by Fr. Jose “Joesum” Sumampong, Jr.
June 6, 2021
Corpus Christi Sunday (B)
Exodus 24: 3-8 / Psalm 116: 12-13, 15-18 /
Hebrews 9: 11-15 / Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26
BROKEN BREAD AND THE SHARED CUP
Word: Each year during his childhood and youth, Jesus had celebrated this festival meal with Joseph and Mary. He knew by heart the entire ritual: the bread, the wine, the lamb, the bitter herbs, the prayers, the psalms. But this evening, Jesus is going to give a new meaning and content to this traditional meal. Today, he himself is the liberator.
He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”‘ Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.” (Mark 14:13-15).
Jesus has foreseen everything. His plans are great. He is the host. This is his meal, and he is going to preside over it. The disciples are his guests. He decides authoritatively about all the preparations.
At the upper room this is what happened: While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it (Mark 14:22-23).
We have four narratives of this scene: Mark, Luke, Matthew and Paul. These four narratives agree on the essentials but diverge as regards the words pronounced by Jesus.
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Order: After centuries of discussion when these words were interpreted in different ways, the various Christian Churches, gathered in an ecumenical meeting in 1964, approved this common text: “This meal of bread and wine is the sacrament, the efficacious sign and the assurance of the Presence of Christ himself,… of Christ who sacrificed his life for all, and gave himself to them as Bread of Life; for this reason, the Eucharistic meal is the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, the sacrament of His Real Presence… The Spirit is at work in the Eucharist, making Christ really present and given in the bread and wine, by accomplishing the words of the ‘Institution’…”
Obviously, we are here before a mystery. Already in the Middle Ages, St. Thomas Aquinas. The great theologian of the Eucharist, wrote that “this real presence did not mean a ‘localization’ which would limit Christ to the bread and wine, or would lead to a physico-chemical change of these substances: all the ‘appearances’ remain (Theologica Summa, III 76/3-5, 77/5-8).
We needs to have these traditional truths repeated to us in our modern times. The Mass for the feast of the Corpus Christi was composed by St. Thomas Aquinas in Ovieto, in 1264. With the entire primitive Church, Thomas Aquinas “believes”, but without any over-simplification. Has not St. Paul earlier written that Faith was needed to “discern the body and blood of the Lord”? (cf. I Cor 11:23-29).
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Realities: 1. Every time we eat food we do something which no scientist has ever been able to do: we take into ourselves something dead and we give it life. Food becomes part of our body. Many times our health depends on food. There is an old proverb that says: “You are what you eat.” Eat rich foods and you get fat; eat junk food and you get malnutrition. Give a patient with scabies the correct food and his skin disease clears up. Whenever we have a big job to do, we get ready by eating good food. Knowing all this, Jesus decided to hide inside of bread with all his power and become the food of the souls of his followers. (Christopher Notes, Food and Us)
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2.There was once a king who wanted to see God and he threatened all the priests and wise men with the direst consequences if they did not succeed in showing God to him As they were deep in thought, along came a shepherd who took the king to a meadow, pointed at the sun and said, “Take a good look.” The king hardly tried when he dropped his head and screamed, “What do you want to do: blind me?” “But, your majesty,” said the shepherd, “the sun is only one of God’s creatures, a pale image of Himself. If you cannot look at the sun, how could you ever look at God?” (Willi Hoffsuemer, The King Who Wanted To See God)
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3. Because, for centuries, most Protestant Churches, in one way or the other, followed Martin Luther in his denial of real presence, years of controversy with Protestantism tended to strengthen Catholics in their belief in the real presence of Christ in the consecrated bread and wine. It is thus understandable that pre-Vatican II Catechism almost exclusively focused on the real presence and the sacramental character of the Eucharist. Catholics had to be well-prepared to confront Protestant heretical doctrines. As a consequence of this understanding, many of them made the Eucharist an icon of adoration.
Unfortunately, however, the view of the Eucharist as real presence and sacrifice eclipsed other aspects of it which are of no less importance. Oriented as they have been to look at the Sacrament as an icon to be adored, they often failed to appreciate its meaning for the daily life of the Christian. It is not too far-fetched to say that, if some Catholics have much devotion to the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and yet hardly exhibit a life that is Eucharistic, it is partly because they failed to see the close connection between the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and their daily life and practice. (Rev. Fr. Lope C. Robredillo, Homily Guide, CBCP Monitor).
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Direction: O God, loose, remit, and forgive my sins against you, whether in word, in deed, or in thought; and whether they are willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly committed, forgive them all. For you are good and you love all human beings. And through the prayers of your most holy Mother, or your heavenly servants and holy spirits, and all the Saints who have found favor with you, enable me to receive without condemnation your holy Body and your Precious Blood. Let my soul and body be thus healed and my evil imaginings be driven away, for yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever. (Act of Contrition, St. John Chrysostom)