The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
My dear parishioners,
God is Good!!! All the time!!! And all the time!!! God is Good!!!
At Mt. Sinai the people of Israel enter into a covenant bond with God. The initiative was God’s entirely. Having delivered the people from bondage in Egypt God takes steps to make sure such a sad chapter in their history will never be repeated.
Covenant. A covenant is a solemn agreement between parties. God has already demonstrated covenant-like commitment by saving the people over and over again in Egypt and all along the journey to the mountain of God. Now it is the people’s turn to display their commitment. A key element for them is obedience to all God’s words and ordinances expressed in the previous chapters (Ex 20-23). In this reading the people have heard all God’s instructions from the lips of Moses, as they had requested (Ex 20:16), and they declare they will “do everything” God says. Moses then writes down “all the words.” Later he reads those words a second time from the book of the covenant. And once again the people declare they will “heed and do” all God has said.
Making preparation for the Passover meal. The time is clearly specified: “On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb….” Nothing about this preparation is haphazard or random. Jesus gives specific instructions to his disciples regarding where to go, what to look for, and what to say. The disciples did exactly as Jesus told them and everything came together just as he said. Some commentators refer to this dynamic as “a finding story.” A good example is found in 1 Sam 10:1-8. For the biblical author these signs point to the presence of God at work in this important event.
The Passover meal. All indications are that this last meal that Jesus celebrates with his disciples is a Passover meal. All the careful details about how this meal is to be carried are described in Ex 12:1-27. This was the sacred meal that all Jews believed commemorated the saving action of God in freeing the chosen people from Egyptian bondage. When generation after generation made memory of this event they believed that they actually passed over from bondage into freedom. For the Jewish people memory had the power to make real. This was a form of real presence.
The Eucharist. Within the context of this Passover meal, Jesus by his actions and words interprets his impending death and points to the coming kingdom of God. His actions and words are important: “took,” “blessed,” “broke,” “gave,” and “said.” For Jesus these are eucharistic words. They are included in every account of the institution of the Eucharist (Mt 26:26-29; Lk 22:14-23; 1 Cor 11:23-26). By these actions and words Jesus establishes a new covenant in his blood which will be effected through his death. However, death is not the final movement. All of this is pointing to the glory of the coming kingdom of God. Through this action Jesus pledges his real presence each time his followers make memory of him.
Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Aloysius