Readings: Ex. 24:3-8; Heb. 9:11-15; Mk 14:12-16, 22-26.
Examine Yourself and
So Eat the Bread and Drink the Cup
1. A will is a legal declaration of a person’s wishes regarding the disposal of his or her property or estate after death. To avoid tension, hatred, jealousy and rivalry among siblings and family members, it is recommended that people have their will made, notarized and witnessed by a lawyer. This can be reviewed and updated from time to time. Advance directives, on the other hand, are oral and written instructions about future medical decisions (for example, when one is unconscious or too ill to communicate). Everyone should have advance medical directives and inform the medical team when one is hospitalized.
2. When we take a closer look at the institution of the Holy Eucharist, it seems that Jesus Christ, who knew that his life on earth was coming to an end, decided to communicate his wishes to his apostles. The gospel reading detailed how Jesus prepared his apostles for his death. He gathered them in one place and shared a meal – the Passover - with them. While at table, he told them his last wishes. “While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (Mk. 14:22-26). He told them, “Do this in memory of me.” (Lk. 22:19). Christ wanted us to remember, always, his love for us.
3. Dear friends, we gather here today to do what Christ commanded us to do, celebrate his love for us. We know how important it is to obey and carry out the death wishes of our parents. The celebration of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Eucharist, reminds us that Christ is with us in the bread and wine that we offer in sacrifice to God to become his body and blood through the process of transubstantiation. This is indeed the food for our spirit and soul. “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you.” (Jn. 6:53). From his death on the cross, we know that the covenant Christ entered into was sealed by the shedding of his blood. His is the sacrificial “Lamb who takes away the sin of the world”. (Jn 1:29). He died for our salvation. In the first reading Moses sealed the covenant with the blood of an animal, “Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord had made with you in accordance with all these words of his.” (Ex.24:8). This prefigured Christ’s sacrifice of the new covenant sealed by his own blood. He died that we may have life and left us a memorial of his passion and death and pleaded with us to eat his Body and drink his Blood. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (Jn. 6:54-56).
4. It is like Christ has prepared a meal of his body and blood for us, but we prefer to be on a diet. By not receiving the Eucharist we demonstrate how ungrateful we are to Christ who loves and cares for us so dearly. As Christians and Catholics, I often wonder what would prevent me from partaking in the Eucharist. Could it be because of sins? The sacrament of reconciliation is available to those who are not in a state of grace. Christ is always ready to forgive and reconcile us to God and one another. Therefore St. Paul exhorts us to examine ourselves before we approach the Lord in the Eucharist. It is a sacrilege to receive the Body and Blood of Christ when we know that we have committed a mortal sin. Paul had very strong words for those who disregard the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist. “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgement on himself.” (1Cor. 11:27-29).
5. We examine ourselves by praying and preparing fittingly to receive the Lord in the Eucharist. We should be in Church on time, examine our conscience and be prepared to receive the Lord Jesus. We must participate conscientiously at Mass. Going through the readings of the Mass a day before will put us in a spiritual readiness for the Eucharist. Remember to spend some time in prayer after the reception of Holy Communion. When you have communion with the Lord, remember that you must also have communion with your brothers and sisters. Forgive those who sinned against you if you want God to forgive your sins. At the end of Mass, we are dismissed to carry Christ to everyone we meet. Do not neglect the poor and those who are in need. During this year of the Eucharist, declared by Archbishop Lori, do not forget to spend some time with the Lord before the Blessed Sacrament on Sundays from 9:00 am before Mass. Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. May he who waits for us and wants us to spend time with him give us the grace to love him in return, now and always. Amen.
Rev. Augustine
Etemma Inwang, MSP.
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