Gen.14:18-20/Ps110/1Cor.11:23-26/Luke 9:11-17
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Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
SPIRITUAL COURTESIES BEFORE THE EUCHARIST
The readings today invite us to reflect on the meaning of the Eucharist (Holy Communion). The Eucharist is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with his Soul and Divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine. In the First reading, Gen. 14:18 Melchizedek King of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought out bread and wine; he did not bring water and yam neither did he bring out oil and rice. He brought out bread and wine. This prefigures the bread and wine as used in the New Testament. Beloved in Christ, bread and wine (fruit of the vine and the unleavened bread) remain the matter for the Eucharistic celebration. These lines become necessary in the face of present aberrations.
Again, the Eucharist is not a symbol of the body and blood of Jesus rather it is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church strongly asserts the “Real Presence” of Jesus’ body in the Eucharist. This doctrine was affirmed at the Lateran Council of 1215. We are not dealing with a symbol, we are not gathered together because of a symbol, Jesus did not give them symbol, a symbol is a sign, shape or object which is used to represent something else. He gave them his body and blood. The Lord Himself said: ‘This is my body’; not ‘a symbol or foreshadowing of my body’ but ‘my body,’ and not ‘a foreshadowing of my blood’ but ‘my blood’ and the Bible says they all ate and were satisfied. Symbol could not have satisfied them. Can the symbol of a car satisfy you as the car itself? The symbol takes you nowhere but the car takes you somewhere. Since, it is his real Body and Blood it therefore means that we should be mindful of all we do with the Eucharist. Let us take some spiritual courtesies.
Spiritual Courtesy: Jesus looked up to heaven; before Jesus distributed the food he blessed it; this means he said the grace before meal. In every home in Palestine they usually will pray before meals. In fact, they had a saying that “he who enjoys anything without thanksgiving is as though he robbed God” this was a discipline that had spiritual significance. Jesus would not eat without giving thanks to the giver of all good gifts. How many of us still remember to pray and give thanks before eating our meals. Most families today have even thrown away the culture of collective meals let alone praying before meals. You are not told to pray because the food was possibly poisoned rather we are told to pray to give thanks to the Great provider who would shed abroad a plentiful rain, (Psalm 68:9). Prayer before meal is a spiritual courtesy that should be revived in our homes. At the altar the priest does the same thing. He gives thanks to the Creator for bread and wine, fruit of the earth and the work of human hands.
Spiritual Courtesy: Jesus gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. These disciples were men not women, in fact, there were about five thousand men and countless women there, but Jesus gave it to the disciples. In this light, the Fourth Lateran Council confirmed the ancient Catholic teaching, that “no one but the priest [sacerdos], regularly ordained according to the keys of the Church, has the power of consecrating this sacrament”. Therefore, when it does not come from a validly ordained priest it is not the Holy Eucharist. And so we should be careful of the aberrations that are trending in churches today. We should theologically address the cry for women priests that is gradually permeating our faith. No doubt a lay man or woman may be an Extra Ordinary Minister of the Eucharist; but he or she is not the Ordinary Minister of it. The Ordinary Minister of the Eucharist is a validly ordained priest.
Spiritual Courtesy: They took up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces. Beloved in Christ, it is sinful to waste. In John 6:12 Jesus also said to his disciples when they had eaten their fill, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” Eph. 5:1 says “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” It is not good to waste let us imitate Christ. And so in the liturgy whatever is left is not thrown away or disregarded but it is kept in the Tabernacle for adoration, for the sick or at the request of a communicant who because of circumstances beyond control could not make it to mass.
Spiritual Courtesy: Proper preparation; in Luke 9:14, today’s gospel reading Jesus said “Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each.” This pattern of sitting down in orderly manner speaks so much about our liturgical gestures and preparations before and during mass. We need to prepare properly to receive Holy Communion. We cannot afford to be strolling around when we ought to be kneeling down, why will you pocket your hands when you ought to reverently fold them as you process forward to receive Holy Communion?
We have tarnished God’s image within us through acts of impurity, injustice, disobedience etc. Hence, there is always need for repentance, and a need for the Sacramental confession of grave sins, before we receive Holy Communion. In the second reading St. Paul reminds us about the sacred character of the Eucharist. And in 1 Cor. 11:27-29 “Whoever, therefore, eats the Bread or drinks the Cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the Body and Blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the Bread and drink of the Cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the Body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.” Therefore, let us receive Holy Communion with fervent love and respect not merely as a matter of routine.
There are two ways of preparations in this regard:
1. Remote preparation for Communion includes regular prayer and reading of Scripture, the faithful and loving fulfillment of the daily responsibilities of our state in life, and regular participation in the Sacrament of Penance, including daily repentance of sin by an examination of conscience and recitation of the Act of Contrition.
2.Proximate preparations includes our prayerful recollection as we come to Mass and fasting from food and drink for at least one hour prior to receiving Holy Communion as our health and age permit. As a matter of fact, Proximate preparation also includes dressing appropriately and modestly.
These ways of preparing culminate in our prayerful and active participation throughout the Eucharistic celebration.
Beloved in Christ, what is our attitude today towards these preparations? How many of us still go for regular confession? Do we go to confession just because we want to receive Holy Communion? How many of us still open our bibles to read at least once a week? Do we still observe the Eucharistic fast? Do we still prayerfully recollect before mass? Or we indulge in all sorts of noise and distractions before and during mass. What about our dressing? Are they modest enough? In some parishes at the entrance there are quick reminders about dressing codes. You may dress fine what about your complexion, is it modest or have you used cream to bleach your skin? Beloved, these are not mere sanctions but spiritual necessities so that we can truly say like those in the gospel reading “we all ate and were satisfied.”
Fr. Paul Oredipe
Holy Eucharist – Center of the Church
In 1264, Pope Urban IV instituted the feast of “Corpus Christi” for the whole Church, a special feast day to recognize and to promote the great gift of the Blessed Sacrament. He commissioned St. Thomas Aquinas to compose a Mass and an Office for the Liturgy of the Hours honoring the Holy Eucharist. St. Thomas Aquinas composed all the prayers and the beautiful Eucharistic hymns “Panis Angelicus,” “Pange Lingua,” “O Salutaris Hostia” and “Tantum Ergo.”
This Celebration developed as a Procession feast in addition to coming together to celebrate Mass in Church.
It was what you might call an action feast and they acted on the truth of the Blessed Sacrament. And so they carried the Blessed Sacrament around their whole village; through the town, wherever they lived, their homes, their workplaces and so on, to dramatize the conviction they had that God journeys with us wherever we go. God is always with us and we have the Blessed Sacrament as the clear sacramental sign of God’s presence. They would carry the tools of their craft with them. They would visit all of the special places they wanted God to be with them; hospitals or places where there were sick people, or places where there were hungry people and so on. God was journeying with them in their everyday life. And that is a part of the celebration that we need to think about — how God is with us.
In fact, Corpus Christi is the first feast whose object is not just an event of the life of Christ, but a truth of faith: His real presence in the Eucharist. It responds to a need: to solemnly proclaim such faith.
Corpus Christi holds out to us an invitation and a challenge.
As Saint Thomas Aquinas tells us: “No sacrament contributes more to our salvation than this; for it purges away our sins, increases our virtues and nourishes our minds with an abundance of all the spiritual gifts. It is truly the sacrament above all others whereby Christ’s kingdom of justice, love and peace is made visible and incarnate within the Christian family and in the world.” (STh, II, 65,3)
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it: quoting Lumen Gentium, no 11, “The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life.”(CCC, 1324) “In this organic whole, the Eucharist occupies a unique place as the ‘Sacrament of sacraments’, all the other sacraments are ordered to it as to their end.” (CCC, 1211)
In the first reading, taken from Genesis, we encounter Melchizedek, king of peace, who does not do eccentric or conspicuous things but simply offers bread and wine with a benediction (to give thanks, to praise). Saint Paul, in the second reading, taken from the 1st letter to the Corinthians, passes on to us what he has received as a gift.
At first sight, today’s Gospel seems to distance itself from the Eucharist. It tells us about the very well-known event of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and of the fish which seems far away from the last supper of Easter eaten by Jesus in Jerusalem. When Jesus fed the hungry crowds, he wanted to alert his disciples to the mission of mercy that they would continue in his name. But physical hunger was satisfied so that people would come to know Jesus as the one who brings them even greater gifts from the heavenly Father.
Thanks to the obedient charity of the apostles, five thousand people received bread so that they could be able to live a temporal life. With the Eucharist, the Bread of Life, we received as a gift a miraculous food for eternal life. After the resurrection the disciples came to recognize that the multiplication of loaves was a sign of the Eucharistic gift bestowed at the Last Supper.
Today’s Solemnity of Corpus Christi was born precisely to help Christians be aware of this presence of Christ among us, to keep alive what Pope St. John Paul II called “Eucharistic wonder.”
Song =
LOOK BEYOND THE BREAD YOU EAT, SEE YOUR SAVIOUR AND YOUR LORD.
LOOK BEYOND THE CUP YOU DRINK, SEE HIS LOVE POURED OUT AS BLOOD.
Today, we give thanks not only for this supernatural bread from heaven on which we feed in Holy Communion, but also for the abiding presence of Christ in the tabernacle. As the Holy Eucharist is the center of the Church, so must it be the center of our being Christians and of our priestly and religious life. The Lord gives himself to us. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56).
Communion means exchange, sharing. Now, this is the fundamental rule of sharing: that which is mine is yours and what is yours is mine. Applying this rule to Eucharistic communion illustrates its greatness. What do I have that is truly “mine”? Misery, sin: This alone belongs to me exclusively. What does Jesus have that is “his” if not holiness, the perfection of all the virtues?
So, communion consists in the fact that I give Jesus my sin and my poverty, and He gives me holiness. As the action of the Holy Spirit makes holy the bread and wine, so the action of the Holy Spirit seeks to effect the same in each one of us. In this the “admirabile commercium,” or “wonderful exchange,” as the liturgy defines it, is realized. This is the most intimate of communions, even if the most mysterious.
In the natural world, in regard to nourishment, the stronger vital principle assimilates the weaker one. The vegetable assimilates the mineral; the animal assimilates the vegetable.
Even in the relationship between Christ and man this law is at work. It is Christ who assimilates us to himself; we are transformed into Him, He is not transformed into us. We transform ordinary food into our own bodies, but the food of the Eucharist transforms us into the body of Christ. Unlike the material food we eat, which after being digested and assimilated becomes part of us, when we receive the risen Lord, we become part of Him.
A famous atheist materialist, Ludwig Feuerbach, said: “Man is what he eats.” This statement that we become what we eat is never more true that in the Eucharistic experience. Without knowing it, he gave a perfect definition of the Eucharist. Thanks to the Eucharist, man truly becomes what he eats: the body of Christ! By eating the body and drinking the blood of the Lord, a marvelous union takes place between ourselves and Jesus Christ, and also between ourselves and every other member of the Church throughout the world and throughout time.
This union is brought about because together we are taken into the perfect offering of Jesus and because we take into ourselves his real presence. What we eat and drink becomes part of us and in the Eucharist we become part of the body of Christ both by joining ourselves with the worship and by the intimate action of sharing the meal. The Risen One enters into me and wants to transform me and make me enter into profound communion with him.
In this way He also opens me to all others: we, the many, are one bread and one body, says St. Paul: “Because there is one bread, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:17). The Eucharist effects what it symbolizes. It brings about the unity of which it is a sign. We cannot be in communion with Christ if we are divided among ourselves, if we hate each other, if we are not ready to be reconciled.
Yes, the Eucharist that we celebrate commemorates the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The Eucharist makes new the mysteries we celebrate; if we participate in it faithfully and intently. The Eucharist signifies and ferments a bond of unity among all who take part in it. Above all, the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist has the power to transform us; it has the power to purify us, and the power to strengthen us, and the power to gradually make us more and more like Jesus.
But what is the Eucharist for us? And what is the witness that we give as individuals and community to the real and transcendent presence of Jesus? What is our Eucharistic experience and story?
Today, more than ever before, we need EUCHARISTIC WITNESSES, not just Eucharistic ministers. It is our witnessing that gives sure basis to our ministry. We cannot be true ministers if we are not primarily authentic witnesses to what we celebrate – witnesses to the great faith in the reality of the Lord in our midst. “It is the virtue that the Church needs today, assailed as she is by so many forces that aim at defeating her, indeed weakening and destroying her firmness in faith.” We have great examples.
What is your own experience and example? What is mine?
The Eucharist is the source, cause, expression and effect of our unity. It is the supreme sacramental manifestation of communion in the Church. Indeed, the Eucharist creates communion and fosters communion. (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 40) The Eucharist brings about the Church’s unity through the Lord’s sacrifice and by communion in his body and blood.
We all “eat” the same person, not only the same thing; we all are in this way taken out of our closed individual persons and placed inside another, greater one. We all are assimilated into Christ and so by means of communion with Christ, united among ourselves, rendered the same, one sole thing in him, members of one another. To communicate with Christ is essentially also to communicate with one another. We are no longer each alone, each separate from the other; we are now each part of the other; each of those who receive communion is “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” (Gn 2,23).
The Eucharist is a meal of the community, but it is far more than just a meal of fellowship. Each person who receives communion receives the Body of Christ within them as individuals. In this way each person is united together to the total Mystical Body of Christ. Our union is far more than fellowship. We are the branches united to the vine and sustained by the life force of the Eucharist. The Solemnity of Corpus Christi is a good opportunity for us to reflect on the depth of God’s gift to us.
This is the exact same prayer that Jesus prayed. I can only implore you: let us pray it; let us celebrate it; and most especially, let us live it and witness it as a visible sign to the world so that, as Jesus says, their unity may be complete. We are all one body, wrote the Apostle Paul (Ephesians 4:4).
Unity does not just happen; we have to work at it. Instead of concentrating on what divides us, we should remember what unites us: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God!
Have you learned to appreciate people who are different from you? Can you see how their differing gifts and viewpoints can help … as it does God’s work? Learn to enjoy the ways we members of Christ’s body complement one another.
This celebration reminds us that when we receive communion, we do not just perform a symbolic liturgical action, we receive Jesus Christ himself.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Fr. Evaristus Okeke
“ _I am the living Bread which came down from heaven_ ” (Jn.6:51)
*Hear the Word, Eat the Bread!*
It is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean but what comes out of him (cf.Matt.15:11). But then, what goes into a man, to a great extent, determines what comes out of him. Therefore, the starting point for guiding what comes out of a man is by considering what goes into him. In the light of this, the liturgy of today offers us another august opportunity to reflect on the mystery of the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; the gift per excellone; the gift of all gifts wherein the gift and the giver are one and the same. The focus of our reflection on this great solemnity is how we are receiving this gift so that through this reception, only what is worthwhile comes out of us. As Christians, we have been given the responsibility to bear fruits; but then, are we taking in the right manure in order to produce the desirable fruits?In the gospel reading of today, we find a faith-inspiring encounter between Jesus and the crowds, with some voluntary interventions by the disciples. In their usual way, the crowds gathered around Jesus to be taught and healed by Him. Nothing is said about the identity of this crowd; but we could decipher that they hungered for God’s Word and healing. The Word of God was not something entirely new to them. In the synagogues, they heard and read the scriptures often, with some exaltations. But then, the impact of Jesus’ teachings made a huge difference in them because the Teacher and the Word were one and the same. Unlike the Scribes and teachers of the Law, Jesus was teaching Himself.
With Jesus teaching himself, it becomes easy to understand why the crowds may have lost consciousness of time as they listened to Jesus. They were getting a satisfaction that could not be gotten elsewhere. Yet, the disciples were conscious of time. It is not clear if the time consciousness of the disciples was as a result of genuine concern or that they were not listening to Jesus but were busy coordinating things. However, it is often the case that some persons in the Church find themselves in the latter situation. They get so busy with a particular service they render during liturgical and para-liturgical celebrations to the extent that it distracts them from listening to God’s Word. Whatever work you do for the Lord, never fail to listen to him.
This time consciousness of the disciples, however paved way for a deeper understanding of the mystery of Christ. Jesus is not angry that the request of the disciples may have interrupted his discourse with the crowds. He only insisted that the food must come from within. This is not because the crowds were not having enough money to go get bread for themselves, but because, just as Jesus has given them the Word which is Himself, He needed to also give them the food which is Himself. Like the teachings in the synagogues, going out to get bread will not make much impact on the crowds.
Jesus is the Word of life; He is also the Bread of life. We do not yet know Jesus if we have not come to understand and experience Him both as Word and as Bread. Both are distinct. Today, many Christians fail to grasp the distinction between the Word and the Bread. They feel that the bread is imbedded in the Word; so that having heard the Word, they have invariably received the Bread. In as much as both the Bread and the Word are Christ Himself, Jesus never intended that we settle for one as for the two. If we receive the Word without the Bread or vice versa, we short-change ourselves. If what goes into a man is incomplete, then what comes out of him will surely be incomplete.
The crowds will not go out to get bread because only Jesus can give the true bread which is Himself. Today, many are leaving the true bread for breads that do not satisfy. Today, over-familiarity has made some Catholics not to border about actions that could stop them from receiving the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. It seems as though if the only consequence of an action is that one will no longer be receiving communion, then it is not a big deal. Again, there is a subtle and false consolation that in as much as they can belong to any Church organization and society, as well as attend Mass and hear the Word, it suffices for the Eucharistic Bread. Some Catholics no longer tread consciously to avoid impediment from receiving Holy Communion. Beloved, Jesus is a whole; we cannot successfully break him into units, accepting some units and rejecting others. We either accept Jesus whole and entire or we reject Him whole and entire. Whatever will stop you from receiving communion should border you as much as losing your life.
In the second reading of today, quoting Christ himself, Paul said: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the chalice, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”. Little wonder Jesus commanded: “Do this in remembrance of me”. Our frequent reception of Christ’s body and blood is our constant proclamation of His death that wrought out salvation. This means that each time we eat and drink Christ sacramentally, we re-enact the salvific effect of the cross in us. This is our surest antidote to the whips and caprices of the devil in our world today. The surest antidote to all forms of demonic oppression and possession is Eucharistic reception. When Jesus possesses you sacramentally, you become powerful enough to fight and overcome the snares of the evil one.
Beloved, today’s celebration inspires us to go to Jesus Himself. A direct encounter with Jesus is more fulfilling. This include: worthy reception of Holy Communion, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, listening and reading God’s Word, and so on. Such direct encounter will strengthen our faith when we are besieged by false teachings, misdeeds of some ministers, bad examples and so on. Encounter Jesus directly today so that you can face Him directly on judgment day so as to live with Him directly in Heaven for all ever. *God Bless You!*
Fr. Evaristus Okeke
