Replies

Meditation: Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

This is my body. (Mark 14:22)

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just pick up the phone and call God and ask him anything you want? Not to ask him to give you gifts, but to ask him for answers to the mysteries of life. Maybe you could ask why there is suffering in the world. Maybe you would ask something silly, like why there are fleas or whether the chicken or the egg came first. Or maybe you would want to know the secret to a peaceful life. Wouldn’t you love to ask God?

Well, you can—but not with a phone call! Today, we celebrate the fact that Jesus has made himself—body, blood, soul, and divinity—available to us in the form of bread and wine. In the Eucharist, he is always with us, “until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). No matter where we go, he is with us: in towering cathedrals or run-down prisons, in ornate golden chalices and in the palms of sinners’ hands.

From the time of the Last Supper until today, Jesus “disdains no dwelling, but consents to come like a guest to any heart, even one that is defiled” (St. Thomas Aquinas). He comes to transform us just as the Host is transformed: not in outward appearance but in our inner lives.

No, you can’t call God on the phone, but you can visit him in person. Just to sit in Jesus’ presence with a quieted heart can do wonders. There, in the still of adoration, he may give you a sense of peace or whisper a new thought, insight, or idea to your heart.

Will you go to him? Even if you can spend only five minutes, it’s worth it. That’s five minutes with your King! So go; he is waiting just for you.

“We adore you, Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all your churches throughout the world, and we bless you, for by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.” (St. Francis of Assisi)

Exodus 24:3-8
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18
Hebrews 9:11-15

Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion:

Mass Readings:
1st Reading: Exodus 24:3-8
Responsorial: Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18
2nd Reading: Hebrews 9:11-15
Gospel: Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

1. The first readings recounts how, through Moses, the Israelites entered into a special covenant with God at Mt. Sinai. We are also presented with Old Testament rituals of the sacrificial blood of animals. The reading ends with these words: “Then he (Moses) took the blood and splashed it on the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words of his.’” In what ways do these words pre-figure the Blood of Christ and the New Covenant?

2. The Responsorial Psalm begins with this challenging question: “How shall I make a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me?” The psalmist responds to this question by saying: “The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the LORD.” He goes on to say the following: “To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. My vows to the LORD I will pay in the presence of all his people.” How would you respond to the question posed by the psalmist? What are the some ways you can give a “sacrifice of thanksgiving” to the Lord in your own life? What more can you do to “increase” your offering?

3. In the second reading, no longer do we have a covenant though the sacrifice and blood of animals. God's new covenant with us, a covenant of love and intimacy, has been sealed with the Body and Blood of Christ. How would you describe the differences between the Old and the New Covenant? How would you explain the Father’s great love for us in allowing his Son to suffer and shed his blood on the cross for us? In what ways can we also respond to this great love by laying down our lives more fully for Jesus Christ and for one another?

4. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples that his Body and Blood are truly present in the Eucharist. It is the symbol and bond of unity between Christ and his faithful followers who feed on it. How can you further your unity with Christ, and with your fellow Catholics, who also partake of the body and blood of Christ through the Eucharist?

5. With these words, the meditation encourages us to spend time with Jesus at Mass or in Eucharistic Adoration: “Just to sit in Jesus’ presence with a quieted heart can do wonders. There, in the still of adoration, he may give you a sense of peace or whisper a new thought, insight, or idea to your heart. Will you go to him? Even if you can spend only five minutes, it’s worth it. That’s five minutes with your King! So go; he is waiting just for you.” What are some steps you can take to spend more time in Jesus’ presence at Mass or in Eucharistic Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament?

6. What steps can you take to better prepare yourself to receive Christ in the Eucharist at Mass? How does the Eucharist aid you in drawing nearer to Jesus? To the Holy Spirit? To the Father?

7. Take some time now to pray and thank the Lord for the great gift of his life and presence in the Eucharist, and for the great gift of salvation through his Cross. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as the starting point.

A Christian Pilgrim

THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

(A biblical reflection on SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY SUNDAY: THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST – June 7, 2015)

Gospel Reading: Mark 14:12-16,22-26

First Reading: Exodus 24:3-8; Psalms: Psalm 116:12-13,15-18, Second Reading: Hebrews 9:11-15

The Scripture Text

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where will You have us go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He sent two of His disciples, and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the householder, ‘The teacher says, Where is My guest room, where I am to eat the Passover with My disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready, there prepare for us.” And the disciples set out and went to the city, and found it as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

And as they were eating, He took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and give it to them, and said, “Take; this is My body.” And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Mark 14:12-16,22-26 RSV)

“…… all those are damned who see the sacrament of the Body of Christ which is consecrated on the altar in the form of bread and wine by the words of our Lord in the hands of the priest, and do not see or believe in spirit and in God that this is really the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Most High Himself who has told us, This is My Body and Blood of the new covenant (Mark 14:22-24), and, He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has life everlasting” (John 6:55) [St. Francis of Assisi, THE ADMONITIONS, I ]

Today’s celebration of Corpus Christi is an opportunity to renew our appreciation of the Holy Eucharist, by trying to realize just one truth among many about the Eucharist. That one truth is the “Real Presence of Christ” in the Eucharist.

The hallmark of Catholic piety is the belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This belief is so fundamental a part of our faith that one simply cannot be a Catholic without it. It is very appropriate, then, that we celebrate each year this feast of Corpus Christi, the feast of the holy Eucharist.

And yet we must not concentrate so much on the fact that Christ is present in the Eucharist, that we fail to see why He is present. We should not think that Christ becomes present solely so that we may receive Him in Communion, nor should we confuse the Mass with a Eucharistic devotion such as a holy hour. In other words, we need a larger view of the Eucharist.

In the early days of the Church, the Eucharist was reserved after Mass only for the purpose of giving Communion to the sick and dying who could not come to Mass. Our own devotion helps us to see that there are other reasons for reserving the Blessed Sacrament in our churches. But we need not fear that the early Catholics doubted in any way what we call “the Real Presence”. The “Real Presence” was, you might say, taken for granted as only the starting point for the profound meaning of the Eucharist, which was celebrated as an event, a happening, making real on the altar the one sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the supreme worship of the Father.

The Mass is the un-bloody sacrifice of the cross. Jesus died once; He cannot die again. But through the consecration, Jesus is shown forth to us in the state of victimhood. In the words of the late Pope Pius XII, “The Eucharistic Sacrifice is the un-bloody immolation of the divine victim, which is made manifest in a sacramental manner by the separation of the sacred species and by their offering to the Father.”

Christ is present, then, in the Eucharist not as we are to one another: sometimes loving, sometimes not; sometimes interested, sometimes indifferent. Rather, He is present precisely in the highest expression of His identity as the loving Son of God the Father, who offered Himself for our sake in sacrifice. Christ is present in the reality of His death and resurrection. Every moment of Jesus Christ’s life was lived as God’s loving Son and our Savior. But in His death and resurrection this beautiful life bursts forth in a brilliant expression of devotion and concern. This expression, through the power of the Eucharist, does not end but remains without fading, freed from the limits of time and space.

Jesus is present in the Mass in the one, unique act of dying and rising as the exalted victim of sacrifice. He is present in His body, given up for us. He is present in His blood, shed for us. Under the sign of spiritual nourishment, He is the source and pledge of our resurrection from the dead. To put it another way, Jesus comes among us not in a static fashion, as in a person asleep in his bed. Rather, He is present dynamically in the great event of His dying as the victim of sacrifice and in His rising to glory.

The wonder of the Mass is that, even though we live many, many centuries after the sacrifice of Christ, we share in His offering of Himself in perfect love to the Father. With Mary, we too in a certain sense stand at the foot of the cross. This truth is proclaimed in all of the Eucharistic Prayers following the consecration. Notice particularly the words of the Third Eucharistic Prayer: “Father, calling to mind the death Your Son endured for our salvation, His glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven, and ready to greet Him when He comes again, we offer You in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice.” The Mass is our expression with Christ of complete love for God the Father. And, the Father responds in love by giving us in Communion His Son. The gift is God’s sign of His magnificent love for us.

To sum up, Jesus is present on our altar so that through Him, with Him, and in Him we may give all glory and honor to the Father in union with the Holy Spirit. He is still our great high priest, our mediator with the Father. The Eucharist is the sacramental reality of His death and resurrection, our offering to the Father, and Father’s pledge that we are His children who will share His life forever as His resurrected sons and daughters. How right it is that we celebrate this feast of the body and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, we worship You living among us in the sacrament of Your body and blood. May we offer to our heavenly Father a solemn pledge of undivided love. May we offer to our sisters and brothers a life poured out in loving service of that Kingdom where You live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.