Today, Holy Mother church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, fresh off pondering the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mother church challenges us to look, to adore, to consume and to be transformed into the very Image and Likeness of Jesus.
In his Easter Sermon, 227, St. Augustine exhorts: “If we receive the Eucharist worthily, we become what we receive.”
Now what is the Eucharist? And why does the Church teach us that ‘The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life’ CCC 1324?
Let us reflect on this mystery, trying to understand it through the readings of today.
The Need for Redemption
In the first reading we see Abraham redeeming his cousin Lot. Genesis 14: 11 talks about the enemy who took Lot into captivity which we read in V 14. This is the enemy of our souls, the Devil, who has taken each and everyone of us into captivity to sin. Held in Sin– mankind yearns for redemption; mankind cries out for a redeemer.
Though Abraham redeems Lot, in V 20 we see the one who truly did the redemption act ‘and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’. So, this was an Act of God and a foreshadowing of what God would do in redeeming mankind.
Act of God
God’s answer to redeem mankind held in captivity to sin is to offer himself, the son who proceeded from the father (the Mystery of Trinity Sunday), and offered himself by shedding his body and blood to redeem each and every one of us. 1 Peter 1:18-19 says ’You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.’ Yes, my dear Brother and Sisters in Christ, this is the Act of God, giving himself to redeem us.
And this act of God in his Son giving himself back to God the Father, the church calls the Eucharist or Thanksgiving, an action of thanksgiving to God (CCC 1328).
Invitation to Partake
In the second reading, St Paul talks about Jesus’s invitation to each and every one of us to partake in this Thanksgiving offering often, in other words ‘frequent’ the Eucharist. Why? The answer is in verse 26, 1 Corinthians 11:26: ‘For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.’ What is this proclamation of the Lord’s death as I partake in the Eucharist-I proclaim that I have been Redeemed and Ransomed by the sacrifice of Jesus; Redeemed and Ransomed by the body and blood of Jesus? The Greek words eucharistein141 and eulogein142 recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim — especially during a meal — God’s works: creation, redemption, and sanctification . (CCC 1328)
Transformation or Sanctification
As I frequent the Eucharist, I am transformed or sanctified into what? Redeemed from Sin for a particular purpose and plan of God, to become Christ-like, this is the mystery of our faith. This is precisely the reason why you and I sing ‘We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.’ in response to the Eucharistic Prayer said by the priest ‘’ The mystery of faith.’
This is our faith, we declare and proclaim that we have been redeemed by the death of Jesus, and we eagerly wait for his coming to be united with Him, to be with him and be like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18) and that journey starts now as we partake in this most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus.
Prayer
Loving Father in heaven, we are so thankful for this thanksgiving act of your son (the Eucharist). Give us the grace to ponder and partake often the mystery of our salvation, the unfathomable love that you had for each and every one of us , that you want us all to be so united with you that you gave your only son as The Sacrifice to redeem us , let us never take this thanksgiving act ( the Eucharist) lightly or for granted, but let the sheer depth of this redeeming love sink deep into our hearts that we truly revere and hold the Eucharist as our highest treasure and prepare ourselves in partaking in the Eucharist as the greatest act and privileges of our earthy life, in Jesus most holy name we pray Amen!
[Readings: Genesis 14:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 9:11b-17]
