Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (C)

Gn 14:18-20
Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4
1 Cor 11:23-26
Lk 9:11b-17

A liturgist and teacher whom I know speaks of a part of the Mass which gets the least emphasis in our Sunday celebration. It comes at the very end of Mass, as the priest blesses the assembly and dismisses it. This short ceremony is really a "commissioning." We're being sent out into the world, to put the whole meaning of the Sunday Eucharist into practical action in our lives.

Today's feast, which commemorates Christ's gift of himself in the Eucharist, has two Scripture selections which help us appreciate this "under-emphasized" part of the Mass. Listen to Saint Paul describe to the Corinthians how Jesus blessed and broke bread at the Last Supper, and then hear Luke's Gospel tell the story of Jesus feeding the crowd. The Gospel speaks of "blessing and breaking" the loaves as well.

Could Luke have meant us to hear this story of Jesus feeding the hungry, and intended us to think about the meaning of Eucharist as well? How is Jesus the food that feeds our deepest hungers? And could that connection teach us what we're commissioned to do at every Eucharist: to take its power into everyday life where we're called to feed others, with both physical and spiritual food? Those are good questions to think about as we gather for Eucharist this weekend.

Scripture:

•Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (Genesis 14:20)

•“…before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you.” (Psalm 110:3)

•For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:26)

•He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.” (Luke 9:13)

Reflection:

•Does receiving the Eucharist, the Body and the Blood of Christ extend into all facets of your life?

•How do you become the Body and the Blood of Christ?

First let us establish three premises:

Those who do not love feel superior to everyone else.
Those who love feel equal to everyone else.
Those who love much gladly take the lower place.
Each of us can identify our position somewhere along this spectrum, which comprises the three degrees of spiritual life here on earth:
Death for those who do not love.
Life for those who love.
Holiness for those who love much.