Bible
Study: Genesis 14, 18 to 20. 1st Corinthians
11, 23 to 26 and Luke 9, 11 to 17.
How many of us still
remember what we learnt in secondary school about the characteristics of all
living organisms? Do you remember Mr. Niger D? Movement, reproduction,
nutrition, irritability, growth, excretion, respiration and finally death.
Today, our liturgy focuses on one essential element; Nutrition.
If you doubt the importance
of Nutrition, then don’t eat or drink anything for the next 100days. I bet you
might not be around to tell the story. The moment our body stays for long without
food, we start losing energy and even motivation to do things we would normally
do.
Even in that dire state of
hunger, you will agree with me that it is not everything that meets your eye
that you would be glad to throw into your mouth. Why? Because as much as we
love to eat, we know fully well that nothing kills human beings as much as
food; eating the wrong kind of food. We select our food very well because we
know our life depends on the food that we eat. As the saying goes, “You are
what you eat.”
Because Jesus knows how
important food is to us, as we see in today’s Gospel passage, he displayed the
height of his love for us by giving us a special kind of food to eat. The food
of his own flesh and blood. This is what we celebrate today; that Jesus gave us
his body and blood to eat so that our spiritual life would be sustained. When
we receive Holy Communion, we become what we eat; that is to say, we become
part of the body and blood of Christ ourselves.
As Christians, the body and
blood of Jesus Christ is what sustains our life on earth and secures our
eternal life in heaven. As Jesus tells us: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man
and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks
my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my
flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and
drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him… he who eats this bread will live
for ever.” John 6, 53 to 58.
If you are yet to begin the reception
of Holy Communion, you are really missing out of the food that you need to
secure your ticket to heaven.
If you are already receiving Holy
Communion, strive to be in a state of grace as St. Paul would tell us in 1st
Corinthians 11, 28 to 30, “Let every man examine himself, and so eat of the
bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the
body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak
and ill, and some have died.”
Holy Communion constantly reminds us
of the fact that Christ died for us. Just as you cannot eat meat without
killing the animal, in Holy Communion, Christ slaughters himself for us on the
altar. Every mass is a re-enactment of the sacrifice of Calvary, the sacrifice
of life that secured our redemption. As we prayed in our opening prayer: “…Grant
us, we pray so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we
may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption.”
Holy Communion does not become the
body and blood of Christ until a validly ordained priest has said the words of
consecration over the species of bread and wine. In our first reading, we saw
how the priest Melchizedek blessed Abraham. Just as the blessing of Melchizedek
made Abraham become the richest man of his generation, the blessing of a priest
(the words of consecration) literally brings about the greatest miracle at
every mass. Those words call God down to earth to take the form of bread and
wine.
There is so much to say but knowing that
we are celebrating our children today, I will have to stop here with the
following conclusion:
Whenever you attend mass, ensure you prepare
yourself from home, free yourself from the defilement of sin, purify your heart
by regular confession, pay full attention at mass and then proceed to receive
Jesus Christ, fully trusting that it is not just ordinary bread you eat but the
real body and blood of Jesus, the food of your soul.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, may the
receiving of your body and blood not bring me judgement and condemnation but
through your loving mercy be for me protection and health in mind and body. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Sunday.
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