Sunday, June 11, 2023

THE EUCHARISTIC PERSPECTIVE

Solemnity of The Body and Blood of Christ
(Deut 8:2-3, 14-16; 1 Cor 10:16-17; Jn 6:51-58)

It is a very special day as we meditate on the mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ. The first reading tells us how God led the foundation of this mystery when He fed the Israelites with manna in the desert. The manna was given as ‘food for the journey.’ Moses viewed their hunger and distress in the desert through the lens of the manna. From the perspective of the manna, their hunger and distress became, no longer punishment or obstacle to cut short their joy of the journey, but a humbling gesture that prepared them to receive the manna and grow in their knowledge of God. He said that God did this, “That He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. And that you shall remember the Lord your God…”

 


The signification of the manna, which is fully revealed in the Eucharist, has become for us now a blessing and participation in the Body and Blood of Christ. That means the Eucharist brings transformation to our lives, ‘mingling’ our bodies with the Body of Christ. At a personal level, each believer is nourished and his body becomes a worthy dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. At a collective level, St Paul says, “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

 

In the gospel, Jesus declares categorically, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the live of the world is my flesh.” Here we see the fulfilment of what was signified in the first reading. Human life alone can easily be wounded and broken; there are insurmountable obstacles along the different aspects of our journey of life. Human hunger for love, peace, peace and life itself will remain in the desert of agony, for every effort to satisfy them by solely human strength creates more hunger. Jesus feeds us with Himself and nourishes us with His Blood that He might share life with us and become our satisfaction. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”

 

Thus, in the Eucharist, Jesus is present in an extra ordinary way in the form of Bread and wine. He says, “For my flesh is food indeed, and blood is drink indeed.” Now we can view our lives from the perspective of the Eucharist since it has taken a central stage in our lives. Meditate on the difference it makes and the deep meaning it gives when we view our lives from this mountain of grace, just as Moses did. Then, our hunger meets satisfaction, our weakness is conquered by strength, our wounds are touched by healing, courage displaces fear, peace and unity grows stronger, love dispels the darkness of hate, and life overcomes death. We see why Jesus says, “He who eats me will live because of me.” Amen

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Sunday June 11, 2023.

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

 

 

 

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