Study and Meditations on this Sunday's Scripture Readings

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To help us prepare for this coming Sunday, here are the readings, studies and reflections for this coming Sunday’s Scripture readings. This Sunday Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

Here are the Scripture readings from the U.S. Catholic bishops website.

My own weekly study can be found here under “Current Study.”

Here are three audio reflections on the readings by Sister Ann Shields, Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Robert Barron.

Here are a pair of Catholic Bible study podcasts (each about an hour long):

• St. Martha’s Adult Faith Formation.
• Franciscan Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother

The Navarre Bible Commentary for each reading can be viewed here.

Further study resources for the Readings: St. Charles Borromeo Bible Study can be found here, and Catholic Matters can be found here.

Please consider supporting those who provide these free resources.

Note: This will be the beginning of what is planned to be a “perpetual thread”. That means, instead of starting this thread anew every week, I will just add on to this existing thread. So if you’d like to be notified of when this thread is updated, you’re invited to subscribe. We’ll see how it goes.

Discussion, questions and charitable comments are always welcome. Have a blessed week!

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Introduction

Corpus Christi is a doctrinal feast established in honor of Christ present in the Eucharist. Its purpose is to instruct the people in the mystery, faith, and devotion surrounding the Eucharist. The celebration of the feast evolved during the 13th and 14th centuries. The Berengarian heresy of the mid-11th century (named after Berengarius of Tours) taught that the Eucharist was only the figure of Christ (before this time there is no record of any Christian seriously calling into question the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist). By the 13th century reception of communion was less emphasized and was to some extent superseded by merely seeing the Host. In 1209 Juliana of Liege had a vision which demanded a feast specifically for the Eucharist. After much persuasion the feast was celebrated for the first time in 1247, and Pope Urban IV extended it to the Universal Church in 1264.Saint Thomas Aquinas is credited for composing two offices for the feast.

You can find lots of great resources on the Most Holy Eucharist on the website of the Real Presence Association.

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**1st Reading - Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16a
**
On the plains of Moab, God charges Moses, now close to death, once more to proclaim the Law which he received through the revelation on Mount Sinai. This proclamation is contained in the 5th and last book of the Pentateuch called in Hebrew had-deb harim (the words) and by the Septuagint deuteronomion (second law). Moses is addressing a new generation of Israelites, all those who would have been under the age of 20 when the exodus began. By having the Law read again, Yahweh is saying that His covenant with Israel is made with all generations (Deuteronomy 29:13), past, present, and future: it is an everlasting covenant. In the four verses read today the reference is to the “manna,” the food God gave to his Chosen People during their forty years of wandering in the desert. This reference is made today because the manna has always been looked on as a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, the real heavenly food.

Here is the 1st Reading as we will hear it this Sunday:

Moses said to the people:
"Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God,
has directed all your journeying in the desert,
so as to test you by affliction
and find out whether or not it was your intention
to keep his commandments.
He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger,
and then fed you with manna,
a food unknown to you and your fathers,
in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.

“Do not forget the LORD, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
that place of slavery;
who guided you through the vast and terrible desert
with its saraph serpents and scorpions,
its parched and waterless ground;
who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock
and fed you in the desert with manna,
a food unknown to your fathers.”

 

[Fidelis]

From the Navarre Bible commentary:

Israel’s Character Forged in the Desert (Continuation)
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[2] "And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not. [3] And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; 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. [4] Your clothing did not wear out upon you, and your foot did not swell, these forty years.

8:1-6. The Israelites are reminded about the way they were tested in the wilderness and how God gave them special protection and fatherly care; and they are once again exhorted to fidelity. This context needs to be borne in mind when considering v, 4: it need not be taken literally as some rabbinical fables did, which took it to mean that in those desert years the Israelites’ clothes did not wear out and their children’s clothes increased in size as they grew tip.

“Man does not live by bread alone” (v. 3): Jesus will quote these words when rejecting Satan’s first temptation in the desert (cf. Mt 4:4).

The relationship between Israel and God, which is compared to that of father and son (v. 5) was central to Jesus’ thinking and teaching. Some other Old Testament passages, though not many, speak of this relationship (cf., e.g., Hos 11:1); a greater number of passages apply this idea to the relationship between the Lord and the King (cf., e.g., 2 Sam 7:14-15; Ps 2:7; 89:27).

God Not To Be Forgotten in the Time of Plenty (Continuation)
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[14] “Then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, [15] who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, [16] who fed you in the wilderness with manna which your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.”

**8:7-20. **This passage is more profound than might appear at first reading, because the sacred writer is using the theme of the Land to show the salvific dimension of God’s actions. Israel’s “departure from Egypt” marked the beginning of God’s salvific action on behalf of his chosen people. The “wilderness”, described as “terrible”, helped to make that people realize that they needed God and helped them to hope in him. The “promised land”, a “good land”, particularly when compared with the wilderness, shows God’s kindness towards Israel: in it they will find rest, peace and happiness. The only thing they need to guard against is glorying in it, as if they merited this good fortune. If ever they did give in to that temptation, they would be lost. Clearly, this theological-moral lesson should be taken to heart by everyone in his relations with God, whatever his or her circumstances.

The Canaanites went in for coarse and disgusting fertility rites to win the favor of the gods that protected agriculture and livestock. The Israelites must do no such thing. They should show their gratitude to the Lord who sends rain, sun and dew, by offering sober and sensible sacrifices from field and flock. The Deuteronomic Code (chaps- 12-26) in fact deals with agriculture-based festivals such as “Weeks” (Deut 16:9-12), “unleavened bread” (16:3-4), “tithes” (14:22-29), etc. It is through this, and above all, though living up to the moral demands of the Law, that Israel will show its fidelity to Yahweh.

The ease with which men (and nations) forget God once they become rich and prosperous is something readily proved from history. And when that happens the threat contained in Deuteronomy in vv. 19-20 inevitably becomes a reality, for “without a creator there can be no creature. …] Besides, once God is forgotten the creature is lost sight of as well” (Vatican II, “Gaudiumn Et Spes”, 36); hence the need not to put one’s heart on material things. “You need to realize,” St Gregory of Nyssa urges, “the origin of your life, your mind, your wisdom and, what is more important still, the fact that you know God, your hope in the kingdom of heaven and your expectation of seeing God …], being a son of God, a co-heir of Christ and (dare I say it) becoming divinized: where do all these things come from; who causes them to happen?” (“De Pauperum Amore”, 23).

Christian writers often apply the benefits the Israelites received during the Exodus to the graces of Baptism and the Eucharist (cf, e.g., 1 Cor 1.0:1-11). And the Church’s liturgy, after recalling, the pillar of fire, the voice of Moses on Sinai, the manna and the water that flowed from the rock, prays that our Lord should be for us, through his Resurrection, the light of life, the word and bread of life (cf. Liturgy of the Hours, Prayer, Lauds, Tuesday of Week 6, Eastertide).

 

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From the 1859 Haydock Commentary:

The people is put in mind of God’s dealings with them, to the end that they may love him and serve him.

2 And thou shalt remember all the way, through which the Lord thy God hath brought thee for forty years through the desert, to afflict thee, and to prove thee, and that the things that were in thy heart might be made known, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or not.

Ver. 2. Prove, which is done frequently by posterity also, ver. 3, 12, 14. After trying the fidelity of his people by various means, to make them sensible of their own weakness and inability to do good, God takes pity on them, ver. 16. (Calmet) — Known. Hebrew, “to know (by experience) what was in thy heart, whether,” &c. The original term signifies also to make known to others, Genesis xxii. 12. (Haydock)

*3 He afflicted thee with want, and gave thee manna for thy food, which neither thou nor thy fathers knew: to shew that not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.

Ver. 3. Not in bread alone, &c. i.e. That God is able to make food of what he pleases for the support of man. (Challoner) — Obedience to his law will insure a happy life, ver. 1. God can support a person’s life without any sustenance, as he did Moses, Elias, &c., for a long time. When the usual food is wanting, he can send some of a supernatural kind, as he did the manna. — Word. Hebrew, “by whatever proceedeth,” &c. The Septuagint and our Saviour (Matthew iv. 4,) cite it, however, agreeably to the Vulgate. The word of God and Jesus Christ nourish our souls. (St. Chrysostom) — Philo says, “God feeds us with his most universal word…which is more ancient than the creation.” (Calmet) — God could make the most poisonous things afford more nutrition, if he commanded us to eat them, than even the most delicious viands. (Abulensis) (Tirinus) — God can make food of whatever He pleases, or sustain men without meat. (Worthington)
*
14 Thy heart be lifted up, and thou remember not the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage:

15 And was thy leader in the great and terrible wilderness, *wherein there was the serpent burning with his breath, and the scorpion and the dipsas, and no waters at all: *who brought forth streams out of the hardest rock,

Ver. 15. Breath. Hebrew saraphh, or the basilisk, as it is rendered, Isaias xxx. 6. It destroys both the grass and animals, by the burning infection of its breath. (Galen; Pliny, [Natural History?] viii. 19. See Numbers xxi. 6. (Tirinus) — Scorpion stings with its tail. — Dipsas. A serpent whose bite causeth a violent thirst: from whence it has its name; for in Greek, dipsa signifies thirst. (Challoner) — It is impossible to quench this thirst, (Worthington) and those who are bitten by this serpent can discharge no water. (Calmet) — They drink till they burst, unless they can procure some treacle, or remedy against the poison. (Dioscorides) (Tirinus) — Some translate the Hebrew, “scorpions, and (at the place of) drought, where there was no water: he brought,” &c., whether Tsommaon be the name of a particular place, (Isaias xxxv. 7.; Onkelos; Calmet) or it may be applied to the greatest part of that desert, where the want of water so often occasioned the murmurs of the people. (Haydock)
*
16 And fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not. And after he had afflicted and proved thee, at the last he had mercy on thee,

 

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The 1st Reading is alluded to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the following paragraphs:

**1334 **In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator. But they also received a new significance in the context of the Exodus: the unleavened bread that Israel eats every year at Passover commemorates the haste of the departure that liberated them from Egypt; the remembrance of the manna in the desert will always recall to Israel that it lives by the bread of the Word of God; their daily bread is the fruit of the promised land, the pledge of God’s faithfulness to his promises. The “cup of blessing” at the end of the Jewish Passover meal adds to the festive joy of wine an eschatological dimension: the messianic expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he gave a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup.

2835 This petition “give us this day our daily bread”, from the “Our Father”], with the responsibility it involves, also applies to another hunger from which men are perishing: “Man does not live by bread alone, but . . . by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” that is, by the Word he speaks and the Spirit he breathes forth. Christians must make every effort “to proclaim the good news to the poor.” There is a famine on earth, “not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.” For this reason the specifically Christian sense of this fourth petition concerns the Bread of Life: The Word of God accepted in faith, the Body of Christ received in the Eucharist.

 

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A meditation of the 1st Reading for practical application from Catholic Matters:

**APPLICATION: **Abraham, the father and founder of the Chosen People, was told by God to leave his home and pagan surroundings in Mesopotamia and come to a land that he would give to his descendants. Abraham trusted God and came to that foreign land. He and his descendants suffered many hardships before God eventually gave them possession of the Promised Land. Among these sufferings and hardships was the slavery they underwent in Egypt for several generations, until finally God stepped in and liberated them.

Their journey from Egypt to Palestine, or Canaan as it was then called, led through the vast desert of Sinai, an expanse of wilderness without food or water—where they could have perished to a man if their good God had not provided for them. This he did by giving them a special food which fell around their encampments every evening—a food that has ever since been called “manna,” expressing the wonderment of the Israelites when they first saw it.

This food, as well as water which burst forth from the rocks at the command of Moses, nourished and sustained them during their forty years’ journeying in the desert until they eventually reached home—the land promised to them by God.

That this “manna,” this miraculous food from the skies, was a symbol, a foreshadowing, of the more miraculous food from heaven which our divine Lord was to give to us to sustain and nourish us spiritually on our journey toward our eternal promised land, hardly needs emphasizing. Our Lord himself refers to the “manna” given by God to their ancestors in the desert but says that he will give them the true bread from heaven (Jn. 6: 31ff).

This promise he fulfilled on the night before he was crucified when he took bread, broke and gave it to his disciples, saying: “This is my body, which will be given for you” and taking the cup of wine he said: “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood which will be poured out for you” (Lk. 22. 19). God the Son took our human nature, came on earth, in order to make all men not only God’s Chosen People, but God’s chosen children. By becoming man he raised us to the status of sons of God, heirs to God’s kingdom, heaven. To do this he suffered humiliations and torture at the hands of the men he had come to save, but through his death and resurrection he won for us the right to the eternal “promised land.”

However, to reach our inheritance we have to journey through the desert of this life, a journey during which we need above all a spiritual nourishment to sustain us and strengthen us to persevere amidst the many difficulties and hindrances our human nature and this earthly world put in our way. Christ, because he was God, because he foresaw our weaknesses and our needs, and because “he loved us to the end,” found a way of remaining with us to sustain us on our journey. He left us himself—under the form of food, bread and wine, to nourish us and help us to grow daily stronger in our spiritual, supernatural life and thus be able to reach the eternal home he has prepared for us.

God was surely good to the Israelites—he fed them miraculously in the desert and finally brought them into their “promised land.” But how much more generously and more miraculously has he dealt with us? Our promised land is not some strip of earth on which we can enjoy a few years of comfort—it is an everlasting home of peace and joy—it is a sharing in the happiness of the Blessed Trinity. The nourishment he has miraculously provided for us on our journey is not some food to sustain our earthly life, but the body and blood of his divine Son which only he, God, could give us and which only he, a God of infinite love, could think of giving. That we can never thank him enough goes without saying, but we can and we must strive to appreciate this, his greatest of gifts, to his Church and thus to us, by always trying to make ourselves worthy to receive him with the greatest respect and devotion of which we are capable.

 

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2nd Reading - 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

Saint Paul established the Christian community at Corinth during his second missionary journey (A.D. 50-52). He preached the gospel there for a year and a half, aided by Silas and Timothy. After he left Corinth, the city had a series of apostolic visitors. Apollos, a brilliant preacher (Acts 18:24-26) arrived about a year after Paul left. It is likely that around this time Peter also paid a short visit to Corinth, although it is not recorded. This letter was written shortly before Easter and offers the Corinthians guidance on some areas that they have found problematic.

One of the problems which Paul addresses is the significance of social gestures. The idea of unity and fellowship with God through eating a sacrifice was strong in Judaism and Christianity as well as in paganism. In Old Testament days, when a Jew offered a sacrifice, he ate a part of that sacrifice as a way of restoring his unity with God, against whom he had sinned (Deuteronomy 12:17-18). By participating in temple banquets (there were temples dedicated to the cult of the emperor, to various Greek deities, and to Egyptian gods in Corinth), Christians had no intention of worshiping idols, but Paul believed that such social gestures had an objective significance independent of the intentions of those who made them; they gave the appearance of acceptance and worship, even when it was not intended. He makes his point by using the Eucharist as an example of a banquet of unity. Catholic Christians participate in Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice when they eat and drink the Body and Blood of Our Lord in Holy Communion.

Here is the 2nd Reading as we will hear it this Sunday:

Brothers and sisters:
The cup of blessing that we bless,
is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?
The bread that we break,
is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
Because the loaf of bread is one,
we, though many, are one body,
for we all partake of the one loaf.

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From the* Navarre Bible *commentary:

14-22. After illustrating the general principles by reference to what himself does and the lessons of the history of Israel …], St Paul returns to the subject of food sacrificed to idols. Christians may not attend the banquets which take place at pagan shrines, for that would amount to idolatry. By eating the meat of animals offered to Yahweh, Jews participated in the sacrifice and worship in his honor; and, by receiving the body and blood of the Lord, Christians unite themselves to Christ; similarly, those who take part in idolatrous banquets are associating themselves not with false gods–which have no existence–but with demons. In the Old Testament it is pointed out that things sacrificed to idols are in fact being offered to demons, who enemies of the worship of God (cf. Deut 32:17; Ps 106:36-38; Bar 4:7).

St Paul’s words confirm basic truths of faith connected with the sublime mystery of the Eucharist–its sacrificial character, adverted to here by drawing a parallel between it and pagan sacrifices (cf. v. 21; Council of Trent, “De SS. Missae Sacrificio”, chap. 1), and the real presence of Christ, as can be seen by the reference to the body and blood of Christ (v. 16). The Church’s faith has always maintained that the holy sacrifice of the Mass is the renewal of the divine sacrifice of Calvary; in every Mass Christ once again offers God the Father His body and blood, as a sacrifice for all men, with the difference that what was offered on the cross in a bloody manner is offered on the altar in an unbloody manner. “In the divine sacrifice that is offered in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is present and is offered in an unbloody manner (cf. Heb 9:27). …] For it is one and the same victim–He who now makes the offering through the ministry of priests and He who then offered Himself on the cross; the only difference is in the manner of the offering” (“De SS. Missae Sacrificio”, chap. 2). “The Eucharist is above all a sacrifice–the sacrifice of Redemption and at the same time the sacrifice of the New Covenant” (John Paul II, “Letter To All Bishops”, 24 February 1980) …]

Idolatry and the Eucharist, Incompatible
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[16] The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? [17] Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. *
**
16-17.* The principal effect of the Blessed Eucharist is intimate union with Jesus. The very name “communion”–taken from this passage of St Paul (cf. “St Pius V Catechism”, II, 4, 4)–points to becoming one with our Lord by receiving his body and blood. “What in fact is the bread? The body of Christ. What do they become who receive Communion? The body of Christ” (Chrysostom, “Hom. on 1 Cor, 24, ad loc.”).

St Augustine places these words on Jesus’ lips to describe what happens at Holy Communion: “You will not change me into you as happens with bodily food; rather, you will be changed into me” (“Confessions”, VII, 10, 16).

Due to this intimate union with Christ, the Eucharist is at one and the same time the sacrament where the entire Church demonstrates and achieves its unity, and where a very special kind of solidarity is developed among Christians. That is why it is called a “symbol of unity” and a “bond of love;” (Council of Trent, “De SS. Eucharistia”, chap . 8; cf. “Lumen Gentium”, 7; “Unitatis Redintegratio”, 2). The Fathers of the Church have seen a symbol of this union in the very materials–bread and wine–used to make the Eucharist. The “St Pius V Catechism” sums up this as follows: “the body of Christ, which is one, consists of many members (cf. Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor 10:17; 12:12), and of this union nothing is more strikingly illustrative than the elements of bread and wine; for bread is made from many grains and wine is pressed from many clusters of grapes. Thus they signify that we, though many, are most closely bound together by the bond of the divine mystery and made, as it were, one body” (II, 4,18).

“We who are many …”: the literal translation would be “We the many …”. The text derives from a Hebrew expression indicating plurality or even totality as distinct from a single entity or a minority; the RSV catches this idea. The same turn of phrase is foun d, for example, in Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45; Is 53:11.

 

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From the 1859 Haydock Commentary:

We are to fly from the service of idols, and from things offered to devils.

16 The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?

Ver. 16.* The chalice of benediction,* &c. Which the priests bless or consecrate,* is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break,* (so called because of the outward appearance of bread)* is it not the partaking or communion of the body of the Lord? *See St. Chrysostom here, hom. xxiv. p. 396. and p. 400. See also the Annotations, Matthew xxvi. 26. (Witham) — Here the apostle puts them in mind of the partaking of the body and blood of Christ in the sacred mysteries, and becoming thereby one mystical body with Christ. From whence he infers, (ver. 21.) that they who are made partakers with Christ, by the eucharistic sacrifice, and sacrament, must not be made partakers with devils, by eating of the meats sacrificed to them. (Challoner)

17 For we being many, are one bread, one body, all who partake of one bread.
**
Ver. 17.** We being many, are one bread. Or, as it may be rendered, agreeably both to the Latin and Greek, because the bread is one, all we, being many, are one body, who partake of that one bread. For it is by our communicating with Christ and with one another, in this blessed Sacrament, that we are formed into one mystical body; and made, as it were, one bread, compounded of many grains of corn, closely united together. (Challoner) — From the sacrament of the real body of Christ in the eucharist, he passeth to the effect of this sacrament, which is to unite all those who partake of it, as members of the same mystical body of Christ, which is his Church: and from hence he presently draws this consequence, that such as are members of that body, of which Christ is the head, cannot have any communication with idolaters, or with those that offer sacrifices to idols and devils. (Witham)

 

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The 2nd Reading is cited or alluded to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the following paragraphs:

1329 The Lord’s Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem.

The Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meal when as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread, above all at the Last Supper. It is by this action that his disciples will recognize him after his Resurrection, and it is this expression that the first Christians will use to designate their Eucharistic assemblies; by doing so they signified that all who eat the one broken bread, Christ, enter into communion with him and form but one body in him.

The Eucharistic assembly (synaxis), because the Eucharist is celebrated amid the assembly of the faithful, the visible expression of the Church.

**1331 **Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body. We also call it: the holy things (ta hagia; sancta) - the first meaning of the phrase “communion of saints” in the Apostles’ Creed - *the bread of angels, bread from heaven, medicine of immortality, viaticum. . *. .

1396 The unity of the Mystical Body: the Eucharist makes the Church. Those who receive the Eucharist are united more closely to Christ. Through it Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body - the Church. Communion renews, strengthens, and deepens this incorporation into the Church, already achieved by Baptism. In Baptism we have been called to form but one body. The Eucharist fulfills this call: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread:”

*If you are the body and members of Christ, then it is your sacrament that is placed on the table of the Lord; it is your sacrament that you receive. To that which you are you respond "Amen" ("yes, it is true!") and by responding to it you assent to it. For you hear the words, "the Body of Christ" and respond "Amen." Be then a member of the Body of Christ that your Amen may be true. *

1334 Cited in the 1st Reading.

1621 In the Latin Rite the celebration of marriage between two Catholic faithful normally takes place during Holy Mass, because of the connection of all the sacraments with the Paschal mystery of Christ. In the Eucharist the memorial of the New Covenant is realized, the New Covenant in which Christ has united himself for ever to the Church, his beloved bride for whom he gave himself up. It is therefore fitting that the spouses should seal their consent to give themselves to each other through the offering of their own lives by uniting it to the offering of Christ for his Church made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice, and by receiving the Eucharist so that, communicating in the same Body and the same Blood of Christ, they may form but “one body” in Christ.

 

[Fidelis]

A meditation of the 2nd Reading for practical application from Catholic Matters:

**APPLICATION: **The feast of Corpus Christi or the Body of Christ is a commemoration or calling to mind of that extraordinary act of love for us which our Divine Lord performed on the night before he died. Through his divine power he left to his Church, to his followers, the power to re-present again and again the sacrifice of his human nature which he was about to offer to the Father next day on the cross for the salvation and elevation of mankind.

As he could die only once in his being God he was able to do so (that natural body, he ordained) because this death of his could be repeated time and again under the form of the separation of his precious blood from his body, as happened on Calvary, by means of the separate acts of consecration of bread and wine performed by those to whom he gave this power. This is the meaning of the Eucharist as sacrifice.

It is as true a sacrifice as his death on the cross was, for so he willed it to be. In fact it is the same sacrifice, but under such another form as makes its repetition possible. As God he could do this, he said he was doing it and he gave a command to his Apostles (and through them to their successors) to continue doing it. The follower of Christ who believes he was what he claimed and proved himself to be, God in human nature, is left no room for doubt. Instead he ought to be full of wonder and admiration at the love and thoughtfulness of Christ who has left us a means of giving God infinite honor. We give him this by re-offering in the Eucharistic sacrifice his divine Son’s sacrifice of his human life on the cross. Sacrifice was always an essential part of all religions. In the Old Testament God commanded the offerings of animals and fruits of the field. They had value insofar as God accepted them as a sign, a token, of the true sacrifice of infinite value to be offered later by his divine Son.

Our sacrifice of the Mass therefore is a sacrifice which gives infinite honor and glory to God and renews for us all the divine blessings won on calvary.

The Eucharist, the Body of Christ, is also a sacrament, in fact the sacrament, he left to the Church. Under the external signs of bread and wine which are a natural bodily nourishment, we are given to eat and drink the body and blood of Christ. They are really present because of the divine power of the consecration pronounced by the celebrant acting in Christ’s name. This eucharistic food is for us our spiritual nourishment.

The receiving of Holy Communion, as it is called, is an essential sequence to the offering of Christ in the sacrifice of the Mass. He is present on our altars to re-offer his sacrifice of Calvary; his coming has the added purpose of nourishing us spiritually. When instituting the sacrifice he associated the sacrament with it, when he said of the consecrated bread: “take it and eat,” and of the cup: “drink all of you from this.” To partake of part of the sacrifices offered by pagans to their gods (and by the Jews to the true God) was looked on as a way of uniting the offerer with God. In the Mass all those present are the offerers, the celebrant alone has the power of consecration, but all are taking part in offering the sacrifice and should therefore take part in the eating of the sacrifice offered.

While the sacrifice of the Mass honors God of itself, our participation puts us in intimate union with God for we take within us Christ who is God. Thus we become the abode of the divine and the recipients of God’s most abundant graces. This is what Holy Communion means—union with the holy of holies, intimate union with God.

 

[Fidelis]

Gospel Reading: John 6:51-58

* On the heels of his miracle of the feeding of the 5000 (John 6:1-15), Jesus delivers his “bread of life” discourse in the synagogue at the seaside village of Capernaum (verse 59). The time is Passover (verse 4), one year before his Passion, death, and Resurrection.

* In the first part of the discourse (verses 35-47), Jesus invites his listeners to have faith in him. Their main objections at this point are his claim to have come down from heaven (verses 33, 41-42) and his claim to be able to raise them on the last day (verse 35)—something he could only do if he were God.

* The second part of his address (verses 48-58) consists of an invitation to the Eucharist, the partaking of his body and blood.  His hearers are revolted by the idea, understanding him—correctly—as speaking literally (this is evident by their reactions in verses 52, 60, 66). Later, some of these hearers—including many of his disciples (verses 60, 66), including Judas (verses 64-65, 70-71)—“no longer accompanied him” because of this teaching. Only those who trusted in him completely, though as bewildered as the others, stayed with him (verses 67-69).

Here is the Gospel Reading as we will hear it this Sunday:

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world.”

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

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From the Navarre Bible commentary:

The Discourse on the Bread of Life (Continuation)
-------------------------------------------------
*(Jesus said to the Jews,) [51] “I am the living bread which came down from Heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.” *

49-51. The manna during the Exodus was a figure of this bread—Christ Himself–which nourishes Christians on their pilgrimage through this world. Communion is the wonderful banquet at which Christ gives Himself to us: “the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh”. These words promise the manifestation of the Eucharist at the Last Supper: “This is My body which is for you” (1 Corinthians11:24). The words “for the life of the world” and “for you” refer to the redemptive value of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In some sacrifices of the Old Testament, which were a figure of the sacrifice of Christ, part of the animal offered up was later used for food,signifying participation in the sacred rite (cf. Exodus 11:3-4). So, by receiving Holy Communion, we are sharing in the sacrifice of Christ: which is why the Church sings in the Liturgy of the Hours on the Feast of Corpus Christi: “O sacred feast in which we partake of Christ: His sufferings are remembered, our minds are filled with His grace and we receive a pledge of the glory that is to be ours” (“Magnificat Antiphon”, Evening Prayer II).

*[52] The Jews disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” *

52. Christ’s hearers understand perfectly well that He means exactly what He says; but they cannot believe that what He says could be true; if they had understood Him in a metaphorical, figurative or symbolic sense there would be no reason for them to be surprised and nothing to cause an argument. Later, Jesus reaffirms what He has said—confirming what they have understood Him to say (cf. verses 54-56).

Continued on the next post…

 

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*[53] So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you; *

53. Once again Jesus stresses very forcefully that it is necessary to receive Him in the Blessed Eucharist in order to share in divine life and develop the life of grace received in Baptism. No parent is content to bring children into the world: they have to be nourished and looked after to enable them to reach maturity. “We receive Jesus Christ in Holy Communion to nourish our souls and to give us an increase of grace and the gift of eternal life” (“St. Pius X Catechism”, 289).

*[54] he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. *

**54. **Jesus clearly states that His body and blood are a pledge of eternal life and a guarantee of the resurrection of the body. St. Thomas Aquinas gives this explanation: “The Word gives life to our souls, but the Word made flesh nourishes our bodies. In this Sacrament is contained the Word not only in His divinity but also in His humanity; therefore, it is the cause not only of the glorification of our souls but also of that of our bodies” (“Commentary on St. John, in loc.”).

Our Lord uses a stronger word than just “eating” (the original verb could be translated as “chewing”) which shows that Communion is a real meal. There is no room for saying that He was speaking only symbolically, which would mean that Communion was only a metaphor and not really eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ.

“All these invitations, promises and threats sprang from the great desire which (Jesus) had of giving us Himself in the holy Sacrament of the altar. But why should Jesus so ardently desire us to receive Him in Holy Communion? It is because love always sighs for, and tends to a union with, the object beloved. True friends wish to be united in such a manner as to become only one. The love of God for us being immense, He destined us to possess Him not only in Heaven, but also here below, by the most intimate union, under the appearance of bread in the Eucharist. It is true we do not see Him; but He beholds us, and is really present; yes, He is present in order that we may possess Him and He conceals Himself, that we may desire Him, and until we reach our true homeland Jesus Christ wishes in this way to be entirely ours, and to be perfectly united to us” (St. Alphonsus Liguori, “The Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ Reduced to Practice”, Chapter 2).

Continued on the next post…

 

[Fidelis]

*[55] For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. *

55. In the same way as bodily food is necessary for life on earth, Holy Communion is necessary for maintaining the life of the soul, which is why the Church exhorts us to receive this Sacrament frequently: “Every day, as is desirable, and in the greatest possible numbers, the faithful must take an active part in the sacrifice of the Mass, avail themselves of the pure, holy refreshment of Holy Communion and make a suitable thanksgiving in return for this great gift of Christ the Lord. Here are the words they should keep in mind: `Jesus Christ and the Church desire all Christ’s faithful to approach the sacred banquet every day. The basis of this desire is that they should be united to God by the sacrament and draw strength from it to restrain lust, to wash away the slight faults of daily occurrence and to take precautions against the more serious sins to which human frailty is liable’ (Decree of the S.C. of the Council, 20 December 1905)” ([Pope] Paul VI, “Mysterium Fidei”).

“The Savior has instituted the most august sacrament of the Eucharist, which truly contains His flesh and His blood, so that he who eats this bread may live forever; whosoever, therefore, makes use of it often with devotion so strengthens the health and the life of his soul, that it is almost impossible for him to be poisoned by any kind of evil affection. We cannot be nourished with this flesh of life, and live with the affections of death. …]. Christians who are damned will be unable to make any reply when the just Judge shows them how much they are to blame for dying spiritually, since it was so easy for them to maintain themselves in life and in health by eating His Body which He had left them for this purpose. Unhappy souls, He will say, why did you die, seeing that you had at your command the fruit and the food of life?” (St. Francis de Sales, “Introduction to the Devout Life”, II, 20, 1).

*[56] He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. *

56. The most important effect of the Blessed Eucharist is intimate union with Jesus Christ. The very word “communion” suggests sharing in the life of our Lord and becoming one with Him; if our union with Jesus is promoted by all the sacraments through the grace which they give us, this happens more intensely in the Eucharist, for in it we receive not only grace but the very Author of grace: “Really sharing in the body of the Lord in the breaking of the eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another. `Because the bread is one, we, though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread’ (1 Corinthians 10:17)” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 7). Precisely because the Eucharist is the sacrament which best signifies and effects our union with Christ, it is there that the whole Church manifests and effects its unity: Jesus Christ “instituted in His Church the wonderful sacrament of the Eucharist, by which the unity of the Church is both signified and brought about” (Vatican II, “Unitatis Redintegratio”, 2).

*[57] As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me will live because of Me. *

57. In Christ, the Incarnate Word sent to mankind, "the whole fullness of deity, dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9) through the ineffable union of His human nature and His divine nature in the Person of the Word. By receiving in this sacrament the body and blood of Christ indissolubly united to His divinity, we share in the divine life of the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. We will never be able to appreciate enough the intimacy with God Himself–Father, Son and Holy Spirit—that we are offered in the eucharistic banquet.

“We can therefore do nothing more agreeable to Jesus Christ than to go to Communion with the dispositions suitable to so great an action, since we are then united to Jesus Christ, according to the desire of this all-loving God. I have said with suitable' and not worthy’ disposition, for who could communicate if it was necessary to be worthy of so great a Savior? No one but a God would be worthy to receive a God. But by this word suitable, or convenient, I mean such a disposition as becomes a miserable creature, who is clothed with the unhappy flesh of Adam. Ordinarily speaking, it is sufficient that we communicate in a state of grace and with an anxious desire of advancing in the love of Jesus Christ” (St. Alphonsus Liguori, “The Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ Reduced to Practice”, Chapter 2).

[58] This is the bread which came from Heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."

58. For the third time (cf. 6:31-32 and 6:49) Jesus compares the true bread of life, His own body, with the manna God used to feed the Israelites every day during their forty years in the wilderness–thereby, inviting us to nourish our soul frequently with the food of His body.

“`Going to Communion every day for so many years! Anybody else would be a saint by now, you told me, and I…I’m always the same!’ Son, I replied, keep up your daily Communion, and think: what would I be if I had not gone’” ([St] J. Escriva, “The Way”, 534).

 

[Fidelis]

From the 1859 Haydock commentary:

Christ discourses of the bread of life.

51 I am the living bread, which came down from heaven.

Ver. 51. Christ now no longer calls the belief in him, or the preaching of the gospel, the bread that he will give them; but he declares that it is his own flesh, and that flesh which shall be given for the life of the world. (Calmet) — This bread Christ then gave, when he gave the mystery of his body and blood to his disciples. (Ven. Bede)

52 If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread which I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world.

Ver. 52. The bread which I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world In most Greek copies we read, is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world. Christ here promised what he afterwards instituted, and gave at his last supper. He promiseth to give his body and blood to be eaten; the same body (though the manner be different) which he would give on the cross for the redemption of the world. The Jews of Capharnaum were presently scandalized. How (said they) can this man give us his flesh to eat? But notwithstanding their murmuring, and the offence which his words had given, even to many of his disciples, he was so far from revoking, or expounding what he had said of any figurative or metaphorical sense, that he confirmed the same truth in the clearest and strongest terms. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat, &c. And again, (ver. 56.) For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. I cannot omit taking notice of what St. Chrysostom and St. Cyril, in their commentaries on this place, have left us on these words, How can this man do this? These words which call in question the almighty and incomprehensible power of God, which hinder them, says St. Chrysostom, from believing all other mysteries and miracles: they might as well have said: How could he with five loaves feed five thousand men? This question, How can he do this? Is a question of infidels and unbelievers. St. Cyril says that How, or, How can he do this? cannot, without folly, be applied to God. 2ndly, he calls it a question of blasphemy. 3rdly, a Jewish word, for which these Capharnaites deserved the severest punishments. 4thly, He confutes them by the saying of the prophet Isaias, (lv. 9.) that God’s thoughts and ways are as much above those of men, as the heavens are above the earth. But if these Capharnaites, who knew not who Jesus was, were justly blamed for their incredulous, foolish, blasphemous, Jewish saying, how can he give us his flesh to eat? much more blameable are those Christians, who, against the words of the Scripture, against the unanimous consent and authority of all Christian Churches in all parts of the world, refuse to believe his real presence, and have nothing to say, but with the obstinate Capharnaites, how can this be done? Their answers are the same, or no better, when they tell us that the real presence contradicts their senses, their reason, that they know it to be false. We may also observe, with divers interpreters, that if Christians are not to believe that Jesus Christ is one and the same God with the eternal Father, and that he is truly and really present in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, it will be hard to deny but that Christ himself led men into these errors, which is blasphemy. For it is evident, and past all dispute, that the Jews murmured, complained, and understood that Christ several times made himself God, and equal to the Father of all. 2ndly, When in this chapter, he told them he would give them his flesh to eat, &c. they were shocked to the highest degree: they cried out, this could not be, that these words and this speech was hard and harsh, and on this very account many that had been his disciples till that time, withdrew themselves from him, and left him and his doctrine. Was it not then at least high time to set his complaining hearers right, to prevent the blasphemous and idolatrous opinions of the following ages, nay even of all Christian Churches, by telling his disciples at least, that he was only a nominal God, in a metaphorical and improper sense; that he spoke only of his body being present in a figurative and metaphorical sense in the holy Eucharist? If we are deceived, who was it that deceived us but Christ himself, who so often repeated the same points of our belief? His apostles must be esteemed no less guilty in affirming the very same, both as to Christ’s divinity, and his real presence in the holy sacrament, as hereafter will appear. (Witham) — Compare the words here spoken with those he delivered at his last supper, and you will see that what he promises here was then fulfilled: “this is my body given for you.” Hence, the holy Fathers have always explained this chapter of St. John, as spoken of the blessed sacrament. See the concluding reflexions, below.

Continued on the next post…

 

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53 The Jews, therefore, disputed among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
**
Ver. 53**. Because the Jews said it was impossible to give them his flesh to eat, Christ answers them by telling them, that so far from being impossible, it is very necessary that they should eat it. “Unless you eat,” &c. (St. Chrysostom) — It is not the flesh of merely a man, but it is the flesh of a God, able to make man divine, inebriating him, as it were, with the divinity. (Theophylactus) See Maldonatus.

54 Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.

Ver. 54. Unless you eat … and drink, &c. To receive both the body and blood of Christ, is a divine precept, insinuated in this text; which the faithful fulfil, though they receive but in one kind; because in one kind they receive both the body and blood, which cannot be separated from each other. Hence life eternal is here promised to the worthy receiving, though but in one kind: (ver. 52.) If any man eat of this bread he shall life for ever: and the bread which I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world: (ver. 58.) He that eateth me, the same also shall live by me: (ver. 59.) *He that eateth this bread shall live for ever. (Challoner)
*
55 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day

Ver. 55. Jesus Christ, to confirm the notion his disciples had formed of a real eating of his body, and to remove all metaphorical interpretation of his words, immediately adds, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. … For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed;” which could not be so, if, as sectarists pretend, what he gives us in the blessed sacrament is nothing but a bit of bread; and if a figure, certainly not so striking as the manna.

*56 For my flesh, is meat indeed: and my blood, is drink indeed:

57 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him.

58 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me.*

Ver. 58. As the living Father hath sent me, his only, his true Son, to become man; and I live by the Father, proceeding always from him; so he that eateth me, first by faith only, by believing in me; and secondly, he that eateth my body and blood, truly made meat and drink, though after a spiritual manner, (not in that visible, bloody manner as the Capharnaites fancied to themselves) shall live by me, and live for ever, happy in the kingdom of my glory. (Witham)

Concluded on the next post…

 

[Fidelis]

Concluding reflexions on this chapter.

If we take into consideration all the circumstances of this chapter, it will be difficult to conceive how any person can bring their mind to think that there is no connexion between this chapter and the institution of the blessed sacrament. It must proceed, as Dr. Clever, the Protestant Bishop of Bangor, affirms, “from the fear of giving advantage to the doctrine of transubstantiation.” He moreover adds: “whilst the institution is considered as a memorial only, nothing can well be further from being plain.” See his Sermon on the Lord’s Supper. The holy Fathers have unanimously understood these repeated promises of Christ with a reference to the institution. St. Cyprian, of the third age[century], quoting the promises of Christ, the bread which I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world, deduces this conclusion: “Hence it is manifest, that they have this life, who touch his body, and receive the Eucharist.” Qui corpus ejus attingunt. (De Orat. Dom. p. 147.) St. Hilary, of the fourth age[century], quoting Christ’s words, says: “there is no place left to doubt of the truth of Christ’s flesh and blood, de veritate carnis et sanguinis non relictus est ambigendi locus; for now, by the profession of the Lord himself, and according to our belief, it is truly flesh and truly blood.” (De Trin. lib. viii. p. 954-6.) St. Basil, of the fourth century also, citing ver. 53 and 54 of this chapter, says: “about the things that God has spoken there should be no hesitation, nor doubt, but a firm persuasion that all is true and possible, though nature be against it: Kan e phusis machetai. Herein lies the struggle of faith.” (Reg. viii. Moral. t. 2, p. 240.) Again the same saint says: "it is very profitable every day, to partake of the body and blood of Christ, phagein to soma kai piein to aima tou kuriou emon, for he that eateth my flesh. &c. (John vi. 55.) — “We communicate four times in the week; on Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and on the other days, if there be a commemoration of any saint.” (Ep. xcii. t. 3, p. 186.) — St. Ambrose, of the same age, says: “the manna in the desert was given in figure. You have known things more excellent. For light is preferable to the shadow; truth to the figure; the body of Christ to the manna of heaven. But you may say: I see somewhat else: how do you assert that I shall receive the body of Christ?” He gives this answer: “How much more powerful is the virtue of the divine blessing, than that of nature; because by the former, nature itself is changed? … If the blessing of men (he here instances Moses changing a rod into a serpent, and many other miraculous changes) was powerful enough to change nature, what must we not say of the divine consecration, when the very words of the Lord operate? For that sacrament which you receive, is accomplished by the word of Christ. If the word of Elias could call down fire from heaven, shall not the word of Christ be able to change the outward elements? … The word of Christ could draw out of nothing what was not, shall it not be able to change the things that are into that which they were not? … Was the order of nature followed when Jesus was born of a Virgin? Certainly not. Then why is that order to be looked for here? It was the true flesh of Christ, which was crucified, which was buried; and this is truly the sacrament of his flesh … Our Lord himself proclaims, This is my body.” — If Jesus Christ, during his public ministry, performed so many visible and palpable miracles as we read of in the gospels, was it not to induce us to believe without doubting the truths that escape our senses, and surpass our reason? If we believe the water was changed into wine at the marriage feast of Cana; if we believe that the bread in the hands of Christ and his apostles was not diminished, by being broken and divided among five thousand, why cannot we believe the miracle of the Eucharist on the authority of Christ’s word, “the bread that I will give you, is my flesh? This is my body,” &c. Not one of all the ancient Fathers has ever denied the real presence; not one of them all has ever said, that the body of Jesus Christ is received in figure only.

 

[Fidelis]

Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs citing the Gospel reading include the following:

787 From the beginning, Jesus associated his disciples with his own life, revealed the mystery of the Kingdom to them, and gave them a share in his mission, joy, and sufferings. Jesus spoke of a still more intimate communion between him and those who would follow him: “Abide in me, and I in you. . . . I am the vine, you are the branches.” And he proclaimed a mysterious and real communion between his own body and ours: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”

2837 [Except for where it’s used in the Lord’s Prayer] “Daily” (epiousios) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Taken in a temporal sense, this word is a pedagogical repetition of “this day,” to confirm us in trust “without reservation.” Taken in the qualitative sense, it signifies what is necessary for life, and more broadly every good thing sufficient for subsistence. Taken literally (epi-ousios: “super-essential”), it refers directly to the Bread of Life, the Body of Christ, the “medicine of immortality,” without which we have no life within us. Finally in this connection, its heavenly meaning is evident: “this day” is the Day of the Lord, the day of the feast of the kingdom, anticipated in the Eucharist that is already the foretaste of the kingdom to come. For this reason it is fitting for the Eucharistic liturgy to be celebrated each day.

*The Eucharist is our daily bread. The power belonging to this divine food makes it a bond of union. Its effect is then understood as unity, so that, gathered into his Body and made members of him, we may become what we receive. . . . This also is our daily bread: the readings you hear each day in church and the hymns you hear and sing. All these are necessities for our pilgrimage.

The Father in heaven urges us, as children of heaven, to ask for the bread of heaven. [Christ] himself is the bread who, sown in the Virgin, raised up in the flesh, kneaded in the Passion, baked in the oven of the tomb, reserved in churches, brought to altars, furnishes the faithful each day with food from heaven*

The entire Catechism §§ 1322-1419