
At the end only the twelve remained. Jesus says to them: “What about you, do you want to go away too?” For Jesus, what is important is not the number of the people who are around him. He does not change the discourse when the message does not please others. Jesus speaks to reveal the Father and not to please others.
He prefers to remain alone, more than being accompanied by persons who do not accept the Father’s project. The response of Peter is beautiful: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life!” Even without understanding everything, Peter accepts Jesus and believes in him. In spite of all his limitations, Peter is not like Nicodemus who wished to see everything clearly, to confirm his own ideas. Even among the twelve there were persons who did not accept the proposal of Jesus.
67 Then Jesus said to the Twelve, 'What about you, do you want to go away too?' 68 Simon Peter answered, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life, 69 and we believe; we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.' 70 Jesus replied to them, 'Did I not choose the Twelve of you? Yet one of you is a devil.' 71 He meant Judas son of Simon Iscariot, since this was the man, one of the Twelve, who was to betray him.
At the end only the twelve remained. Jesus says to them: “What about you, do you want to go away too?” For Jesus, what is important is not the number of the people who are around him. He does not change the discourse when the message does not please others. Jesus speaks to reveal the Father and not to please others.
He prefers to remain alone, more than being accompanied by persons who do not accept the Father’s project. The response of Peter is beautiful: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life!” Even without understanding everything, Peter accepts Jesus and believes in him. In spite of all his limitations, Peter is not like Nicodemus who wished to see everything clearly, to confirm his own ideas. Even among the twelve there were persons who did not accept the proposal of Jesus.
a) To deepen more: Eucharist and New Exodus
In describing the multiplication of the loaves, the Gospel of
John suggests a parallel with Exodus: Jesus who walks on the water and the discourse
of the Bread of Life. This parallel shows that through the Eucharist a new
Exodus takes place. The Eucharist helps us to live in a permanent state of
Exodus:
i) The multiplication of the loaves (Jn 6, 1-15):
Jesus has before him a hungry crowd and the challenge to
guarantee bread for all. Even though Moses had to face this challenge during
the time of itinerancy of the people in the desert (Ex 16, 1-35; Num 11,
18-23). After having eaten, the people fed and satisfied recognize in Jesus the
new Moses, the “Prophet who has to come to the world” (Jn 6,14), according to
what has been announced in the Law of the Covenant (Dt 18, 15-22).
ii) Jesus walks on the water (Jn 6, 16-21):
In Exodus, the people is itinerant in order to obtain freedom
and face and overcome the sea (Ex 14, 22). Jesus also, like Moses, dominates
and overcomes the sea, preventing that the boat of his disciples be swallowed
up by the waves, and does in such a way that they get safely to the other
shore.
iii) The discourse on the bread of life (Jn 6, 22-58):
The discourse evokes Chapter 16 of the book of Exodus which
describes the story of the manna. when Jesus speaks of “a food which does not
perish” (Jn 6, 27), he is recalling the manna which perishes and is spoiled (Ex
16, 20). The Jews “murmuring” or complaining against Jesus (Jn 6, 41), do the
same thing that the Israelites in the desert, who doubted of the presence of
God in their long journey (Ex 16, 2; 17, 3; Num 11, 1). The Jews doubted of the
presence of God in Jesus of Nazareth (Jn 6, 42). Jesus is the true manna who
gives us eternal life.
6. PSALM 85 (84)
Justice and Peace embrace one another
Yahweh, you are gracious to your land,
you bring back the captives of Jacob,
you take away the guilt of your people,
you blot out all their sin.
You retract all your anger,
you renounce the heat of your fury.
you bring back the captives of Jacob,
you take away the guilt of your people,
you blot out all their sin.
You retract all your anger,
you renounce the heat of your fury.
Bring us back, God our Saviour,
appease your indignation against us!
Will you be angry with us for ever?
Will you prolong your wrath age after age?
Will you not give us life again,
for your people to rejoice in you?
Show us, Lord, your faithful love,
grant us your saving help.
appease your indignation against us!
Will you be angry with us for ever?
Will you prolong your wrath age after age?
Will you not give us life again,
for your people to rejoice in you?
Show us, Lord, your faithful love,
grant us your saving help.
I am listening. What is God's message?
Yahweh's message is peace for his people,
for his faithful, if only they renounce their folly.
His saving help is near for those who fear him,
his glory will dwell in our land.
Faithful Love and Loyalty join together,
Saving Justice and Peace embrace.
Loyalty will spring up from the earth,
and Justice will lean down from heaven.
Yahweh's message is peace for his people,
for his faithful, if only they renounce their folly.
His saving help is near for those who fear him,
his glory will dwell in our land.
Faithful Love and Loyalty join together,
Saving Justice and Peace embrace.
Loyalty will spring up from the earth,
and Justice will lean down from heaven.
Yahweh will himself give prosperity,
and our soil will yield its harvest.
Justice will walk before him,
treading out a path.
and our soil will yield its harvest.
Justice will walk before him,
treading out a path.
7. FINAL PRAYER
Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to
understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions
and grant us the strength to practice that which your Word has revealed to us.
May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to but also practise the Word.
You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever
and ever. Amen
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét