A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy

 

 

BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 8, n. 28)

Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Year C – June 6, 2010 *

 

“Eat this Bread … Drink this Cup”

 

BIBLE READINGS

Gn 14:18-20 // I Cor 11:23-26 // Lk 9:11b-17

 

 

 

(N.B. Series 8 of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy of Year C from the perspective of the Second Reading. For reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year C based on the Gospel reading, please scroll up to the “ARCHIVES” above and open Series 2. For reflections based on the Old Testament reading, open Series 5.)

 

 

I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS

 

After celebrating the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity last Sunday in which we offered praise and thanksgiving for the saving action of our loving God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – in the history of salvation and in our life, we now focus our prayerful meditation on the mystery of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The Eucharistic mystery is another aspect of the saving plan of the one and triune God. The sacrament of the Eucharist perpetuates the sacrificial action of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, fulfilling the Father’s compassionate plan, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

The Old Testament reading (Gn 14:18-20) depicts the fascinating figure of Melchizedek, a king and priest of Salem (old Jerusalem), who offers a prayer of blessing to God and over Abraham for a long-sought war victory. In his sacred act, Melchizedek used not the customary animal sacrifices, like bulls and heifers, but “bread and wine”. Melchizedek’s prayer of blessing associated with “bread and wine” prefigures the Eucharistic bread and wine, the sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we are about to conclude the “Year for Priests” this coming solemnity of the Sacred Heart, day of priestly sanctification, it is opportune to recall that Jesus Christ is a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek (cf. this Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 110). The eternal High Priest Jesus Christ perpetuates his priestly sacrifice through the Eucharist, under the sign of “bread and wine”.

 

This Sunday’s Gospel account of the multiplication of the loaves (Lk 9:11b-17) likewise prefigures the Eucharist as a sacrament of nourishment and abundance. The feeding of the hungry crowd underlines that Jesus is the true bread who satisfies all our hungers. In the Eucharist, Jesus continues to be the sacred host who welcomes today’s multitude, feeding and nourishing them, in the form of “bread and wine”. Sharing in this sacred meal leads to life transformation and our deeper communion with God and one another.

 

Harold Buetow remarks: “The Eucharist, the most exalted of the Sacraments, is essentially a meal, like the one that Jesus shared with the people in the meadow. It intends to bring together not only us with God, but us with one another. St. Thomas Aquinas said that the ultimate change that God sought in the Eucharist is not the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into Jesus’ body and blood, but the transformation of ourselves into Jesus’ presence. Our communion means that we receive the body of Christ in the Eucharist and perceive the body of Christ in our neighbor. We cannot share fruitfully in the first if we are unmindful of the second (…) Without the Eucharist, there can be no sufficient satisfaction for our hunger for peace, or justice, or love.”

 

Today’s Second Reading (I Cor 11:23-26) contains the oldest written account of the institution of the Eucharist. Saint Paul was dealing with an unfortunate situation of disunity and selfish behavior within the Corinthian community and was presenting the idea of self-sacrifice as a corrective. Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, which the Eucharist actualizes and makes present, is all-inclusive and meant for all – including the poor and the marginalized.

 

Graziano and Nancy Marcheschi explain: “Saint Paul writes to the Corinthians to correct certain abuses that had crept into their celebration of the Eucharistic meal. To impress upon them the sacredness of what they were doing each time they gathered to bless the bread and wine, he repeats Jesus’ words that so clearly express the sacrificial nature of Eucharist. Paul begins by naming the night of the Last Supper as the night Jesus was handed over. Immediately the shadow of the cross looms over the Eucharistic meal. Then, to ensure his readers have not misread the past, Paul drives it home saying that every time they eat and drink the meal they proclaim the death of the Lord. As we celebrate today’s solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Paul’s words help us understand the ongoing significance of the Eucharist in the life of the Church. What we commemorate is a supreme act of self-giving.”

 

Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist and communicate with his body and blood through the sacramental species of bread and wine, we experience the “real presence” of our Lord Jesus. Under the signs of bread and wine, the Eucharist is truly and really the body of Christ broken for our salvation and the sacred blood outpoured to seal the New Covenant by which we become God’s holy people.

 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1374-1375, asserts: “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained. This presence is called real – by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be real too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present. It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion.”

 

The following story illustrates a “conversion” experience of a lady who returned to her Catholic roots through the transforming power and influence of the Eucharist (cf. Christine Trollinger, “One Last Mass” in Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart, ed. Jeff Cavins, et. al. West Chester: Ascension Press, 2004, p. 247-249). It is a beautiful story to inspire us today – the feast of Corpus Christi.

 

On my journey back to God and religion, I attended a candle lighting service with my husband, Gene, at his Baptist church a few days before Christmas. It seemed right to stick together in this journey, to find a common ground in one denomination. And I knew, with his strong Baptist upbringing, that Gene was not about to become Catholic.

 

That night in the Baptist church just happened to be one of the rare occasions where they celebrated what they term “The Lord’s Supper”. My husband reminded me that the Eucharist was just a symbol and that I could not partake until I became a Baptist. That was fine with me, of course, because I had long forgotten anyone mentioning the Church’s belief in Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist. An usher began passing the plate of little symbolic bread across from the left … the side I was one. As the man at my side prepared to hand it off to me, the plate literally flew out of my hands, into the air. Gene scrambled to catch it. Just as he caught the plate, the little cubes of bread fell back onto it. Needless to say, I was so embarrassed I wanted to crawl under the pew. It disquieted me so much that I could not shake the feeling that just maybe I should attend one last nostalgic midnight Mass just to be certain I should become a Baptist.

 

The following Saturday was Christmas Eve. From childhood memories I knew there was always confession on Saturday afternoon. I decided I should go to confession as I had been taught to do growing up. I wanted to properly prepare for this “last Mass”. As I entered the church, there was no one around but a workman putting up decorations. I could not figure out where the confessional was and he evidently saw my confusion. When he asked if I needed help, I explained I was there for confession. Giving me a strange look he replied: “Confessions have already finished today. We are getting ready for midnight Mass.”

 

My face flushed with embarrassment. “Sorry”, I said. “I’ll just be going. Thanks so much for your help!” I was pretty sure the man must have pegged me correctly as what my father called “A Christmas Cactus and an Easter Lily”. I turned to leave as fast as I could, deciding to forget the whole thing and just get on with becoming a Baptist. As I rushed toward the side door, I ran smack into what I assumed another workman. He grabbed my arm to keep me from falling and asked, “Can I help you?” “Oh! No, I was leaving”, I stammered. “I thought there were confessions at 4 p.m. I’ll just be on my way.” Then, out of his back pocket came a Roman collar. “Come on”, he said directing me to confessional. “I’m Father Mike.” I was too dumbfounded to do anything other than follow through with my original plan.

 

That night at the Mass, I was filled with such peace. As I joined the communion line, I truly felt God was blessing my sincere seeking His will. All the way toward the front of the church, I concentrated on how to receive the Eucharist. Things had changed a lot over the past twenty years. I was a bit nervous about the fact there was no longer an altar rail. I was very busy trying to listen and learn the seemingly new rubrics from those ahead of me in line. I did not want to be embarrassed again. I thought: “That looks easy … place one hand on the other … say ‘Amen!’ to whatever the priest is saying to you … take the host, eat and off I go … No problem!”

 

As I placed my cupped hands to receive the host, I had the overwhelming feeling that this little host was not just a bread cube. It felt extremely heavy in my hand. I stumbled and hit the floor on my knees. I was once again so embarrassed and confused I wanted to disappear. Until, that is, I heard a still, small Voice say to me, “It is I, your Jesus. I was not in 'The Lord’s Supper'. I am here. Welcome home!”

 

I returned to my seat very spiritually shaken. The rest of Mass was a blur to say the least! I felt very confused, blessed and very unworthy. And my journey home began. God writes straight on crooked lines and in the following days, weeks and years I would learn just how faithful and loving He is. I now knew without any doubt, that as unworthy as I might be, I was called home to my Catholic roots.

 

 

II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

 

  1. How does the figure of Melchizedek, his offering of bread and wine and prayer of blessing, impact you?

 

  1. What insights can you glean from the multiplication of the loaves by Jesus and the feeding of the crowd?

 

  1. When we partake of the Eucharistic bread and wine, do we truly proclaim the death of the Lord and allow ourselves to be transformed?

 

 

III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD

Leader: O Jesus, our self-giving Lord and eternal High Priest, we adore you living and present in the Holy Eucharist. You are the source of eternal life and our spiritual nourishment. You satisfy all our hungers as we partake of the Eucharistic bread and wine. By our sharing in the sacred meal, you enable us to share in your paschal destiny. We believe that you are really and substantially present in the most holy sacrament of your body and blood. Transform us into “new” persons capable of utmost self-giving. Make our lives “bread broken and shared for the life of the world”. Let our blood of love flow out in tender service to our needy brothers and sisters. May we be your body of salvation and your blood of compassion for all the marginalized in our society today. We give you thanks and praise, now and forever.

Assembly: Amen.

 

 

 

IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD           

 

The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.

 

 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes.” (I Cor 11:26)

 

 

 

V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION

 

  1. ACTION PLAN: Pray that the Eucharistic Master may be given due honor and praise. By your self-giving love and sacrifice, enable the fragmented society of today to experience the healing and transforming power of the most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Do something “beautiful” for the priests as we are about to conclude the “Year for Priests” on the solemn feast of the Sacred Heart.

 

  1. ACTION PLAN: That we may goodness of the Eucharistic Master, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR: A Weekly Pastoral Tool (Year C, vol. 6, # 28).

Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang  PDDM

 

 

PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI

SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER

60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314

Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323

Website: WWW.PDDM.US

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