Corpus Christi-Cycle C-2016
FIRST READING Genesis 14:18-20
In those days, Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram with these words: “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.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
SECOND READING 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Brothers and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
GOSPEL Luke 9:11b-17
Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, “Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.” They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.” Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty.” They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.
My sisters and brothers in the Lord,
The Lord feeds us! This is the basic reality of our lives. The Lord feeds us with Himself, with spiritual food, and the Lord is present every moment of our lives. Our Lord is not a magician and so does not magically fix the brokenness of our lives. Instead, Jesus promises always to be with us, in Sacrament, in Word, in every moment of our daily lives.
The first reading today is from the Book of Genesis and is given to us simply because Abram (later Abraham) receives bread and wine from Melchizedek. This figure of Melchizedek appears out of nowhere and disappears again, never to be heard of after this short appearance in Scripture. Melchizedek becomes the symbol of a righteous king who appears and disappears—and in that sense lives forever. We moderns are no so open to such symbols, but even in modern life, we use symbols. Melchizedek is King of Righteousness—that is he stands for all that is right and good in life. Melchizedek brings gifts of bread and wine and thus we Christians see in him a prefiguration of Jesus, coming unexpectedly to save us.
The second reading is from the First Letter to the Corinthians and gives us an account of the institution of the Eucharist—the giving thanks with bread and wine which mystically and really makes present for us, in us and in our world, the great sacrifice of redemption of our Lord Jesus. Even after all these centuries, none of us can fully grasp the incredible gift that Jesus gives us of Himself in this transformation of bread and wine into His own body and blood.
The Gospel is from Saint Luke and is about feeding the multitude. No one believed that Jesus could feed that immense amount of people with just five loaves and two fish. Very few today believe that Jesus truly feeds us and the millions that come to him with His own body and blood in the gifts of bread and wine brought to the Eucharistic celebration.
Corpus Christi, this great celebration of the Body and Blood of the Lord, celebrates this gift of Jesus to us. You and I can receive this gift. We ask for faith each day so that we continue to believe that Jesus does truly love us so much that He has given Himself for us once and for all and that this gift is ours every time that we participate in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus is present. Our faith calls us to participate. May this sharing in the Body and Blood of the Lord unite us with all peoples of all times—but especially now in our service of the poor and of one another.
Your brother in the Lord,
Abbot Philip