20220619 APPRECIATING THE GIFT OF THE EUCHARIST
19 June, 2022, Sunday, Corpus Christi
First reading |
Genesis 14:18-20 © |
Melchizedek brought bread and wine
Melchizedek king of Salem brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. He pronounced this blessing:
‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, creator of heaven and earth,
and blessed be God Most High for handing over your enemies to you.’
And Abram gave him a tithe of everything.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 109(110):1-4 © |
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
The Lord’s revelation to my Master:
‘Sit on my right:
your foes I will put beneath your feet.’
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
The Lord will wield from Zion
your sceptre of power:
rule in the midst of all your foes.
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
A prince from the day of your birth
on the holy mountains;
from the womb before the dawn I begot you.
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change.
‘You are a priest for ever,
a priest like Melchizedek of old.’
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
Second reading |
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 © |
Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord
This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.
Sequence |
Lauda, Sion
The Sequence may be said or sung in full, or using the shorter form indicated by the asterisked verses.
Sing forth, O Zion, sweetly sing
The praises of thy Shepherd-King,
In hymns and canticles divine;
Dare all thou canst, thou hast no song
Worthy his praises to prolong,
So far surpassing powers like thine.
Today no theme of common praise
Forms the sweet burden of thy lays –
The living, life-dispensing food –
That food which at the sacred board
Unto the brethren twelve our Lord
His parting legacy bestowed.
Then be the anthem clear and strong,
Thy fullest note, thy sweetest song,
The very music of the breast:
For now shines forth the day sublime
That brings remembrance of the time
When Jesus first his table blessed.
Within our new King’s banquet-hall
They meet to keep the festival
That closed the ancient paschal rite:
The old is by the new replaced;
The substance hath the shadow chased;
And rising day dispels the night.
Christ willed what he himself had done
Should be renewed while time should run,
In memory of his parting hour:
Thus, tutored in his school divine,
We consecrate the bread and wine;
And lo – a Host of saving power.
This faith to Christian men is given –
Bread is made flesh by words from heaven:
Into his blood the wine is turned:
What though it baffles nature’s powers
Of sense and sight? This faith of ours
Proves more than nature e’er discerned.
Concealed beneath the two-fold sign,
Meet symbols of the gifts divine,
There lie the mysteries adored:
The living body is our food;
Our drink the ever-precious blood;
In each, one undivided Lord.
Not he that eateth it divides
The sacred food, which whole abides
Unbroken still, nor knows decay;
Be one, or be a thousand fed,
They eat alike that living bread
Which, still received, ne’er wastes away.
The good, the guilty share therein,
With sure increase of grace or sin,
The ghostly life, or ghostly death:
Death to the guilty; to the good
Immortal life. See how one food
Man’s joy or woe accomplisheth.
We break the Sacrament, but bold
And firm thy faith shall keep its hold,
Deem not the whole doth more enfold
Than in the fractured part resides
Deem not that Christ doth broken lie,
’Tis but the sign that meets the eye,
The hidden deep reality
In all its fullness still abides.
– – – – – –
*Behold the bread of angels, sent
For pilgrims in their banishment,
The bread for God’s true children meant,
That may not unto dogs be given:
Oft in the olden types foreshowed;
In Isaac on the altar bowed,
And in the ancient paschal food,
And in the manna sent from heaven.
*Come then, good shepherd, bread divine,
Still show to us thy mercy sign;
Oh, feed us still, still keep us thine;
So may we see thy glories shine
In fields of immortality;
*O thou, the wisest, mightiest, best,
Our present food, our future rest,
Come, make us each thy chosen guest,
Co-heirs of thine, and comrades blest
With saints whose dwelling is with thee.
Amen. Alleluia.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn6:51 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,
says the Lord.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 9:11-17 © |
The feeding of the five thousand
Jesus made the crowds welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing.
It was late afternoon when the Twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the people away, and they can go to the villages and farms round about to find lodging and food; for we are in a lonely place here.’ He replied, ‘Give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go ourselves and buy food for all these people.’ For there were about five thousand men. But he said to his disciples, ‘Get them to sit down in parties of about fifty.’ They did so and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven, and said the blessing over them; then he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps remaining were collected they filled twelve baskets.
APPRECIATING THE GIFT OF THE EUCHARIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ GEN 14:18-20; PS 110:1-4; 1 COR 11:23-26; LK 9:11-17]
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. This feast was instituted by the Church to help us appreciate this wondrous gift of God by giving us the body and blood of His Son so that we can be in union with Him in Spirit. Although the Eucharist was instituted at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, our focus was on the imminent passion of our Lord. This feast focuses on the Eucharist as the greatest gift our Lord bequeathed to the Church before His death. Since then, the Church has continued to do what Jesus did at the Last Supper. As St Paul in the second reading said, “This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.'”
Unfortunately, many of us are losing reverence because of a lack of appreciation and understanding of the Eucharist. Whilst it is true that the Church professes our faith in the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist and celebrates the Eucharist daily in our churches, and most of us Catholics receive the Eucharist when we attend Mass, yet one wonders how much faith and reverence is present in this exercise. More often than not, we receive Holy Communion without preparation, or are even conscious of what we are receiving. For some, it is just a wafer, for many, they know intellectually it is the body of Christ, but their actions do not seem to show that they are convinced because they lack devotion and love when they receive the Eucharist. But most receive it casually, customarily following the rest to receive because it looks good for them, superstitiously or culturally.
In truth, many do not know what they are receiving and the implications of receiving Holy Communion. This was the context of St Paul’s recounting of the institution of the Lord’s Supper because the Christians were celebrating the Last Supper without realizing what they were celebrating. They did not wait for each other to gather together before they had their meal. There was division among them. St Paul made it clear that “until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.” What does he mean by this?
When we celebrate the Eucharist, we are entering existentially into the passion and death of our Lord. This is why the Eucharist is a memorial, making present the event that happened two thousand years ago to us today. Certainly, we are not crucifying Jesus again at every Mass we celebrate, but we are making ourselves present to that event as if we were there. There is a hymn that says, “Were you there, when they crucified my Lord? Were you there, when they crucified my Lord. O, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there, when they crucified my Lord?” If your answer is “Yes”, then you know what you are celebrating at every Mass; the passion and death of our Lord.
In entering into His passion, you will surely reap the fruits of His sacrificial death for us, just as it did for the apostles, His disciples, the Centurion, the Good Thief and those who saw Him die. Indeed, when our Lord died, many hearts were moved to repentance. “When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, ‘Certainly this man was innocent.’ And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts.” (Lk 23:47f) We, too, if only we knew how much our Lord suffered innocently for us, how He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our atonement and our reconciliation with His Father by showing us His unconditional love and mercy, then we too will be moved to proclaim His death as St Paul exhorts us.
To proclaim His death means first and foremost to celebrate the Eucharist daily so that we will never forget what He has done for us. By celebrating the Eucharist as a thanksgiving for the love and mercy of God, we learn to appreciate His sacrificial love for us. This is why the Church invites us to attend Mass as frequently as possible and not just on Sundays. This is in order that we will deepen our contemplation of the great love of our Lord for us by the gift of Himself to us in the Mass and His body and blood given to us in Holy Communion. This is why I say, not many of us, even if we attend daily Mass, and for us as priests who celebrate the Mass daily, are always conscious of such a great gift the Lord has given to us in the Eucharist. If the Eucharist, which means thanksgiving, is truly one, we will grow in gratitude and appreciation of it more and more.
Secondly, to proclaim His death means that we are called to die with Him in our daily life. What we eat, we become. What we receive, we give in return. So if we consume our Lord in the Eucharist, then necessarily, we are called to become what He is for us, bread broken for others, blood shed for others. This entails that, unlike the early Christians during St Paul’s time who were selfish and individualistic when they celebrated the Eucharist, we must take care of each other, be sensitive to each other’s needs and concerns. As bishop, I receive so many complaints about the lack of hospitality, courtesy, insensitivity among those serving at Mass, and parishioners who lack hygiene and charity, are rude and unreasonable, selfish and self-centred. Where is the dying with Jesus on the cross when we celebrate the Eucharist? We take the Eucharist more as a ritual, an individualistic affair – my relationship with Him, feeling good with Him but indifferent to others.
Thirdly, to proclaim His death means that we are called to service, especially to the Church and the larger community, the poor and the suffering. In today’s gospel, Jesus told His apostles to serve the community because when they saw the large crowd, they tried to evade their responsibility by telling Jesus to send the crowd away to buy food for themselves as they were in a deserted place. But Jesus told them “Give them something to eat yourselves.” With whatever they had, five loaves and two fish, Jesus “broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps remaining were collected they filled twelve baskets.” They were the first wardens and communion ministers of the early Church. And we are told that not only did all eat to the full, but there were twelve baskets of leftovers.
Fourthly, the Eucharist heals us. The gospel says, “Jesus made the crowds welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing.” Through the Word of God, we are inspired and given hope and direction in life. Through the Word of God, the prayers and the Eucharist, we receive, we are healed spiritually because Christ’s sacrifice takes away our sins and brings forgiveness. We are healed emotionally and physically because Jesus comes to heal our heart, mind and body. We all have experienced the power of the Eucharist, whether we received during Mass or during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Many of us have encountered God’s presence in the Eucharist and find healing and comfort for our souls; something that cannot be explained but only to be experienced.
So today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, let us thank God for Jesus who is the fulfilment of Melchizedek, the King of Salem. Melchizedek was king and priest who blessed Abraham and received tithes from him, signifying that his kingship and priesthood was unique and superior to that of the Levitical priesthood. Jesus who did not come from the Levitical Priesthood is our High Priest because by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our salvation, He conquered our enemies, putting sins under His feet, as the responsorial psalm said. He is our true King of Peace and righteousness as foreshadowed by Melchizedek. Jesus as our King and High Priest continues to intercede for us forever before His Father. He brings us to God. Indeed, Jesus is truly the cause of our great thanksgiving to God. The Eucharist left behind by our Lord to the Church is truly His gift and our thanksgiving as well. Therefore, let us give special devotion and reverence to the Eucharist.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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