The Bread of Life

Dali's Sacrament of the Last Supper

In the Gospel, the miracle of the loaves and fish prefigures the Eucharist, a sacrificial meal of thanksgiving for the gift of God’s eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Eucharist nourishes the life of God in us. Jesus Christ, gloriously alive, is truly present in the bread and wine.

The word of God in Sunday’s liturgy first takes us back to sixth century Israel. “Come to me,” God pleads. I will give you the basic needs of life.

Paul, in his letter to the Christian community at Rome poses the question, “What will separate us from the love of Christ?” Nothing! God loves us unconditionally.

In the Gospel, Jesus hears about the tragic death of John the Baptist, and seeks to be by himself. But the crowds follow him. He cures the sick and satisfies the hungry crowd. People have many hungers. Some hunger for bread; others for justice and freedom; and still others for peace.

To understand the liturgy of the Eucharist, contemplate Jesus’s Last Supper.

Jesus had to leave us, and yet he wanted to stay with us. How did he solve this? Listen to his words: “This is my body; this is my blood.” The bread and wine look and feel and taste like bread and wine, but they become the real presence of the risen Christ.

The second challenge Jesus faced was he wanted to die for each one of us, and yet he could die only once as a human being. How did Jesus solve this? Listen to his words: “Do this in memory of me.” The same victim who was crucified once outside Jerusalem centuries ago returns whenever we celebrate the liturgy of the Eucharist.

The third challenge was that Jesus wanted to be one with us, and yet this was impossible this side of heaven. How did Jesus solve this challenge? Listen to his words: “Take and eat; take and drink.” Jesus invites us to become one with him in Communion.

Yes, Jesus left us and stays. The Victim (the lamb, the sacrifice) returns to us today and every day. He gave us Communion.

What is the purpose? To form us into a faith community. Paul wrote, “Because the bread is one, we, though many, are one body.” This bread we eat and this blood we drink should not only form us into a more loving faith community but also should empower us to reach out compassionately to others with a helping hand.

At a family meal, perhaps this may be our prayer:
O God, bless this faith family of yours.
May you always remind us of the strength we have
united in faith, hope, and love with you, O God.
Help us to open our hearts, to listen, to extend a helping hand,
and to rejoice when one of us has cause for celebration.
O God, we pray that we always will live in your presence,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pledging our Allegiance

172' Statue of Christ the King in Poland

Across this great land, families will gather on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a special day to be grateful to God for our many blessings—family, friends and colleagues, and freedoms and opportunities to pursue our dreams. Thanksgiving is all about enjoying one another’s company.

Today, we celebrate the Feast of Christ, the King of the Universe, to whom we pledge our ultimate allegiance, Jesus who is the image of the invisible God, and the Good Shepherd who guides us into eternal life.

In the aftermath of World War I, which saw four empires swept away, Pope Pius XI was convinced that new dictators were emerging who thought they were gods and would deny people their basic human rights. So, he wanted to point people to the one true God. That’s how we have today’s feast.

What, really, is the Feast of Christ the King all about? We recognize the end of the liturgical year when, to quote the letter of Paul to the Corinthians, “every human being and all that is will be subjected to Jesus Christ, who will deliver the Kingdom of God over to his heavenly Father.”

God became incarnate in Jesus to share God’s life and love and goodness with all creation by the power of the Spirit. Yes, all creation is alive with the goodness of God.

The book of Samuel takes us back to the anointing of David as king of the tribes of Israel. The people acknowledge their kinship with the king. He will be their watchful shepherd as well as their wise leader.

The letter of Paul to the Christian community at Colossae in Turkey highlights an early Christian hymn of thanksgiving to God and exaltation of Jesus. Christ before his birth is the image of the invisible God, the model or blueprint after which all things were fashioned. The second stanza describes Christ after his earthly life. He is the head of the Church, the people of God, through whose dying/rising we’re in relationship with God, moving from earth to heaven. The author proclaims that Christ alone is the ruler of the universe.

In the Gospel according to Luke, we reexperience the theme of “rise and downfall.” We remember how Simeon prophesized in Luke’s infancy narrative that the child in his arms was destined to be the downfall and rise of many. We meet two robbers at Calvary; one sees something transcendent in the bloody face of Jesus; the other doesn't. One rises (“This day you will be with me in Paradise”), and the other apparently meets his downfall.  In a certain sense, the good thief pulled off the greatest robbery ever: he stole heaven.

We as a community of faith profess our ultimate allegiance to Jesus Christ. Do we spend our time, our energy, our resources with Jesus in prayer and in service?

Jesus calls us to a God-centered, other-centered life. This Feast of Christ the King of the Universe asks us, how can we rededicate ourselves more single-mindedly to Jesus, who is our way, our truth, and our life.

We, Though Many, Are One

Dali's Sacrament of the Last Supper

There have been many impressive meals in the course of human history. Some intimate, some grand.There was the first supper, so the Book of Genesis says, where the entre was forbidden fruit. There are state banquets, like the one this month at Buckingham Palace. There’s the Passover, the Seder, in remembrance of the Jews’ deliverance from their oppressors in ancient Egypt. The meal table is often the center of family life.

And in our global Christian family, the altar or table of the Lord is the center of our faith community.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, in Latin "Corpus Christi," and in Greek "eucharistia" or thanksgiving. We gather to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Christian community at Corinth in Greece, highlights the sacredness of the Lord’s Supper. This sacrificial meal reenacts the life-giving death/resurrection of Jesus, the new and everlasting covenant God made with us.

This Lord’s Supper soon developed into the structure we know today: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Herein, we worship and praise God for who he is and what he has done for us.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus satisfies the hungry crowd in the so-called miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. People have so many hungers: some simply for bread; others for justice and freedom and peace. Jesus here satisfies the crowd’s physical hunger, and this wonder prefigures the liturgy of the Eucharist where the bread and wine become the body and blood of the risen Christ, satisfying our spiritual hunger.

At the last supper, think of three phrases Jesus said: This is my body…this is my blood. The bread and wine become sacramentally the Living Christ, his real presence among us.

The second phrase: Do this in remembrance of me. The same victim who died once for us centuries ago returns to this sacrificial meal sacramentally today and every day.

The third phrase: Take and eat…take and drink. Jesus invites us to become one with himself in communion.

And what is the purpose? Paul wrote: because the bread is one, we, though many, are one body. This not only forms us into a more vibrant community but also empowers us to reach out compassionately to one another. Where Jesus left off his earthly ministry, He asks us to continue.

Yes, the Eucharist unites us as the mystical body of Christ and empowers us to become "the hands and feet and voice" of Christ in our homes and workplaces and communities, until he comes again in glory at the end time to transform this universe of ours into a new heaven and a new earth.

Building God's Kingdom

Mosaic of Christ in Majesty, Washington, DC

I really enjoyed Thanksgiving. It's all about gratitude to God for our blessings, and about family and friends enjoying one another’s company.

Sunday we celebrated the feast of Christ the King, to whom we owe our ultimate allegiance, the image of the invisible God, the one through whom we have a relationship with the triune God.

Christ the King fits appropriately into the end of the liturgical year. The cycle begins with Advent, the hope for a Messiah, then Christmas with the Messiah’s birth, then the dying and rising of Jesus Christ at Easter, and finally, after Sundays in Ordinary Time, Jesus Christ comes again in great glory and power: Christ the King.

The word of God today takes us back to the 2nd century before Jesus. The author of the Book of Daniel wants to inspire hope in the Jews who suffered cruelties because of their faith in God. The author here describes a visionary experience at the end of human history. A mysterious “son of man,” comes upon the clouds of heaven. This figure goes before the throne of God, who brings about his reign through the kingship of this mysterious “son of man.” Christians saw in this figure Jesus Christ.

The Book of Revelation speaks to Christians who suffered cruelties because of their faith in God. Jesus re-established that relationship between God and us.

In the Gospel according to John, Pilate asks political questions. But Jesus turns the table, saying the term “kingdom” has to be understood differently. His kingdom is neither political nor despotic.
Jesus’s kingdom is at one and the same time within and beyond us. He challenges us to begin building this kingdom of truth and justice and love and freedom until he comes again in great glory and power.

Many people today cry out for freedom. The word has two facets: freedom from, and freedom for.

What we have been freed from is oppression or tyranny. The thirteen U. S. colonies, for example, rebelled against abuses of their rights and liberties. The civil rights movement in the 1960s protested a social system that condemned people because of color.

Christianity is all about freedom. God became one of us in Jesus to free us from all that keeps us from an authentic relationship with God, one another and the universe.

Yes, we are free so we can serve. All around us are people with hungers: for bread, for peace, for human rights, for justice. Only a society based upon truth, justice, love and freedom can satisfy these hungers and free us to become our true selves: human beings in authentic relationships with God and one another.

Christ the Shepherd-King call us to realize that among the many blessings we have from God is the gift to share God’s gifts with others. In doing so, we are building up the kingdom of God--a kingdom of truth and justice, love and freedom. May we always embody these virtues by doing all the good we can, by all the means we can, to all the people we can, as long as ever we can.

Jesus Christ Will Come Again

Michelangelo's Last Judgment in Sistine Chapel

Thursday, families will celebrate Thanksgiving: giving thanks to God for life, family and friends. Even amid the devastating wildfires in California, many first responders are stepping up to help save lives and property. We thank God for these brave men and women.

The holidays are here. Here’s my advice: hang around positive people. Surround yourself with what you love—family, pets, hobbies. Tell them that you love them. Live gratefully. Above all, focus on God everyday through prayer.

The liturgical year celebrates the story of our salvation. The cycle begins in Advent, then Christmas, on to Lent. Next, Holy Week. The Easter season concludes with the outpouring of the Spirit anew at Pentecost. The cycle continues in ordinary time. We walk with Jesus as he works signs and wonders proclaiming that the kingdom of God is breaking into our lives.

This liturgical cycle culminates in the final coming of Jesus Christ in glory. Next Sunday, on the feast of Christ the King, we observe the end of salvation history when (to quote the letter of Paul) every human being and all that is will be subjected to Christ, who will deliver the Kingdom of God over to his heavenly Father.

Yes, we celebrate the story that began on the first page of Scripture: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” -- a story that ends on the last page of Scripture with the Maranatha prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus.” God will transform this universe into his glorious kingdom in all its fullness. We proclaim in the Eucharistic prayer: “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.”

How this universe as we know it will end, we don’t know. But how is not the question. Rather the question is: Are we ready to meet the Living Christ when he comes to us in the mystery of death?

Today, the Book of Daniel pleads: don’t give up your faith despite the cruelties you’re enduring; the archangel Michael will protect you. Yes, good will triumph over evil.

The letter to the Hebrews recalls the one sacrifice of Jesus. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus re-established our relationship with God.

In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus speaks about an apocalypse, with symbolic and scary images. Yes, Jesus Christ will usher in the kingdom of God in all its fullness. The Gospel author urges us always to be ready to meet the Living Christ because we don’t know when He actually will come to us in the mystery of death. And if we're not ready today, when will we be?

You may have read the book “Living a Life that Matters.” In his 40 years as a rabbi, Harold Kushner has cared for many people in the last moments of their lives. The people who had the most trouble with death were those who felt they hadn’t done anything worthwhile.

We shouldn’t be frightened that God will end the world as we know it. What we’re really called to do is to begin bringing about the kingdom of God: by getting our priorities straight, being peacemakers; treating one another fairly; helping people know they have a purpose; and giving a helping hand to others. We can become the compassionate eyes and hopeful voice and generous hands and dedicated feet of Jesus to others until He comes again with great power and glory.