The Eucharist
The third stage of our pilgrimage, Mary, the Mother of God leads us down from the Mountain of the Cross and into the presence of the Blessed Eucharist. Each evening the people of Medjugorje are drawn like magnets to the Church where they spend nearly four hours praying the Rosary, celebrating Mass which is followed by prayers for the healing of the body and soul. For them, Prayer with the Eucharist was not a part of life it WAS life. So much so that God worked many physical and natural miracles. One such miracle I witnessed myself. The evening sun in the sky seemed to descend and come to rest just above the Church. But we could look at it without hurting our eyes. It suddenly dawned on me that I was not looking at the sun, a perfectly white circular object blocked the sun and the rays of the sun surrounded it. That evening, Catholics saw the Host, while non Catholics saw the figure of the risen Christ. Jesus showing us once again the HOST is His BODY.
That evening I was reminded of the Gospel passage Matthew l2:38-42. “Behold something greater than Jonah is here something greater than Solomon is here.” For the first time I understood that the word “here” really meant here, in this precise place, at this precise moment. Not only when Jesus was on earth. Right there in front of me was something greater than Jonah, something greater than Solomon, than Abraham, than Moses, than Paul, there was Jesus the Son of the living God. In Matthew28:20, it says, to I am with you always to the end of time. Jesus is always present in the Eucharist.
THE EUCHARIST
The Eucharist is the final stage in God’s revelation to us. There
are four steps, in the revelation of the Biblical God, a ‘God with
us,’ a God who is present and not a God who is, “non existent
in human matters.” The four steps are CREATION, REVELATION, INCARNATION,
and EUCHARIST. The Eucharist is really the burning bush where God reveals
himself as Yahweh that is as the one “Who is there, who is present”
“I am who I am” — close at hand for his people (Exodus3:
14)
OLD TESTAMENT
The entire Old Testament was a preparation of the Lord’s Supper.
The greatest figure of all was the Passover. It is in reference to it
that Jesus is called the “Lamb of God” In Exodus 12:13. God
says, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” That is
to say, I shall save you and not destroy you. What did God see over the
Jewish houses, that was so precious, to make Him “pass over and
tell his Angels not to destroy them: - He saw the blood of Christ, he
saw the Eucharist. In Jesus time, the Passover had become a memorial,
not only of the Exodus out of Egypt but also of all the other interventions
God made in the history of Israel. In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus remembered
the Passover. “This is my body which is given for you, do this in
remembrance of me.
NEW TESTAMENT
The event that establishes, or institutes the Eucharist is therefore the
death and resurrection of Christ, “Laying down his life to take
it again.” The Eucharist springs from Love, the reason for everything
was that he lived with us, “Christ loved us and gave himself up
for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2).
In Jesus time the Jewish Passover took place in two stages:
1. The first consisted of the slaying of the Lamb — and this took place in the Temple of Jerusalem on the afternoon of the feast.
2. The second stage was the eating of the victim during the Passover supper in each family on the night following. For John, the Evangelist, he saw the Christian Passover, and therefore the Eucharist — was instituted on the Cross, at the moment in which Jesus, the true Lamb of God, was sacrificed It was precisely at the moment of Jesus sacrifice on the Cross that the slaying of the Passover lambs where due to start in the temple. It was at that moment, John pointed to the Cross and proclaimed to the world, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). For the others, it was the breaking of bread at the last supper that instituted the Eucharist. Mark l4:22-24
THE SACRAMENT
if we ask ourselves how it is that the event of the Cross is not ended
and concluded in itself like every other event in history — the
answer is the “Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit in Hebrews 9:14
is called eternal Spirit, where eternal means not destined to cease, like
the sacrifices of the Old Testament, but to last forever. The Sacraments
of the Church, and especially the Eucharist, are made possible by the
Spirit of Jesus living in the Church. If we live the Mass in the company
of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus did on the Cross, then it will give new meaning
and new light to our celebration. Our Mass will be “a living sacrifice
pleasing to God.”
For St Francis, the Eucharist is not simply a ritual, a mystery, a truth, a dogma as a Sacrament. For him the Eucharist is a humble, defenseless, living person. It is as one of the Eucharistic prayers says, “God who places his body in our hands’. The Priest touches Christ with his own hands, Christ who is to die now no more but enjoys eternal life and glory “upon whom the angels desire to look” lPeter l:12. A Priest receives him into his heart and mouth and offers him to others to be received, how humble, that the Lord of the whole universe, God and Son of God, should humble Himself like this and hide under the form of a little bread for our salvation.
The Mass that we celebrate today is real and alive, but it is not celebrated to entertain us, it is celebrated to draw us to participate in the sacrifice of Jesus. The Eucharist: Generates life, Creates faith, Produces change, Causes miracles, Heals hurts, Drives out the devil, Imparts joy, Releases power and Brings hope. It should never be taken for granted.
OPEN HEART
There are a number of points we need to remember when we come to receive
the Eucharist.
1. Received
Receptiveness determines whether it takes root or not in our life.
Examine the parable of the sower Mark 4:1-8
a . A closed mind — (Hard soil)
b . A superficial mind — (Shallow soil)
c . A distracted mind — (Soil with thorny weeds)
d . An open mind — (Good soil)
2. Pray for the release of power.
3. Remember who you have received — a real living presence — Jesus is dwelling within you.
4. Reflect — what Jesus can do with you.
5. Servants
6. A powerful image we used on Holy Thursday evening in the presence of the Eucharist was the image of holding the hand of a person dying; remain silent — but feeling close to the person.
“TAKE THIS ALL OF YOU AND EAT”
After breaking the bread, and while he was giving it to his disciples,
Jesus also uttered some words, “Take, eat, this is my body which
is given for you.” Matthew 26:26, Luke 22:19. “Take, eat this
is my body, take drink this is my blood” to understand what this
means we must know what “body” and “blood,” means,
so that we can know what we are offering. What did Jesus mean at the last
supper when he said “This is my body?”
BODY: In the Bible, the word ‘body’ indicates the whole human being in so far as it lives its life in a body. in his Gospel John use the word ‘flesh’ instead of body. John says “the word became flesh” — human. The word ‘body’ indicates, therefore, the whole life. In instituting the Eucharist, Jesus left us the gift of his whole life, from the moment of the incarnation to the very end, including all that had made up his life; silence, sweat, hardships, prayer, struggle, joy, humiliation.
BLOOD: Then Jesus also said “This is my blood” — what else does he give us with his blood if he has already given us all his life by giving us his body? He adds death. In the Bible, the term “blood” doesn’t indicate a part of the body; it indicates a happening, death. The theme of blood is like a sort of scarlet thread or a small stream of fire that goes through the Bible from the beginning to the end, and reaches you in the Eucharist. If blood is the seed of life as was thought at that time (Genesis 9:4), then the shedding of it is the sign of death. John 13:1 says “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” The Eucharist is the mystery of the body and blood of the Lord that is of the life and death of the Lord.
OURSELVES: And what do we ourselves offer when we offer our bodies and blood with Jesus at Mass? We offer what Jesus offered. Life and death. By Body, we offer all that actually constitutes our physical life, time, health, energy, ability, sentiments, perhaps just a smile that only a Spirit living in a body can give and which is so precious at times. By ‘blood’ we express the offering of our death. Not necessarily our final death. Death means also that which right now prepares, and anticipates our death, humiliations, failures, sickness that cripples us, limits due to age or health. You are to be a living sacrifice, to be Eucharist with Jesus. As St Francis says we cannot simply be satisfied with participating in the Eucharist, we must be Eucharist.
EXPERIENCiNG GOD IN THE EUCHARIST
1. Jesus in the Eucharist is always at work around you. God was always at work around Jesus. (John 5:16-1). Jesus says “My Father is always working”. “As the Father taught me — so I am teaching you”.
2. In the Eucharist Jesus pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal. God takes the first step — God said to Moses come to the mountain. (Exodus 24:12) Jesus revealed the Father and his love to his disciples (John 17:26).
3. Through the Eucharist Jesus invites you to become involved with him in his work. Before the world was created, the Father invited Jesus to be involved in his work (John 1:1-3). ‘This is my beloved Son — I take delight in Him.’ (Matthew 3:16-17) To deliver the children of Israel — Moses the one through whom that work will be accomplished.
4. Jesus speaks to us by the Holy Spirit through the Eucharist, Bible, Prayer, circumstances, and the Church to reveal Himself, His purpose and His ways. God revealed to Moses — his purpose when God spoke through the burning bush, Moses knew it was God. He knew what God said, and he knew what he had to do to respond to the Lord.
5. Jesus’ invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. We want to walk with God by sight — to follow God, you will have to walk in faith — and faith always requires action. God doesn’t call us to get involved in his work for show. He calls you to an assignment that you cannot do without him. When God asks you to do something that you cannot do you will face a crisis of belief. What you do in response to His invitation reveals what you believe about God, regardless of what you say. Moses has many excuses why He cannot do the work. (Exodus3:11; 4:1-10; 13)
6. Jesus through the Eucharist shows us that we must make major adjustments in our lives to join God in what He is doing. Moses, David, Jonah, Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Paul. These adjustments may relate to your thinking, circumstances, relationship, commitments — beliefs — anytime you go from where you are, to where God is — is a major adjustment.
7. You came to know Jesus in the Eucharist by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you. As Moses obeyed — more was accomplished The more he obeyed the more God could accomplish through him.
EMMAUS EXPERIENCE
This Year of the Eucharist is a way of walking together with Jesus. The
Holy Father asked us to reflect on the story of the two disciples on the
road to Emmaus to learn more about the Eucharist. The two disciples were
actually walking away from Jerusalem, from the Cross, from the women’s
message of the resurrection. Jesus walks side by side with his disciples,
not ahead of them or behind them. First he accepts them even as they walk
away. He pays attention and listens to his disciple’s experience.
They tell their story, their expectations, their joys and hopes. Only
after listening to their experience does he then open their eyes to the
real reconciling power of the Eucharist. How in the Eucharist we encounter
Jesus and turning around our lives in hope. The disciples on the road
changed and returned to the community. It was God’s doing: reconciling
grace at work in disciples’ lives. The Eucharist is also a sign
of hospitality that heals brokenness of covenant relationships, restores
and transforms relationships, and reconciles families and communities.
This year of the Eucharist should be one of reconciliation between Church and the people, between families and communities, between the victim and the wrongdoers. The grace of healing flows like a running stream from the Eucharist refreshing all those who come to drink from the water of life.
READINGS Luke 24: 13-35