Let’s begin this week’s reflection with the rhetorical questions Paul gives in the second reading:· “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?
In the Old Testament animal sacrifices, the people would be sprinkled with the blood of the sacrificed animal, signifying their participation in the ritual and uniting themselves to the sacrifice (Exodus 24: 38). The importance of blood in Jewish theology cannot be overstated. Blood was sacred, for blood is life, and everything touching life is in close contact with God, the sole Master of life (Lev. 17: 11, 14; Deut. 12: 23). The sprinkling of blood signified the covenant between God and His people (Zech. 9: 11; Hosea 9: 16-21). The use of blood in the Passover ritual was to preserve the people from death (Exodus 12: 7-22), and in the atonement ritual blood served the function of forgiveness of sins (Lev. 17: 11). Finally, blood also served as a vehicle of consecration to God (Exodus 29: 20; Lev. 8: 23).
So, when we participate in the blood of Jesus in the Eucharist we are fulfilling every function that the ancient sacrifices of the Old Covenant, for now the sacrifice of the New Covenant is a perfect sacrifice for the purpose of making us one with God, forgiving our sins, preserving us from death, and consecrating us to God. The blood of Christ is the ultimate source of life and makes us one with each other.
· “The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?”
Bread was considered a gift of God, for it was a source of strength (Psalm 104: 14) and a means of surviving that was so essential that to lack bread was to lack everything (Amos 4: 6; Gen. 28: 20). In Jewish history, the abundance or scarcity of bread had the value of a sign in their relationship to God: abundance meant a blessing from God (Ps. 37: 25, 132: 15; Prov. 12: 11) while scarcity was considered a punishment from Him (Jer. 5: 17; Ezek. 4: 16; Lam. 1: 11, 2: 12). Bread is also the supreme gift of the Messianic period, both for individuals and the community (Isaiah 30: 23; Jer. 31: 12).
Bread is also connected to the Word of God in the Jewish tradition, cf. Amos 8: 11; Deut. 8: 3; Isaiah 55: 1; Prov. 9: 5; Sirach 24: 19-22. The consuming of the Messianic bread, then, is consuming the word of God and receiving His wisdom.
All of these images come forth in sharing the bread and participating in the body of Christ, for Christ is the word and wisdom of God. By eating his flesh we consume the wisdom of God and receive His wisdom.
As we look at the rest of the readings related to this feast of Corpus Christi, they all relate in some way to this central theme of the second reading. The first reading references the manna God gave the Israelites in the desert, a symbol of the divine favor and a source of food mysterious to them and us. The Eucharist is that very reality and one that is still a mystery to us here on earth. Jesus references the manna in teaching the crowd about the reality of the former symbol. He, the word of God, is the bread come down from heaven that we must consume in order to have life. It is a teaching firmly grounded in the Jewish tradition of both blood and bread, one that is echoed in the words of the Responsorial Psalm: “He has granted peace in your borders, with the best of wheat he fills you. He sends forth his command to the earth, and swiftly runs his word.” May we enjoy this peace all our days until we are in the full presence of God in the heavenly Jerusalem.
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1. What images come to your mind in hearing about blood? How can they be related to what we believe about the Eucharist?
2. What images come to your mind in hearing about bread? How can they be related to what we believe about the Eucharist?
3. What did you already know in this reflection? What did you learn? How does it apply to your life as a follower of Jesus?
1 comments:
The discussion above about blood was particularly evocative for me. My first response to hearing about or seeing blood is repulsion. I usually think of blood as a sign of some injury or pain. On the other hand, I was comforting my daughter the other day by telling her that the blood rushing to her scraped knee was actually going to HEAL her. I also heard a story on NPR yesterday about a dearth in the nations blood supply and about college students who are leading a campaign for the donation of blood to blood banks.
For me, it is the combination of being "shocked" by the often violent spilling of blood with blood's miraculous healing properties that leads me toward awe before the mystery of the Blood of Christ. The idea of the people of Israel being covered with the blood of the covenant, and then Jesus going so much further suggesting that we must drink and injest this irrevocable union with God is really amazing to me upon reflection.
Finally, I think of the idea of St. Augustine, that in the Eucharist we "become what we receive," as an almost overwhelming reality...that I not only receive the Body of Christ, but become one with that Body, that in receiving the Blood of Christ, I become one his eternal covenant and sacrifice. This idea, and its ramifications in our daily lives, is the theme of the song we will sing at communion at St. Michael this Sunday, "Amen! El Cuerpo de Cristo. Amen! La Sangre del Senor. Eating your Body, drinking, your Blood, we become what we receive. Amen! Amen!"
I also think of the invocation in the prayer attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola, "Anima Christi:" "Blood of Christ, inebriate me."
Finally, I find the prayer, "O Sacrum Convivium" to be in my mind and heart during these days: "How holy this feast in which Christ is our food; his passion is recalled, grace fills our hearts, and we receive a pledge of the glory to come."
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