Tag: Body and Blood

“Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” | Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. When the poor one called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 19:13-15)

“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.”

“Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding,” we hear in the reading from the Book of Proverbs. What is wisdom in relation to God? Jesus declares himself as the true bread from heaven sent by the Father. This bread, unlike the manna that the Israelites ate in the wilderness, gives eternal life. Eating this bread means believing in the one sent by the Father and in his life-giving flesh and blood. Saint Paul tells us, “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise.” What Jesus says may sound foolish, but consider the wisdom of God spoken by Jesus to the Jews who question him. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they ask. And Jesus tells them: “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.” And God’s wisdom is this: whoever eats this bread will remain in him and live forever. That same true food and true drink is ours to receive at every celebration of the Eucharist.

God, give me the wisdom of knowing your Son more and more fully in the Eucharist. The true food of the flesh and blood Jesus offers is wisdom taken in to become more like him—now in this life and to prepare me for eternal life with you in your glory. “Come, eat of my food,” I read in Proverbs, “and drink of the wine I have mixed!” The invitation of Jesus to “take this” and “eat of it” is participation in his passion, death, and resurrection but also an invitation to the wedding feast of the Lamb, the eternal celebration of your triumphant love. Can I remember just one word from the Gospel today as I partake of the Eucharist even while looking to the hope of everlasting life? Let me come back to you continually in the Eucharist, Lord, where there is true food and true drink for this life and the life of the world to come.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and companions, martyrs

From the responsorial psalm: “Because he clings to me, I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in distress. In you, my God, I place my trust.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 12:1-12)

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders in parables. . . . “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.”

Mark’s Gospel continues from last week’s, where the Jewish leaders questioned Jesus’ authority to preach the word of God, perform miracles, and cleanse the temple area. Jesus goes on to explain the kingdom of God to them in the parable of the vineyard. The parable speaks to various facets of God’s intervention in our lives, such as his covenant with Israel, the rejection of the prophets, the sending of his son, and of his rejection and crucifixion. All of this has consequences to those who encounter Jesus and hear his word. The parable tells about the landowner, who will come and destroy the corrupt tenants and give the vineyard to others. In this, Jesus speaks of the second coming and the final judgment and the fulfillment of God’s promises in bringing all into his kingdom. In the vineyard Jesus describes, what is the fruit of the vine that is meant to be shared with all?

God, I think at first that surely I am not one of the wicked tenant farmers caring for the vineyard. Yet, I daily take a role in that vineyard and choose freely whether to do your will. Jesus says at the end of the parable: “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others.” With this in mind, how do I receive the gifts you give me in being one of your tenants? Do I take a selfish stance to the gifts you give me, or do I trust that in your boundless love, that in the new and everlasting covenant there is always plenty of the same love you entrust to me to receive and give away? In you, my God, I place my trust. Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ | Corpus Christi

From the responsorial psalm: “How shall I make a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me? The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 14:12-16, 22-26)

While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.”

Jesus instructs the disciples to go into the city to prepare a place for them to join during the Passover meal. He tells them in a specific way how to find a guest room, the upper room that had been furnished and made ready for them. Once gathered at the Passover table, Jesus breaks the bread, shares it with the disciples, and then takes a cup of wine and shares that with them. The words he speaks as he shares the bread and wine are spoken every day during the consecration of the Mass. Just as God spoke creation into existence—”Let there be light.”—Jesus, the Son of God, says, “This is my body” and “This is my blood of the covenant,” and the bread and wine became the body and blood of Christ.

God, help me dwell on what the Church celebrates today, Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Help me remember the meaning of the words of consecration: “This is my body, which will be given up for you.” The Gospel acclamation alludes to God’s unbroken covenant, as revealed to the Israelites and fulfilled in the body and blood of your Son. “This is my blood of the covenant,” Jesus says. And for what purpose did he institute the Eucharist? “I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” Body and blood of Christ, save me!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.