(Edited) Sunday reflections: (From) years 2014 (A), 2015 (B), and 2016 (C)
June 22, 2014
Liturgical readings
Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14b-16a
Psalm 147
1 Corinthians 10:16-17
John 6:51-58
"Jesus is the Living Bread who came down from heaven."
The Jews in Jesus' time quarreled among themselves when Jesus spoke of his Body and Blood as nourishment. They did not understand that the Lord meant to institute a Sacrament and memorial of His mercy. (This memorial was instituted at the Last Supper before His death on the Cross). But for Catholics now, this truth of "the living Bread came down from heaven" as the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood is understood clearly as a sign that points to a reality beyond just the level of physical senses. It points to eternal life. This is what the Jews in the Lord's time failed to understand. They understood what He said from their established Jewish religion and the physical world in which they lived. But the Lord did not exclude them. He invited them to understand on the level of faith - faith in His Person, and His words and His deeds.
A good explanation of this mystery of Christ's Body and Blood comes from St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas explains this mystery in very intelligible words. He said: Christ wanted to ensure the memory of the gift of himself (his words, deeds, and life) to abide with his followers forever. The Lord left his Body as food, and his Blood as drink, for all the faithful to consume in the form of bread and wine in the Eucharist. It is his Body and Blood which heals each and every one from all infirmities of soul. Christ, the Divine Physician, left this living sign, this continuous outpouring of his life, to heal and save all from their sins. If properly disposed to receive the Sacrament in the Eucharist, the faithful gain an increase of virtues and an abundance of spiritual gifts - giving health and strength to the soul once more.
This gift and Sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood encourages all those carrying the weight of many secular concerns. The Sacrament lifts up tired spirits and renews all hopes. The faithful again have a renewed understanding that life is more than just the physical food and material things they monotonously work for each day. Faith can make us understand this: if the Lord fed 4,000 to 5,000 men in his time by multiplying a few loaves and fish, could he not do the same to about 1 billion Catholics in our present generation? It is the fulfillment of the promise that God will be with us until the end of time. And if each Catholic will be faithful to Christ, then each one becomes the Lord's Body and Blood to those who do not know Him - by the witness of His presence as a force that gives life to one's work and life.
Scripture quotes for reflection:
"Because the loaf of bread is one, we, many though we are, are one body for we all partake of the one loaf." (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)
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