Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!
To the disciples who suggested to
our Lord that he should dismiss the crowd so that they could buy their
provisions, the Lord said, “You yourselves give them to eat.” At that time, the
disciples thought that the Lord was requiring them to feed the crowd from their
own pockets. And so they protested that they have only so few provisions that
they would not be able to fulfill their task. It would be at the last supper on
Holy Thursday evening that they would begin to understand the task that they
were ordained for. At the last supper, the Lord Jesus took bread and wine and
consecrated these as his body and blood. And then, on that same night, the Lord
will ordain these apostles as priests of the new covenant. The ordination took
place when the Lord mandated these men to “do this in memory of me.” Both the
Eucharist and Holy Orders were established on the same day (Holy Thursday)
because they cannot be separated from each other. Without a priest, the
Eucharist cannot take place because only an ordained ministry can consecrate
the Body and Blood of the Lord. On the other hand, the Eucharist is the reason
for the priest’s identity. The priest is a priest because he is the one who
offers the sacrifice of the Mass.
Thus, when the Lord told his
disciples: “You yourselves give them to eat,” he was referring to the
Eucharist. His disciples, ordained priests on the night when the Lord was
betrayed, are to imitate the Lord who on that same night took bread and wine,
blessed them and said, “Take this all of you and eat of it, this is my
body…drink from it, this is the chalice of my blood.” The food that the priests
are to give is not their own but the
flesh of Christ. The drink that the priests are to give is not their own but the
blood of Christ. The priests of the New Testament offer food and drink that is
better than anyone can offer. All food and drink can satisfy bodily hunger and
thirst and cannot do more than just sustain bodily life. None of them can keep
a person from dying. (Last week, I had the wonderful privilege of offering a
funeral Mass for a woman who died at the age of 101 years. I was so amazed at
her age that I asked her children: What did she do to live this long? They
answered: Oh Father, she lived on a simple diet of vegetables and fish.
However, even with a very balanced and nutritious diet, death kept up with her
at 101 years. She had to die sometime. None of them can keep her from dying.) The
Eucharist, Christ’s flesh and blood, alone brings to us the assurance of the
resurrection from the dead and life everlasting. While all else perish, this
alone is the food that lasts unto everlasting life. And so, let us take
advantage of the opportunities to worthily receive Holy Communion. If only we
realize who is it that we receive in the Eucharist, we will not hesitate to
say, “Lord, give us this food.” The one we receive is He who said, “I am the
Way, the Truth, and the Life.” He is the one who said, “I am the Resurrection
and the Life.” He is the one who said, “I am the living Bread come down from
heaven. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life. And I
will raise him up on the last day.”
O Sacrament most holy, O
Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.
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