A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 5, n. 28)
Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, Year C – June 10, 2007
“The Lord of the Banquet”
BIBLE READINGS
Gen 14:18-20 // I Cor 11:23-26 // Lk 9:11b-17
N.B. Series 5 of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy of Year C from the perspective of the First Reading. For another set of reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year C, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US and open Series 2.
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
After my studies at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute at St. Anselm University in Rome, I volunteered to work in Africa, but our Mother General sent me to serve as a missionary in India. One of the Benedictine monks teaching at the Liturgical Institute was from India and they had an “ashram” in Bangalore where our novitiate was located. During the time I was in Bangalore, Fr. Luke Chengalikavil also happened to be there and so I had a chance to make a visit to their peaceful and very rustic monastery. Sr. Mary Juliana, our Regional Superior, graciously accompanied me. We boarded a bus and then walked through some scenic rural landscape before reaching the “ashram”. Fr. Luke opened the door for us and kindly led us to the chapel. He invited Sr. Juliana and me to gather around the ambo where an imposing Bible was enthroned. Fr. Luke explained that in the Benedictine Rule the virtue of hospitality requires them first to share the “bread of the Word” before nourishing the guests with material food. Fr. Luke thus read a passage from the Bible and nourished us spiritually by helping us reflect on the Word and pray over it. The sharing of the “food of truth” around that table of the Word was very touching and illuminating. Fr. Luke then led us to the refectory where he served us some slices of delicious bread pudding and steaming hot tea with milk. We all ate and were satisfied, like the hungry crowd that Jesus graciously hosted and fed with bread and fish in the wilderness.
Our shared meal at that Benedictine “ashram” in Bangalore, India is one of the most memorable moments of my life. I had experienced the graciousness of Jesus, the Lord of the Eucharistic banquet, through the kind hospitality of Fr. Luke. Moreover, that shared meal is like a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. Sr. Juliana and Fr. Luke, I believe, are now partaking in that banquet in heaven for both of them are deceased after a terrible bout with cancer. I would like to think that they are waiting for me that we may relish together in fullness the spiritual meal we had shared at that Benedictine “ashram” many years ago.
Today’s Gospel episode of the feeding of the multitudes (Lk 9:11b-17) depicts Jesus as a gracious, welcoming host and as the powerful Lord of the banquet, who can multiply a meager resource of “five loaves and two fish”. Harold Buetow explains: “St. Luke’s version shows many facets of Jesus in his attempt to satisfy hunger: Jesus’ compassion, for example, and the abundance of God’s generosity. Although he had taken the Apostles away from the crowd for a well-deserved rest, when over 5,000 people came to see him he not only tolerated their disturbing his plans but, in contrast to the abhorrence of the Twelve, actively welcomed them. You can get some idea of this kind of heroism if you imagine your hard earned vacation being disturbed by a crowd of acquaintances, hangers-on, or unknowns coming to your vacation retreat to freeload … Jesus’ miracle, according to this version, consisted in overcoming selfishness by making people share what they had. But most believers interpret the miracle in the literal sense: Jesus took five loaves and two fish and multiplied them into enough food for over five thousand people to eat (…) The same God who could perform this miracle could do anything, including changing bread and wine into his body and blood. The miracle shows also the abundance of God’s love for individuals: each person ate, everybody had more than enough, and there was a lot left over. Scripture associated this abundance with the Messiah. God had given this same abundance in the manna, which He had freely provided the hungry Hebrews as they wandered through the vast and trackless desert in their exodus from Egypt. God offers the same abundance of results today to all who use the Eucharist properly.”
The Risen Jesus Christ - the Lord of the banquet – provides the grace and opportunity for bonding, intimacy and communion in the sacred meal of today’s here and now. We are united not only with God, but with one another. In the celebration of the Eucharist, which makes present the paschal event of Christ’s passion, death, resurrection, one is drawn into the open arms of the glorified Savior and Redeemer and inserted into his “one and undivided Body” – the Church. The Holy Eucharist is thus truly a sacrament of love and communion. Pope Benedict XVI in his Apostolic Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis (February 22, 2007) asserts: “The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of Himself, thus revealing to us God’s infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that greater love which led Him to lay down his life for his friends. Jesus did indeed love them to the end … In the same way, Jesus continues, in the Sacrament of the Eucharist to love us to the end, even to the offering us His body and His blood” (art. n. 1).
The “offering of the body and blood of Christ” in his paschal sacrifice on the cross, a saving event made present anew in the celebration of the Eucharist, has a biblical antecedent. Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of the Most High God (cf. Gen 14:18-20) blessed Abram, victorious in battle over the four kings who captured Lot, Abram’s nephew who was living in Sodom. The just king, Melchizedek, who brought forth a gift of bread and wine, offered a prayer of blessing and Eucharistic praise: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hand.” The Church regards Melchizedek as a figure of Christ, the eternal High Priest and the “bread and wine” that he brought forth as “a prefiguring of her own offering” in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass. Like Melchizedek, we use bread and wine and like him, we bless the God of Abraham in every Eucharist.
On this feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, we contemplate and realize with greater awe that the Eucharist is a wondrous mystery to be believed, celebrated and lived. Moreover, we have a duty to offer the Eucharistic mystery of our liberation-covenant in the body and blood of Christ to the world. Pope Benedict XVI concludes: “In the Eucharist Jesus also makes us witnesses of God’s compassion towards all our brothers and sisters. The Eucharistic mystery thus gives rise to a service of charity towards neighbor … Our communities, when they celebrate the Eucharist, must become ever more conscious that the sacrifice of Christ is for all, and that the Eucharist thus compels all who believe in Him to become bread that is broken for others, and to work for the building of a more just and fraternal world. Keeping in mind the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, we need to realize that Christ continues to exhort His disciples to become personally engaged: You yourselves, give them something to eat (Mt 14:16). Each of us is truly called, together with Jesus, to be bread broken for the life of the world” (Sacramentum Caritatis, n. 88).
PERSONAL REFLECTION
By Rev. Kenneth J. Bozzo
Pastor: Sacred Heart Church
Lindsay, CA-U.S.A.
“Give them some food yourselves.” (Lk 9:13)
Eugene La Verdiere, S.S.S., writes that “Jesus’ persistence underlines the apostles’ ongoing responsibility in nourishing the Christian communities” (cf. Luke, p. 128).
One of my favorite images of the Eucharist is nourishment. The Lord gives himself to us as our spiritual nourishment. The apostles are poor, having only “five loaves and two fish”, but the food they distribute, blessed by Jesus, is abundant.
To develop the theme of the Eucharist as nourishment, I refer to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which speaks of the fruits of communion”.
- The first fruit is “Holy Communion separates us from sin” … “The Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins” (CCC # 1393). With so many Temptations in today’s world, how important it is for all Catholics including the youth, to receive Communion regularly.
- “The Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life” (CCC 1394). This is one of the graces given to those who attend daily Mass.
- “The Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins. The more we share the life of Christ and progress in his friendship, the more difficult it is to break away from him by mortal sin” (CCC # 1395).
- The next fruit refers to the Church – 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” (CCC # 1396).
- “The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren” (CCC # 1397).
- The last fruit refers to the Eucharist and the unity of Christians. “The more painful the experience of the divisions in the Church which break the common participation in the table of the Lord, the more urgent are our prayers to the Lord that the time of complete unity among all who believe in him may return” (CCC # 1398).
Melchizedek blesses God in the first reading. Eucharist stems from the Greek word, eucharistein: “to give thanks”. Out thanks is closely related to the homily. “The preacher acts as a mediator, making connections between the real lives of people who believe in Jesus Christ, but are not always sure what difference faith can make in their lives, and the God who calls us into ever deeper communion with himself and with one another. Especially in the Eucharistic celebration … the preacher is called to point to the signs of God’s presence in the lives of his people so that in joyous recognition of that presence, they may join the angels and the saints to proclaim God’s glory and sing with them their unending hymn of praise” (cf. Fulfilled In Your Hearing, The Bishops’ Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, p. 8).
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. What is the importance of the biblical figure of Melchizedek in our understanding of the Eucharist? Why did he bring forth “bread and wine”? What is the content of the prayer of blessing that he offered when he met the victorious Abram? Why is Jesus Christ called a priest according to the order of Melchizedek?
B. Why is Jesus Christ a gracious host and the Lord of the banquet? What does the Gospel episode of the feeding of the multitudes teach us about Jesus? How is the compassion and generosity of God expressed in Jesus’ miraculous act on behalf of a hungry crowd? What are the various hungers that we experience in our life? Do we actively, consciously and fruitfully participate in the marvelous meal prepared by Jesus at the table of the Word and the Eucharist?
C. Do we consider the Eucharist as a mystery to be believed, celebrated and lived? Do we believe that in the Eucharist Jesus also makes us witnesses of God’s compassion towards all our brothers and sisters? Are we personally engaged in alleviating the various hungers of today’s world? Are we bread broken for the life of the world and is our life sacrificial like that of Christ who poured out his blood on the cross?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: O Jesus, you are our gracious host and the Lord of the banquet. You did not send away the crowd yearning for your healing love and the bread of your compassion. At Bethsaida, you welcomed them, spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed it. Above all, with five loaves and two fish, you brought forth a miracle of love for the five thousand guests. They all ate and were satisfied, and there were twelve baskets of what was left over. Help us to be the instruments of your compassion in today’s world. We humbly offer you our resources – our “five loaves and two fish” - no matter how meager, that you may use them. Fill us and use us to alleviate the various hungers that are longing to be satisfied. United with your paschal sacrifice on the cross, may we be bread broken and wine outpoured for the life of the world. We thank you, we adore you and we love, now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“They all ate and were satisfied.” (Lk 9:17)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray that Christians may truly commit themselves to alleviate the needs of the world’s poor and be actively engaged in sharing the bread of the living Word. May they offer the Eucharist as a mystery to be believed, celebrated and lived. Resolve to offer your “five loaves and two fish” as a starter for the feast that is being prepared by Jesus, the Lord of the banquet, for today’s hungering crowd.
B. ACTION PLAN: To help us respond more lovingly and intimately to the gift of the Lord’s precious body and blood, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 3, n. 28): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
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SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
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