For thousands of years the Jewish people have celebrated the festival of Passover. It’s a special time when families and communities gather to commemorate their deliverance from the Angel of Death and slavery. Passover is about remembering and affirming the covenant God made to the Israelites to deliver them from the oppression of the Egyptians and lead them into the Holy Land. Passover is Jewish Thanksgiving; they give thanks to God for loving them, freeing them and leading them home safely.
On the first night of Passover a Seder meal is held. At the Seder, food that symbolizes various aspects of the Israelites’ slavery and liberation is eaten (a roasted egg, bitter herbs, mild herbs, roasted meat and charoset, a mixture of fruit, nuts, honey and wine). Also, there is a religious obligation to eat unleavened bread at the Seder and drink four cups of wine during the service.
This is the meal Jesus ate on Holy Thursday night with his disciples. This is the meal where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. And this is the meal at which Jesus instituted the Eucharist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that “In the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (186). St. John tells us in today’s gospel that Jesus offered his human body as a sacrifice “for the life of the world.” Jesus died so that we can be free – free from the burden of sin, free from the oppression of fear, free from the tyranny of death and free to live our lives fully in union with Him. Every Sunday when we participate in the Eucharist, we fulfill the words of Jesus “do this in remembrance of me.”
The difference between the type of remembering Jewish people engage in during the Seder and the type of remembering we engage in when we receive the Eucharist is this: the Seder commemorates an event in the past. When we receive the Eucharist, we receive Jesus saving us NOW. We receive Christ strengthening us and transforming our joys and sorrows into prayers to his Father NOW. Our union with Christ in the Eucharist is union with Christ in his passion, death and resurrection HERE and NOW.
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Last Sunday, we celebrated Trinity Sunday, and the week before we celebrated Pentecost. Both Pentecost and Trinity honor an invisible and untouchable God. Today’s feast is different. Jesus is here, to see and to embrace. To celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi is to celebrate Christ among us. In response, we say, "Thank you, Jesus."
Lord Jesus Christ,
you ask us to be your body
for the life of the world.
Nourish us here with your words of life,
give us your body to eat
and your wine of joy to drink,
that we may become more like you
and learn from you how to live
no longer for ourselves only
but for God and for the people around us.
Make us of one mind and heart,
that the world may recognize
that you are alive in us.
Be our Lord, now and for ever.
Amen
