CORPUS CHRISTI (C)
(Genesis 14:18-20; 1
Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 9:11-17)
Dear Brothers and
Sisters in Christ, today’s three readings for Mass give clear guidance for our
thoughts about devotion to the Eucharist in Mother Church, among the Catholic
faithful, today.
Our first reading, a piece of ancient history or historical tradition, concerned Abram who had just rescued Lot, together with his family and possessions, from four invading kings, perhaps from areas such as modern Iraq or Iran, who had been ravaging Canaan. Abram, at the head of his victorious forces, was met by Melchizedek, the priest king of Salem (later our Jerusalem) with the words:
Blessed be
Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, Who delivered
your enemies into your hand.
Melchizedek is a very
mysterious figure for us, but he was doing what all priests of ancient times
were appointed for and expected to do: bring God’s blessings down upon their
people’s needs, and then be channels whereby gifts of praise and sacrifice from
men might ascend, and be acceptable, to God. Melchizedek, a priest-king, had come to congratulate
and thank Abram and his men for delivering Canaan from those northern invaders,
and he came with bread and wine to refresh Abram’s battle-weary forces.
As a priest bringing
bread and wine, of course, we immediately see Jesus in Melchizedek, and our Eucharist in the bread and wine of Melchizedek, and that is the
first type of devotion to the Eucharist in Mother Church today to which I wish
to draw your attention: communicants who like to consider their reception of the Eucharist
at Holy Mass as a sort of reward for the good they have done, or tried to do,
previously; they gratefully receive Holy Communion as a recognition of, and
reward for, their fidelity.
Our second reading gave
us a snippet from St. Paul writing to his converts at Corinth in Greece, where
he tells them and us that:
As often as
you eat this Bread (which Jesus says is His Body) and drink the cup
(which Jesus says is the new covenant in His Blood) you proclaim the death
of the Lord until He comes.
There we have a second
type of Eucharistic devotion, one which is very liturgical: many receive Holy
Communion as part of ‘being at Mass’: because without that participation their presence
at Mass, they think, would be incomplete, not ‘proper’ in some way, certainly not properly ‘fruitful’;
indeed, some such disciples might easily come to consider Mass without Communion
as not worth continuing with.
Now, we should turn to
our Gospel reading where Jesus, surrounded by a crowd of people, had been:
Speaking to
them about the kingdom of God, and curing those who had need of healing.
His Twelve disciples were
apprehensively aware that the day had been long and darkness was approaching,
and so they came to Jesus saying:
Dismiss the
crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging
and provisions, for we are in a deserted place here.
Jesus acknowledged what
they were saying, but said something which, at first sight, seemed rather pointless:
Give them some food yourselves.
They could find
nothing more than five loaves and two fish to hand.
Of course, Jesus was fully
aware of the situation and He had only wanted to focus His disciples’ attention
on what was needed and what was about to happen; and so it behoves us also today,
People of God, to attend to and learn from Jesus as did the Twelve.
First of all, notice that Jesus had said, ‘give them (the listening people) some food yourselves’. Today Jesus still expects His priests to give His People, food.
Moreover, He had the
people sit down in groups of fifty to receive the food the Twelve would give
them … they were not to grab it for themselves, they were to receive it from
Jesus’ apostles then, as from His priests today.
We are told next that:
Taking the
five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven, Jesus said the blessing over
them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
Whereupon:
They all (the crowd of five
thousand) ate and were satisfied.
Dear People of God, we rightly see that wonderful miracle of Our Blessed Lord as a foreshadowing of the Holy Eucharist in Mother Church today. Could the twelve basketfuls of remnants, collected after the people had eaten, possibly have been a grateful sign of Jesus’ recognition of the Twelve walking with, learning from, serving, indeed seeking to look after him, that day??
However that may have been, notice this one thing above all, dear friends, on this Sunday when we are considering devotion towards the Eucharist: Jesus gave His blessed bread as food to sustain: not only the crowd that day, but also all His future faithful followers, food they would need if they were to continue following Him and become true disciples furthering His mission. That is the very basic attitude, the root devotion, we should have towards our reception of holy communion at Mass these days:
We, who are trying to be faithful followers of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, NEED to receive His heavenly gift of His own Body and Blood for our sustenance, strength, and progress, for the furthering of the Kingdom of God in our lives and in the world today.
There can be other
devotional attitudes for the reception of Holy Communion at Mass, but they can
only be supplementary to what is basic: we need the food Jesus offers us, and
we are called to receive it not as an indulgence of any, sort but as the NEED
of our Catholic and Christian lives.
As regards the two other devotional, eucharistic, ‘attitudes’ previously mentioned, both need strengthening, purifying, by a more personal relationship with, towards, Jesus, giving Himself as Lord, giving His Personal Self as Saviour, to us; not just as, a supposed reward, not even as the summit, the crown, of our liturgical offering, but as a Person, our sublime Lord and Saviour, wanting to establish, build up, an intimate and uniquely personal relationship with each of us, whereby His Spirit might guide, rule, and form us as authentic disciples of Jesus, and fulfil us as adopted -- in Jesus -- children of God, able to rejoice wholeheartedly at Our Father’s heavenly banquet.
(2022)
