Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 05-29-05, Solemnity, Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

May 29, 2005
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Psalm: Sunday 25

Reading I
Dt 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
Ps 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.

Reading II
1 Cor 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.

Gospel
Jn 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."

From: Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a

Israel's Character Forged in the Desert (Continuation)

[2] "And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you
these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you
to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or
not. [3] And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which
you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know
that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that
proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. [4] Your clothing did not wear out
upon you, and your foot did not swell, these forty years.

God Not To Be Forgotten in the Time of Plenty (Continuation)

[14b] "And you (do not) forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, [15] who led you through the
great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and
thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the
flinty rock, [16a] who fed you in the wilderness with manna which your
fathers did not know."

Commentary:

8:1-6. The Israelites are reminded about the way they were tested in the
wilderness and how God gave them special protection and fatherly care; and
they are once again exhorted to fidelity. This context needs to be borne in
mind when considering v, 4: it need not be taken literally as some
rabbinical fables did, which took it to mean that in those desert years the
Israelites' clothes did not wear out and their children's clothes increased
in size as they grew tip.

"Man does not live by bread alone" (v. 3): Jesus will quote these words when
rejecting Satan's first temptation in the desert (cf. Mt 4:4).

The relationship between Israel and God, which is compared to that of father
and son (v. 5) was central to Jesus' thinking and teaching. Some other Old
Testament passages, though not many, speak of this relationship (cf., e.g.,
Hos 11:1); a greater number of passages apply this idea to the relationship
between the Lord and the King (cf., e.g., 2 Sam 7:14-15; Ps 2:7; 89:27).

8:7-20. This passage is more profound than might appear at first reading,
because the sacred writer is using the theme of the Land to show the
salvific dimension of God's actions. Israel's "departure from Egypt" marked
the beginning of God's salvific action on behalf of his chosen people. The
"wilderness", described as "terrible", helped to make that people realize
that they needed God and helped them to hope in him. The "promised land", a
"good land", particularly when compared with the wilderness, shows God's
kindness towards Israel: in it they will find rest, peace and happiness. The
only thing they need to guard against is glorying in it, as if they merited
this good fortune. If ever they did give in to that temptation, they would
be lost. Clearly, this theological-moral lesson should be taken to heart by
everyone in his relations with God, whatever his or her circumstances.

The Canaanites went in for coarse and disgusting fertility rites to win the
favor of the gods that protected agriculture and livestock. The Israelites
must do no such thing. They should show their gratitude to the Lord who
sends rain, sun and dew, by offering sober and sensible sacrifices from
field and flock. The Deuteronomic Code (chaps- 12-26) in fact deals with
agriculture-based festivals such as "Weeks" (Deut 16:9-12), "unleavened
bread" (16:3-4), "tithes" (14:22-29), etc. It is through this, and above
all, though living up to the moral demands of the Law, that Israel will show
its fidelity to Yahweh.

The ease with which men (and nations) forget God once they become rich and
prosperous is something readily proved from history. And when that happens
the threat contained in Deuteronomy in vv. 19-20 inevitably becomes a
reality, for "without a creator there can be no creature. [...] Besides,
once God is forgotten the creature is lost sight of as well" (Vatican II,
"Gaudiumn Et Spes", 36); hence the need not to put one's heart on material
things. "You need to realize," St Gregory of Nyssa urges, "the origin of
your life, your mind, your wisdom and, what is more important still, the
fact that you know God, your hope in the kingdom of heaven and your
expectation of seeing God [...], being a son of God, a co-heir of Christ and
(dare I say it) becoming divinized: where do all these things come from; who
causes them to happen?" ("De Pauperum Amore", 23).

Christian writers often apply the benefits the Israelites received during
the Exodus to the graces of Baptism and the Eucharist (cf, e.g., 1 Cor
1.0:1-11). And the Church's liturgy, after recalling, the pillar of fire,
the voice of Moses on Sinai, the manna and the water that flowed from the
rock, prays that our Lord should be for us, through his Resurrection, the
light of life, the word and bread of life (cf. Liturgy of the Hours, Prayer,
Lauds, Tuesday of Week 6, Eastertide).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

Idolatry and the Eucharist, Incompatible

[16] The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the
blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the
body of Christ? [17] Because there is one bread, we who are many are one
body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Commentary:

14-22. After illustrating the general principles by reference to what
himself does and the lessons of the history of Israel (cf. note on
chaps. 8-10), St Paul returns to the subject of food sacrificed to
idols. Christians may not attend the banquets which take place at
pagan shrines, for that would amount to idolatry. By eating the meat
of animals offered to Yahweh, Jews participated in the sacrifice and
worship in his honor; and, by receiving the body and blood of the Lord,
Christians unite themselves to Christ; similarly, those who take part
in idolatrous banquets are associating themselves not with false gods--
which have no existence--but with demons. In the Old Testament it is
pointed out that things sacrificed to idols are in fact being offered
to demons, who enemies of the worship of God (cf. Deut 32:17; Ps 106:
36-38; Bar 4:7).

St Paul's words confirm basic truths of faith connected with the sublime
mystery of the Eucharist--its sacrificial character, adverted to here
by drawing a parallel between it and pagan sacrifices (cf. v. 21;
Council of Trent, "De SS. Missae Sacrificio", chap. 1), and the real
presence of Christ, as can be seen by the reference to the body and
blood of Christ (v. 16). The Church's faith has always maintained that
the holy sacrifice of the Mass is the renewal of the divine sacrifice of
Calvary; in every Mass Christ once again offers God the Father His body
and blood, as a sacrifice for all men, with the difference that what was
offered on the cross in a bloody manner is offered on the altar in an
unbloody manner. "In the divine sacrifice that is offered in the Mass,
the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar
of the cross is present and is offered in an unbloody manner (cf. Heb 9:
27). [...] For it is one and the same victim--He who now makes the
offering through the ministry of priests and He who then offered Himself

on the cross; the only difference is in the manner of the offering" ("De
SS. Missae Sacrificio", chap. 2). "The Eucharist is above all a
sacrifice--the sacrifice of Redemption and at the same time the sacrifice
of the New Covenant" (John Paul II, "Letter To All Bishops", 24 February
1980). See also the notes on Mt 26:26-29 and par.

On the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, see the note on 1 Cor
11:27-32.

16-17. The principal effect of the Blessed Eucharist is intimate union
with Jesus. The very name "communion"--taken from this passage of St
Paul (cf. "St Pius V Catechism", II, 4, 4)--points to becoming one with
our Lord by receiving his body and blood. "What in fact is the bread?
The body of Christ. What do they become who receive Communion? The
body of Christ" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on 1 Cor, 24, ad loc.").

St Augustine places these words on Jesus' lips to describe what happens
at Holy Communion: "You will not change me into you as happens with
bodily food; rather, you will be changed into me" ("Confessions", VII,
10, 16).

Due to this intimate union with Christ, the Eucharist is at one and the
same time the sacrament where the entire Church demonstrates and
achieves its unity, and where a very special kind of solidarity is
developed among Christians. That is why it is called a "symbol of
unity" and a "bond of love;" (Council of Trent, "De SS. Eucharistia",
chap. 8; cf. "Lumen Gentium", 7; "Unitatis Redintegratio", 2). The
Fathers of the Church have seen a symbol of this union in the very
materials--bread and wine--used to make the Eucharist. The "St Pius V
Catechism" sums up this as follows: "the body of Christ, which is one,
consists of many members (cf. Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor 10:17; 12:12), and of
this union nothing is more strikingly illustrative than the elements of
bread and wine; for bread is made from many grains and wine is pressed
from many clusters of grapes. Thus they signify that we, though many,
are most closely bound together by the bond of the divine mystery and
made, as it were, one body" (II, 4,18).

"We who are many ...": the literal translation would be "We the
many...". The text derives from a Hebrew expression indicating plurality
or even totality as distinct from a single entity or a minority; the RSV
catches this idea. The same turn of phrase is found, for example, in Mt
20:28; Mk 10:45; Is 53:11.

From: John 6:51-58

The Discourse on the Bread of Life (Continuation)

(Jesus said to the Jews,) [51] "I am the living bread which came down
from Heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and
the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh."
[52] The Jews disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this Man
give us His flesh to eat?" [53] So Jesus said to them, "Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
drink His blood, you have no life in you; [54] he who eats My flesh and
drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last
day. [55] For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
[56] He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in
him. [57] As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the
Father, so he who eats Me will live because of Me. [58] This is the
bread which came from Heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he
who eats this bread will live for ever."

Commentary:

49-51. The manna during the Exodus was a figure of this bread--Christ
Himself--which nourishes Christians on their pilgrimage through this
world. Communion is the wonderful banquet at which Christ gives
Himself to us: "the bread which I shall give for the life of the world
is My flesh". These words promise the manifestation of the Eucharist
at the Last Supper: "This is My body which is for you" (1 Corinthians
11:24). The words "for the life of the world" and "for you" refer to
the redemptive value of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In some
sacrifices of the Old Testament, which were a figure of the sacrifice
of Christ, part of the animal offered up was later used for food,
signifying participation in the sacred rite (cf. Exodus 11:3-4). So,
by receiving Holy Communion, we are sharing in the sacrifice of
Christ: which is why the Church sings in the Liturgy of the Hours on
the Feast of Corpus Christi: "O sacred feast in which we partake of
Christ: His sufferings are remembered, our minds are filled with His
grace and we receive a pledge of the glory that is to be ours"
("Magnificat Antiphon", Evening Prayer II).

52. Christ's hearers understand perfectly well that He means exactly
what He says; but they cannot believe that what He says could be true;
if they had understood Him in a metaphorical, figurative or symbolic
sense there would be no reason for them to be surprised and nothing to
cause an argument. Later, Jesus reaffirms what He has said--confirming
what they have understood Him to say (cf. verses 54-56).

53. Once again Jesus stresses very forcefully that it is necessary to
receive Him in the Blessed Eucharist in order to share in divine life
and develop the life of grace received in Baptism. No parent is
content to bring children into the world: they have to be nourished and
looked after to enable them to reach maturity. "We receive Jesus
Christ in Holy Communion to nourish our souls and to give us an
increase of grace and the gift of eternal life" ("St. Pius X
Catechism", 289).

54. Jesus clearly states that His body and blood are a pledge of
eternal life and a guarantee of the resurrection of the body. St.
Thomas Aquinas gives this explanation: "The Word gives life to our
souls, but the Word made flesh nourishes our bodies. In this Sacrament
is contained the Word not only in His divinity but also in His
humanity; therefore, it is the cause not only of the glorification of
our souls but also of that of our bodies" ("Commentary on St. John, in
loc.").

Our Lord uses a stronger word than just "eating" (the original verb
could be translated as "chewing") which shows that Communion is a real
meal. There is no room for saying that He was speaking only
symbolically, which would mean that Communion was only a metaphor and
not really eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ.

"All these invitations, promises and threats sprang from the great
desire which (Jesus) had of giving us Himself in the holy Sacrament of
the altar. But why should Jesus so ardently desire us to receive Him
in Holy Communion? It is because love always sighs for, and tends to a
union with, the object beloved. True friends wish to be united in such
a manner as to become only one. The love of God for us being immense,
He destined us to possess Him not only in Heaven, but also here below,
by the most intimate union, under the appearance of bread in the
Eucharist. It is true we do not see Him; but He beholds us, and is
really present; yes, He is present in order that we may possess Him and
He conceals Himself, that we may desire Him, and until we reach our
true homeland Jesus Christ wishes in this way to be entirely ours, and
to be perfectly united to us" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, "The Love of Our
Lord Jesus Christ Reduced to Practice", Chapter 2).

55. In the same way as bodily food is necessary for life on earth, Holy
Communion is necessary for maintaining the life of the soul, which is
why the Church exhorts us to receive this Sacrament frequently: "Every
day, as is desirable, and in the greatest possible numbers, the
faithful must take an active part in the sacrifice of the Mass, avail
themselves of the pure, holy refreshment of Holy Communion and make a
suitable thanksgiving in return for this great gift of Christ the
Lord. Here are the words they should keep in mind: `Jesus Christ and
the Church desire all Christ's faithful to approach the sacred banquet
every day. The basis of this desire is that they should be united to
God by the sacrament and draw strength from it to restrain lust, to
wash away the slight faults of daily occurrence and to take precautions
against the more serious sins to which human frailty is liable'
(Decree of the S.C. of the Council, 20 December 1905)" ([Pope] Paul VI,
"Mysterium Fidei").

"The Savior has instituted the most august sacrament of the Eucharist,
which truly contains His flesh and His blood, so that he who eats this
bread may live forever; whosoever, therefore, makes use of it often
with devotion so strengthens the health and the life of his soul, that
it is almost impossible for him to be poisoned by any kind of evil
affection. We cannot be nourished with this flesh of life, and live
with the affections of death. [...]. Christians who are damned will be
unable to make any reply when the just Judge shows them how much they
are to blame for dying spiritually, since it was so easy for them to
maintain themselves in life and in health by eating His Body which He
had left them for this purpose. Unhappy souls, He will say, why did
you die, seeing that you had at your command the fruit and the food of
life?" (St. Francis de Sales, "Introduction to the Devout Life", II,
20, 1).

56. The most important effect of the Blessed Eucharist is intimate
union with Jesus Christ. The very word "communion" suggests sharing in
the life of our Lord and becoming one with Him; if our union with Jesus
is promoted by all the sacraments through the grace which they give us,
this happens more intensely in the Eucharist, for in it we receive not
only grace but the very Author of grace: "Really sharing in the body of
the Lord in the breaking of the eucharistic bread, we are taken up into
communion with Him and with one another. `Because the bread is one,
we, though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread'
(1 Corinthians 10:17)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 7). Precisely
because the Eucharist is the sacrament which best signifies and effects
our union with Christ, it is there that the whole Church manifests and
effects its unity: Jesus Christ "instituted in His Church the wonderful
sacrament of the Eucharist, by which the unity of the Church is both
signified and brought about" (Vatican II, "Unitatis Reditegratio", 2).

57. In Christ, the Incarnate Word sent to mankind, "the whole fullness
of deity, dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9) through the ineffable union of
His human nature and His divine nature in the Person of the Word. By
receiving in this sacrament the body and blood of Christ indissolubly
united to His divinity, we share in the divine life of the second
Person of the Blessed Trinity. We will never be able to appreciate
enough the intimacy with God Himself--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--that
we are offered in the eucharistic banquet.

"We can therefore do nothing more agreeable to Jesus Christ than to go
to Communion with the dispositions suitable to so great an action,
since we are then united to Jesus Christ, according to the desire of
this all-loving God. I have said with `suitable' and not `worthy'
disposition, for who could communicate if it was necessary to be worthy
of so great a Savior? No one but a God would be worthy to receive a
God. But by this word suitable, or convenient, I mean such a
disposition as becomes a miserable creature, who is clothed with the
unhappy flesh of Adam. Ordinarily speaking, it is sufficient that we
communicate in a state of grace and with an anxious desire of advancing
in the love of Jesus Christ" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, "The Love of Our
Lord Jesus Christ Reduced to Practice", Chapter 2).

58. For the third time (cf. 6:31-32 and 6:49) Jesus compares the true
bread of life, His own body, with the manna God used to feed the
Israelites every day during their forty years in the
wilderness--thereby, inviting us to nourish our soul frequently with
the food of His body.

"`Going to Communion every day for so many years! Anybody else would
be a saint by now, you told me, and I...I'm always the same!' Son, I
replied, keep up your daily Communion, and think: what would I be if I
had not gone'" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 534).

Listen to the Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus in RealAudio

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven,
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God, the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, One God,

Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father,
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,
Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony,
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging,
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns,
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
Blood of Christ, price of our salvation,
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness.
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls,
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
Blood of Christ, courage of Martyrs,
Blood of Christ, strength of Confessors,
Blood of Christ, bringing forth Virgins,
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
Blood of Christ, solace in sorrow,
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
Blood of Christ, pledge of eternal life,
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory,
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world.

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,

You have redeemed us, O Lord, in your Blood.

Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy

Jesus, graciously hear us.

Have mercy on us.

Have mercy on us.
Have mercy on us.
Have mercy on us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.
Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.
Save us.

Save us.
Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Save us.

Spare us, O Lord

Graciously hear us, O Lord.

have mercy on us.

And made us, for our God, a kingdom.

Let us pray, --- Almighty and eternal God, you have appointed your only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world, and willed to be appeased by his Blood. Grant we beg of you, that we may worthily adore this price of our salvation, and through its power be safeguarded from the evils of the present life, so that we may rejoice in its fruits forever in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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The Holy Eucharist

Prayer for the Pope