BREAD, WINE, AND BLESSING - CORPUS CHRISTI (6/19/2022)

CORPUS CHRISTI

June 19, 2022

Genesis 14:18-20
Psalm 110
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Sequence (optional)
Luke 9:11-17

BREAD, WINE AND BLESSING

When I was in grammar school in the late fifties, I was in some kind of program or presentation that had to do with explaining the Mass. I don't remember much about it except that I had to read something with the name "Melchizedek" in it. Some names just stick with you and that one stuck with me! His offering of bread, wine, and a blessing prefigured the Eucharist some 1900 years before Christ. Today, on Corpus Christi, we read about Melchizedek as we honor the gift of the Lord to us in the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of the Lord's own Body and Blood.

GENESIS

Melchizedek is a somewhat strange and obscure figure who appears, seemingly out of nowhere, to offer Abram bread, wine and a blessing. He is described as king of Salem (Jerusalem) and priest of El Elyon (the most high God). He is the first person identified as a priest in the Scriptures.

The priesthood of Jesus is compared to that of Melchizedek (cf. Heb. 5:6-10; 6:20; 7:1-21; 8:1). Jesus is a priest by divine appointment, not by human descent. So Melchizedek offering bread, wine and a blessing is a pre-figure and type of Christ at the Last Supper, giving his Body and Blood under the appearance of bread and wine.

The Responsorial, Psalm 110, is obviously appropriate because of the reference to Melchizedek: "You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek."

1 CORINTHIANS

Our second reading is the earliest extant recorded account of the institution of the Eucharist - older even than those found in the gospels. This particular selection is also used as the second reading of the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. St. Paul writes that he is passing on what he received from the Lord. He relates what we now refer to as "the words of Consecration." He makes it clear that the Eucharist is mandated by the Lord to be done "in remembrance" and to "proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes."

SEQUENCE

There is a Sequence assigned for today, the beautiful Lauda Sion (Praise, O Zion), composed by St. Thomas Aquinas. Both longer and shorter forms are provided. Unlike the sequences for Easter and Pentecost, however, this one is optional.

GOSPEL

Today's gospel is St. Luke's account of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. The early Church saw this particular miracle as a sign of the Eucharist - the power of God miraculously using bread to feed multitudes.

It is noteworthy that Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the precise actions of Jesus exactly the same:"...looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd."

THE DEATH OF THE LORD UNTIL HE COMES

The Eucharist is celebrated in remembrance of all the Lord has done for us: "How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me? The cup of salvation I will take up and call upon the name of the Lord" (Psalm 116:12-13).

The Eucharist is also celebrated to proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. We are constantly reminded of the great price of our salvation - nothing less than the Precious Blood of the Lamb!

St. Alphonsus Ligouri, a great lover of the Eucharist, composed this prayer, especially appropriate when approaching Holy Communion:

I love you, Jesus, my beloved.
I repent with my whole heart of ever having offended you.
Never permit me to separate myself from you again.
Grant that I may love you always, then do with me as you will.