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Listen "The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ"
Episode Synopsis
Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
Today’s reading is from the holy gospel according to Luke
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.
The gospel of the Lord.
Homily
The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ was created to joyfully profess our faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. All of today’s readings speak of blessing a sacred meal and sharing the bread. In the gospel we just heard, Jesus is attending the crowd that came to him by teaching them and healing their sick. When his apostles advise him that it is time for him to dismiss the crowd, so that they can go find something to eat, he tells them: “Give them some food yourselves.” When they object and say that what they have is too little, Jesus simply takes what they have – five loaves and two fish – looks up to God his Father, says the blessing, breaks the loaves and hands them to the apostles to distribute. All eat and are satisfied and there are even leftovers.
Saying a blessing and breaking bread became a ritual for Jesus and his apostles, by which they recognized his saving presence. We see this particularly at the Last Supper, and again after his resurrection, when he appeared to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In most of his appearances to the disciples after his resurrection, Jesus eats and drinks with them. And Peter tells Cornelius that they who ate and drank with Jesus after he had risen from the dead are now his witnesses before the world.
We see this blessing and sharing prefigured in the first reading where Melchizedek blesses God most high for Abraham’s success in recovering the people and possessions that marauders had carried away, and places a feast before Abraham and his men symbolized by the bread and wine.
What was prefigured in the book of Genesis, Paul makes explicit in his letter to the Corinthians. He recounts the tradition that he had received: how at the Last Supper Jesus had taken bread, given thanks, broken the bread and given it to the disciple saying: “This is my body that is for you;” and had taken the cup saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” And after each had commanded: “Do this in remembrance of me.”
Jesus’ presence to them was as real as it was to the disciples after his resurrection. Still, Paul recounts this article of the community’s faith to remind them that something very important was missing from their Eucharists: the sharing. In Paul’s day, the community gathered to share a meal before the Eucharist. Each brought what they could to the meal, but the sharing was not happening. Those who had more ate and drank too much, and the poorer ones often went hungry. That was not done in remembrance of the Lord who had attended the crowds that came to him and multiplied the loaves and fishes.
We profess our faith that Jesus is truly present in the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist, but it is not enough to march through the streets with the monstrance. When we unite ourselves to Jesus in communion, we receive a mission to make him present in the world by attending the needs of others as Jesus did. The economists tell us that due to the effects of war and of climate change, hunger is going to be a very serious problem in our world and our nation. There are groups that are stockpiling food and arming themselves to defend it. Others are increasing their efforts to feed the poor through soup kitchens and food pantries. Our parish has a food pantry, and for the first time we are having difficulty keeping it stocked. It is also more difficult to get volunteers. Jesus told his apostles: “Give them some food yourselves,” so we keep trying. “Do this in remembrance of me.”
May God bless you.
Fr. Karl E. Esker CSsR
Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help
Brooklyn, NY 11220
Today’s reading is from the holy gospel according to Luke
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.
The gospel of the Lord.
Homily
The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ was created to joyfully profess our faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. All of today’s readings speak of blessing a sacred meal and sharing the bread. In the gospel we just heard, Jesus is attending the crowd that came to him by teaching them and healing their sick. When his apostles advise him that it is time for him to dismiss the crowd, so that they can go find something to eat, he tells them: “Give them some food yourselves.” When they object and say that what they have is too little, Jesus simply takes what they have – five loaves and two fish – looks up to God his Father, says the blessing, breaks the loaves and hands them to the apostles to distribute. All eat and are satisfied and there are even leftovers.
Saying a blessing and breaking bread became a ritual for Jesus and his apostles, by which they recognized his saving presence. We see this particularly at the Last Supper, and again after his resurrection, when he appeared to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In most of his appearances to the disciples after his resurrection, Jesus eats and drinks with them. And Peter tells Cornelius that they who ate and drank with Jesus after he had risen from the dead are now his witnesses before the world.
We see this blessing and sharing prefigured in the first reading where Melchizedek blesses God most high for Abraham’s success in recovering the people and possessions that marauders had carried away, and places a feast before Abraham and his men symbolized by the bread and wine.
What was prefigured in the book of Genesis, Paul makes explicit in his letter to the Corinthians. He recounts the tradition that he had received: how at the Last Supper Jesus had taken bread, given thanks, broken the bread and given it to the disciple saying: “This is my body that is for you;” and had taken the cup saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” And after each had commanded: “Do this in remembrance of me.”
Jesus’ presence to them was as real as it was to the disciples after his resurrection. Still, Paul recounts this article of the community’s faith to remind them that something very important was missing from their Eucharists: the sharing. In Paul’s day, the community gathered to share a meal before the Eucharist. Each brought what they could to the meal, but the sharing was not happening. Those who had more ate and drank too much, and the poorer ones often went hungry. That was not done in remembrance of the Lord who had attended the crowds that came to him and multiplied the loaves and fishes.
We profess our faith that Jesus is truly present in the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist, but it is not enough to march through the streets with the monstrance. When we unite ourselves to Jesus in communion, we receive a mission to make him present in the world by attending the needs of others as Jesus did. The economists tell us that due to the effects of war and of climate change, hunger is going to be a very serious problem in our world and our nation. There are groups that are stockpiling food and arming themselves to defend it. Others are increasing their efforts to feed the poor through soup kitchens and food pantries. Our parish has a food pantry, and for the first time we are having difficulty keeping it stocked. It is also more difficult to get volunteers. Jesus told his apostles: “Give them some food yourselves,” so we keep trying. “Do this in remembrance of me.”
May God bless you.
Fr. Karl E. Esker CSsR
Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help
Brooklyn, NY 11220
In God we trust