Weekly Scripture Reflections

June 10, 2007

The Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ (Solemnity) 

 

Readings: Gen 14:18-20; Ps 110:1-4; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Luke 9:11b-17


All you can eat!


The feast of the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ combines what were previously two separate celebrations – the feats of Corpus Christi and that of the Precious Blood.  


The Sacred Body: The feast we celebrate today puts a very different spin on the phrase “All you can eat!” Both the reading from Genesis and the responsorial psalm mention Melchizedek, the ancient king who was also a priest. Though Melchizedek’s offering should not be seen as Eucharistic in the sacramental sense of the word, it was an act of thanksgiving. (The Greek word for ‘thanksgiving’ is eucharistía.)


The never-ending supply of bread with which Jesus fed the multitude prefigured his own body, the consecrated bread that sustains us until he will come again. The gospel account makes this connection, for there we read words that are also found in the Eucharistic rite: “He said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them [to eat]” (Luke 9:16); “After he had given thanks, and said, ‘This is my body that is for you’” (1 Cor 11:26). Today Jesus feeds us with bread that is more than mere bread, it is his very body.
The Precious Blood: The ancients believed that life is in the blood. Since all life comes from and remains in the hands of God, lifeblood was thought to be God's to give or to take away. The only time one was legitimately allowed to spill blood was while offering a sacrifice. At that time, the blood of the sacrificed animal became a stand-in for human lifeblood; the sacrificial act symbolized the offering to God the human life-force. Jesus offered his own lifeblood as a substitute for the lifeblood of us all. As we read in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, Jesus’ blood sealed the covenant made between God and humankind, and thus it brought new life to the world. In the Eucharist we eat bread that is his body and we drink wine that is his blood.


Many people today might be repelled by the idea of eating someone’s body and drinking his blood, unless they realize the fundamental symbolism involved. This brings us back to the account of Melchizedek’s sacrifice, a sacrifice that came to stand for a reality much deeper than the actual sacrifice itself. So it is with the Eucharist. What we see and taste as bread and wine constitute a reality much deeper than the simple elements themselves. 


On this feast, we celebrate our covenant with God, established through the shedding of Jesus' blood, and through his willingness to feed us with the only bread that will stave our hunger. We renew this covenant each time we participate in the banquet of his body and blood, a banquet, which, through his death, gives us life. The metaphors found in today’s Sequence remind us that by participating in this banquet, we “proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.”


© 2007 Catholic Theological Union