Give them something to eat yourselves

Sunday Reflections

1. Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, “Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.

He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.” They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.”

Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples,

“Have them sit down in groups of about fifty.” They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied.

And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets (Lk9:11b-17). Taken from this Sunday’s gospel for the solemnity of Corpus Christi.

1. The celebration of Corpus Christi is a reminder that our faith is founded on the bloody sacrifice of Jesus. Sacrifice is a distinguishing feature of any religion. Without sacrifice there can be no religion. Sacrifice can be bloody or non-bloody. The Old Testament is filled with a lot of bloody sacrifices made with animals and in one occasion, with a human being. The most memorable of these sacrifices was the one done to mark the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt, commonly known as Passover.

2. Today’s gospel did not dwell much on the Body of Christ as in last year’s one which was on the institution of the Eucharist (Mk 14:12-16, 22-36). Today’s gospel is more on the compassion of Jesus for those who come to hear the Word of God. By the healings and the miracle of the multiplication of loaves he presents himself as one who comes not only to care for spiritual needs of people but also to care for their material wellbeing. Through this miracle he invites those who preach the word of God not to neglect the overall wellbeing of those who come to listen to them.

3. Today’s second reading (1Cor 11:23-26) dwells more on the Body and Blood of Christ in the appearance of bread and wine. It maintains that based on the word of Christ these two elements when received in the Eucharist are truly the Body and Blood of Christ.

The question that rational minds continue to ask is: “How can Catholics pretend that the host they receive at Eucharistic celebration is truly the Body of Christ?” The Catholic conviction is not based on myth. It is founded on the very words and command of Christ: ‘this is my body’; ‘I am the bread of life he who eats of my flesh shall never die’, ‘if you do not eat the flesh of the son of man, you will never have life in you’, etc.

This is what we call ipsisma verbum Dei,(words directly said by Christ, therefore indisputable). In trying to domesticate this truth, theologians use the philosophical concepts of substance and accident. The substance is the invisible aspect of a things by which it remains what it is independently of its appearance. For example when you say”man”, you know that a man may be fair or dark, tall or short, kind or wicked etc. What makes a man is therefore not the visible things which are described as accidents but the substance which remains in the mind when the accidents have been removed.

With this understanding Catholics believe, following the ipsisma verbum Dei that when the priest prays over the bread repeating the exact words of Christ that the substance of the bread is changed to the substance of the Body and Blood of Christ while the appearance remains as it was before the prayer of consecration. This experience is described as “transubstantiation”.

1. What are the implications of bread and wine becoming substantially the Body and Blood of Christ? The first is that Christ is always with us. Every communion worthily received is a true physical contact with God. Receiving the Holy Communion is receiving God. For this reason he/she who must receive communion must be in a state of grace. Abstaining from Holy Communion can only be a sign of ignorance of what it means.

Do you believe that the Holy Communion is the true Body and Blood of Christ? Do you live with confidence that you have Christ with you even in the present day of fear and bad governance? Do you make out little time once in a while to adore the Lord who stays quietly in the Tabernacle thirsting for your company? An hour before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is an hour in heaven, for where God is there heaven is found. @ Vita, 19/06/22.

Peace and security upon you.

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