Leon Bent –
The Eucharist is a Person! The Cross is a Person! Christianity is a Person! The Kingdom of God is a Person! The Super-substantial Bread is Jesus in his Eucharistic form. Jesus, our Messiah is our New Passover Lamb. He took the sin of the whole world upon himself and he willingly became our sacrificial lamb (1 Cor.5:7; Mk.14:12). Jesus will always be with us in our pain. When a tear falls from our eyes, Jesus cries too! We are alone with Jesus in our pain, besides, suffering will take us to heaven, as we tingle with the vitality of grace!
The Treasure of Heaven, Jesus, is crucified….worthy is the Lamb (Rev.5:12-13). Jesus speaks to our wounds from the Cross. The Eucharist helps us embrace our human frailty and brokenness and transform it.
Isaiah says: “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the juicy meats and sparkling wines (Isa.25:6). The Wedding Feast of Cana depicts the wild excess of divine life, Jesus offers those who “Do what he tells them,” “Six stone jars transformed into180 gallons of sparkling wine” (cf. Jn.2:1-11). A sure symbol of True Love in Catholic marriage that, takes time to mature, and an early symbol of the Eucharist. The Sacrament of Matrimony and the Eucharist offers us the fullness of grace.
The Road to Emmaus is Eucharistic
Now, on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem (Jn.24:13). Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures (Jn.24: 25-27). When he was at the table with them, he “took bread, blessed and broke it,” and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (Lk.24: 30-33). This is an extraordinary symbol of the Eucharist: The recitation of the Word and breaking Bread, is, indeed, the Eucharist.
Sacrifice
Although Melchizedek is a subject of much speculation, this enigmatic historical figure and his royal priesthood serve as a model for Jesus. He brought out bread and wine to offer sacrifice. This is why we have altars to offer sacrifice, in atonement for our sins. When the lamb is offered we are offered. This is why we have altars, where the priest offers sacrifice, which is joined to the one sacrifice of Jesus, our sinful selves are joined to that of Jesus.
Covenant
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you that, the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. As often as you drink this cup, do it in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Cor.: 11-23-26).
I will make a covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (cf. Jer. 31: 31-33).
Banquet
Jesus wanted to feed his people. And the Lord God commanded the man, in the Garden of Eden, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Gen. 2:16-17). God wanted humankind to have fullness of life (Jn.10:10), and wanted to have “open table fellowship with saints and sinners” (cf. Mk. 2:13-17). Jesus wanted to give his followers and disciples sumptuous food – his very own life. Transubstantiation – the idea that during Mass, the bread and wine used for the Offertory, Consecration and Communion, become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ – is central to the Catholic faith. Indeed, the Catholic Church teaches that, “The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life” (CCC 1324:1327; Also: Sacrosanctum Concilium, article 47; See also: Lumen Gentium, 11), through a Banquet”: The Eucharist! This means that it is the nourishment our spirits need, and it is the closest we can be to Christ while we live our human existence.
The Bread of Life Discourse
If you cannot believe (faith and trust) in Jesus’ divinity you cannot believe in the “Real Presence”: John 6:35-47 Part I (Believing in the Bread), and John 6: 48-58), Part II (Eating his Body). These two parts of John’s Gospel are central to Catholicism.
For the Bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Brant Pitre says, “The word Eucharist appears for the first time in the Bible as Eucharistesas, in Greek (Lk.22:1).
- It is an act of Thanksgiving in the Last Supper (1 Cor.11:20-22)
- When the early Christians met as a Community: All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (2:42-47)
- The Breaking of the Bread: The earliest Christian name (Acts. 2:41-42)
- A Memorial: Luke 22:19 – To Remember….It makes the Last Supper present.
- The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name (cf. Heb.: 13:9-15; Phil.2:9-11).
- Holy Communion: 1 Cor. 15:17: offers fellowship, koinonia, camaraderie, participation, communion, profound union. How to prepare for Holy Communion: establish a Personal and Covenantal relationship with Jesus.
- The Medicine of Immorality: We receive supernatural – eternal life. (a) We have received the Body, Soul, Mind, Heart and Divinity of Jesus (b) Go forth the Mass is ended – We are sent forth as Missionaries, Evangelizers and Proclaimers to broadcast the “Good News” of the Gospel to the whole world. Archbishop Fulton Sheen says: “Come” to the Eucharist, and “Go”: Breathe out the Spirit of Jesus across the seven seas.
Conclusion: The substance of ordinary Bread and Wine is transubstantiated into the “Real Presence” of the Body and Blood of Jesus. God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me….” I am always present to you! “God’s Providence extends to all Creation” (St. Augustine).
The downward trajectory of the Son of God, the acrobatic tumbling down to his death on a cruel Cross, saved humanity from sin and death. “Therefore, God highly exalted him and gave him the Name that is above every name, so that, at the Name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that, Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (cf. Phil. 9:2-11).
The reason why the daily Mass is the greatest event on planet earth, each and every day, is because, it makes present to us in time and space, the ever-living prayer within the heart of Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven. St. John Paul II, described the Mass as “Heaven on earth,” explaining that, what “we celebrate on earth, is a mysterious participation in the heavenly liturgy.”
“Wait a minute! That’s heaven! No, it’s the Mass. No, it’s the Book of Revelation. Wait a minute, it’s all that is mentioned above” (Scott Hahn). Yes! The Mass is the Revelation of Heavenly Worship to St. John (Rev. 4, 5, 21).
St. John Paul II, described the Mass as “Heaven on earth,” explaining that, what “we celebrate on earth, is a mysterious participation in the heavenly liturgy.”
The Treasure of Heaven, Jesus, is Crucified….worthy is the Lamb (Rev.12-13). The Eucharist helps us embrace our human frailty and brokenness and transform it. Jesus speaks to our wounds from the Cross.
May the feast of Corpus Christi help us see the Mass with new eyes, pray the Liturgy with a renewed heart, and enter into the Eucharist more fully, enthusiastically, intelligently and powerfully, than ever before.
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and have 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi. On April, 28, 2018, Leon received the Cardinal Ivan Dias Award for a research paper in Mariology.