Sunday, June 6, 2010

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of ChristSolemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/060610.shtml

Today is the day we celebrate the Eucharist, that Jesus Christ gave us his body and his blood forever in the Mass. We believe that the Eucharist is the Real Presence, that Jesus is fully present in the bread and fully present in the wine. We believe that even though the appearance of the bread and wine stay the same (the species), when the priest says the words of consecration (what we hear in the 2nd reading) the substance of the bread and wine change into the literal body and blood of Christ. A little morbid, but a powerful way that we take Christ into ourselves, and renew our covenant with him.

The readings today focus on the priest’s role in the Eucharist. We believe that the priest stands in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) during the consecration, which means that during the consecration it is Christ through the priest who is offering his body and blood on the altar. In the Mass, it is always a reenactment of the Last Supper.

The first reading and the psalm today make explicit Christ’s role as the priest. He is the one who intercedes between us and God, who offers the sacrifice of his body and blood as expiation for our sins on the altar at Mass, because he is “a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.” In the Gospel reading of the feeding of five thousand we see a parallel in the way the Church celebrates Mass. Jesus has the multitude split into groups of fifty (churches), and has the disciples feed them with food they brought (the species of bread and wine) which he blesses (the priest acting in persona Christi).

The powerful reminder of what this Solemnity means to us is found in this phrase: “They all ate and were satisfied.” We are hungry for God, and for love, and it is in Jesus we are fed. The Eucharist is a rich symbol and literal way for us to eat and be satisfied. It is there we are fed, and it is there we find more than we can ever want. When Jesus was done feeding the five thousand there were twelve wicker baskets filled with leftover loaves and fish. We believe that Jesus has all we need and more. He is abundant in love, and when we open ourselves to him we are filled to overflowing with it. God has more love than we have sin, much, much more.

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

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