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Homily for the feast of the
Most Holy Sacrament - Year C - Lk. 9:11-17
by
Father Daniel Meynen
" Jesus spoke to the crowds
of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. Now the
day began to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him,
«Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round
about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely
place.» But he said to them, «You give them something to
eat.» They said, «We have no more than five loaves and two
fish -- unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.»
For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples,
«Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each.» And
they did so, and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and
the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and
gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and
were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of
broken pieces. "
Homily:
" Jesus spoke to the crowds
of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. Now the
day began to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him,
«Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round
about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely
place.» But he said to them, «You give them something to
eat.» "
Today is the feast of the
Most Holy Sacrament! We specially honor the sacrament of Body and Blood
of Christ! It is the Holy Spirit who invites us to do this, because it
is he who urges the Church to praise the Lord Jesus throughout the
whole world, rendering to him the glory he deserves: it is the Holy
Spirit who prays in us in order to praise the Lord and to thank him
infinitely! "When the Spirit of truth comes, ... he will glorify me."
(John 16:13-14)
The Church is not alone
when she praises the Lord: the Spirit of God is there to help her and
to guide her day after day in her eucharistic thanksgiving! So, if the
Spirit is there, nothing is impossible, because the Spirit himself is
the power of the Most High (cf. Luke 1:35) If the Spirit is there,
everything is possible, including the Lord's command to his disciples:
"You give them something to eat." For today this command is given once
again to the disciples of the Lord ; those in his Church whom Christ
has chosen have indeed been given this order: "Do this in Memory of
Me..." The ministers of the Church have the mission of feeding the
People of God: they are ordained in order to give believers the Bread
of God after having explained to them the Word of the Lord, that
spiritual food which the soul constantly needs. "Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
(Mt. 4:4)
" He said to his disciples,
«Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each.» And
they did so, and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and
the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and
gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. "
The Eucharist, the Bread of
Life, is the Bread of Unity! For if consecrated bread is broken and
divided, there is nonetheless but one Lord present and offered in
sacrifice, there is but one God who is received by each and every one
of those who receive the Eucharist. When we have received Christ's
Body, we are united to all other believers, in faith, in hope, and in
charity: "The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the
body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one
body, for we all partake of the one bread." (1 Co. 10:16-17)
When the five thousand men,
not counting the women and children, had eaten, it was as if each one
of them had eaten the five loaves and the two fishes which the
disciples had brought to Jesus: all had miraculously eaten one and the
same reality! Similarly, today, the members of Christ's Body receive
and eat but one reality, that of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the
Body and Blood of Christ! This miracle of unity in the multiplication
of the loaves is sacramentally perpetuated, day after day, throughout
the entire Church!
" All ate and were
satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of
broken pieces. "
The number twelve about
which the Gospel speaks here is very mysterious! It is the number of
the Apostles of the Lord, and it is also the number of the Tribes of
Israel. It therefore evokes a sense of fullness, for, when there were
no more than eleven Apostles, after the death of Judas, they decided to
elect a replacement: this was Matthias (cf. Ac. 1:26). Numbers have a
real importance in our life, for they give it a certain order.
Therefore, it is not surprising that numbers appear when we are dealing
with the accomplishment of the very Command of Christ, the Lord of
Universe, the Alpha and the Omega of all Creation (cf. Rev. 21:6), he
who gives all things their fullness!
Let us therefore celebrate
in joy and thanksgiving this feast of the Most Holy Sacrament! Let us
receive the Body of Christ with a great faith, and with a sincere love!
May the Most Holy Virgin Mary help us to accomplish such a profound and
magnificent act!
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