Remembering Christ

Corpus Christi 29 May 2016

First reading
Genesis 14: 18-20

Melchizedek king of Salem brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. He pronounced this blessing:

‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, creator of heaven and earth,

and blessed be God Most High for handing over your enemies to you.’

And Abram gave him a tithe of everything.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 109:1-4

Second reading
1 Corinthians 11:23-26

This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.  

Gospel	Luke 9:11-17

Jesus made the crowds welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing.

  It was late afternoon when the Twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the people away, and they can go to the villages and farms round about to find lodging and food; for we are in a lonely place here.’ He replied, ‘Give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go ourselves and buy food for all these people’ For there were about five thousand men. But he said to his disciples, ‘Get them to sit down in parties of about fifty.’ They did so and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven, and said the blessing over them; then he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps remaining were collected they filled twelve baskets.

  Reflection
By Benj Santiago  

“This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remebrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

This last Sunday of May is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. Otherwise more popularly known as Corpus Christi. Today's Second Reading from St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians relate the story of the Last Supper of Jesus with His disciples.  It was the night before Jesus was betrayed and they were all gathered up in an upper room to celebrate the Passover. Jesus took the bread and broke it and gave it to His disciples and told them that the bread is His flesh and told them to eat it to remember Him. And then the Lord commanded His disciples to do it in remembrance of Him. Before leaving His disciples, Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist.

The Holy Eucharist is one of the sacraments of our Church instituted by Christ Himself. It is the supreme manifestation of Christ's love for all of us that He offered Himself, His own Body and Blood to be the Living Sacrifice, the Ultimate Offering. I am sure the disciples did not grasp what Jesus commanded them to do. They must have wondered why they have to eat and drink the body and blood of Christ.  But they took  this to heart as they themselves offered their lives to protect and perpetuate the Church. And to to this day, the Church repeats the Holy Eucharist in remembrance of Jesus' supreme sacrifice on the cross to save us all from our sin.

May the love of Christ that is perpetually shared in the Eucharist permeate into our hearts to love and serve one another!

Prayer

 

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You for instituting the Holy Eucharist to remember that You willingly suffered and died on the cross for our salvation. We praise and thank You for Your supreme offfering, for your amazing love!  May our reception of your Body and Blood transform us to be merciful like You. Amen.