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Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ Mass Readings
First Reading: Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14B-16A
Responsorial: Psalm 147: 12-15, 19-20
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
Gospel: John 6:51-58
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/061420.cfm
https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org/
Today we celebrate the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist. We have this incredible gift in the Eucharist which we can receive every single day, so, today we pause to focus on the Eucharist. Just like with anniversaries and birthdays, I think it’s important to step back at least once a year and celebrate the gift of the Eucharist lest we take it for granted.
Now it’s very easy to get lost in an interesting theological or philosophical discussion about the Eucharist. But while I think there’s a time and a place for that, our purpose is to try to understand how the Gospel message applies to us here and now – to do as the Second Vatican Council teaches us – to read the signs of the times.
First, what do we know about the Eucharist? It’s wildly important to Christians. The Eucharist is, as the Catechism reminds us, the “source and summit of Christian life,” (CCC, 1324) Why? Because for Catholics as well as some other Christians, the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. How do we know that? Because Jesus tells us so in today’s Gospel passage from John. This passage where Jesus describes eating his flesh and drinking his blood connects to the Last Supper described in the other Gospel accounts.
But if we believe – I mean if we really believe that what we receive in the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus, then it should change you. It should change me. How?
Well, St. Paul gives us a bit of clue in our second reading from First Corinthians. Paul tells us, “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. (1 Cor 10:16-17).
When we participate in the Eucharist, we become the one body of Christ.
That’s mind-blowing! We become one. But it is also a sobering idea, especially in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in the U.S. Why is it sobering? Because through our faith in Christ Jesus and the precious gift of the Eucharist, we are united through Jesus to the Father forever. We are united with people of color, with Hispanics, with criminals, with illegal aliens, we are all united through Jesus with the Father.
You see, through the Church’s mission of evangelization, and by “church” I mean you and me and all believers, we are called to bring the message of salvation to everyone so that they might have all their hurts and sins reconciled, just like you and just like me. Through Jesus, there is no “black” or “white” or “brown” or English or Spanish or borders or democrats or republicans or gay or straight or whatever it is that separates and divides us. All disciples of Jesus are united as one body in Christ. When I stop to think about that, it makes all the labels I’ve been taught since I was a child seem silly.
Where do we go from here? I don’t know. But what I can tell you is that as a people of faith, we are called to advocate for the common good. We should actively work through our participation in the electoral process to help bring about a just society where the dignity of the human person created in the image and likeness of God is recognized in all humans – recognized and respected. Working through the electoral process doesn’t just mean voting. We should get to know our elected officials. We should write letters, send emails, make phone calls, etc. Advocating for the common good is every believer’s responsibility.
We are a eucharistic people and that has consequences, not only in how I live my life, but also how I relate to those around me and how I participate in civic life. The Eucharist reminds us that black lives matter – that all lives matter – because we are all united into the one body of Christ to the Father. This is not just an idea, but a core aspect of our faith. The horror of George Floyd’s murder and the outrage that has spilled into our streets is a sad reminder that Christians have a lot of work to do.
Homework! Nourished by Christ present in the Word of God and in the Eucharist, I encourage you to reflect on the following questions.
- The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. How can I give of myself more freely and more generously? How can I be more responsive to the needs of those who live far from me?
- Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. What religious practices strengthen my faith? What religious practices strengthen my resolve to follow God’s will for me?
- Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. When do I feel closest to God? When do I feel most distant?
I think doing our homework will help us experience true discipleship. Do you get it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!
Image Credit: Unknown. JPEG file.
References:
1. Lectio Divina Of The Gospels. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2019.
2. Martin, Francis and William M. Wright IV. The Gospel of John. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015.
3. Montague, George T., SM. First Corinthians. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2011.
4. The Bible: A Study Bible freshly translated by Nicholas King. Buxhall, Suffolk UK: Kevin Mayhew, 2013.
Catechism References http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm:
1. The Holy Eucharist, 790, 1003, 1322-1419
2. The Eucharist and the communion of believers, 805, 950, 2181-2182, 2637, 2845
3. Real presence in the Eucharist, 1088, 1377-81
4. The Eucharist as spiritual food, 1212, 1275, 1436, 2837
5. Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life”, 1324
6. Signs and institution of the Eucharist, 1333-40
7. The Eucharist as sacrificial memorial of Christ’s presence, 1362-78
8. Fruits of Holy Communion, 1391-98
9. The Eucharist makes the Church one body, 1396
Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ
Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/061420.cfm
Lectionary: 167
First Reading
Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14B-16A
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.”
Responsorial
Psalm 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.
Second Reading
1 Corinthians 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.
Sequence
Lauda Sion
Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
Laud with hymns of exultation,
Christ, your king and shepherd true:
Bring him all the praise you know,
He is more than you bestow.
Never can you reach his due.
Special theme for glad thanksgiving
Is the quick’ning and the living
Bread today before you set:
From his hands of old partaken,
As we know, by faith unshaken,
Where the Twelve at supper met.
Full and clear ring out your chanting,
Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
From your heart let praises burst:
For today the feast is holden,
When the institution olden
Of that supper was rehearsed.
Here the new law’s new oblation,
By the new king’s revelation,
Ends the form of ancient rite:
Now the new the old effaces,
Truth away the shadow chases,
Light dispels the gloom of night.
What he did at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
His memorial ne’er to cease:
And his rule for guidance taking,
Bread and wine we hallow, making
Thus our sacrifice of peace.
This the truth each Christian learns,
Bread into his flesh he turns,
To his precious blood the wine:
Sight has fail’d, nor thought conceives,
But a dauntless faith believes,
Resting on a pow’r divine.
Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things are all we see:
Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
Yet in either wondrous token
Christ entire we know to be.
Whoso of this food partakes,
Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
Christ is whole to all that taste:
Thousands are, as one, receivers,
One, as thousands of believers,
Eats of him who cannot waste.
Bad and good the feast are sharing,
Of what divers dooms preparing,
Endless death, or endless life.
Life to these, to those damnation,
See how like participation
Is with unlike issues rife.
When the sacrament is broken,
Doubt not, but believe ‘tis spoken,
That each sever’d outward token
doth the very whole contain.
Nought the precious gift divides,
Breaking but the sign betides
Jesus still the same abides,
still unbroken does remain.
The shorter form of the sequence begins here.
Lo! the angel’s food is given
To the pilgrim who has striven;
see the children’s bread from heaven,
which on dogs may not be spent.
Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
Isaac bound, a victim willing,
Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
manna to the fathers sent.
Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
Jesu, of your love befriend us,
You refresh us, you defend us,
Your eternal goodness send us
In the land of life to see.
You who all things can and know,
Who on earth such food bestow,
Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
Where the heav’nly feast you show,
Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.
Alleluia
John 6:51
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
John 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.”