Sharing in the Abundance

Image by Transguyjay via Flickr

Each of the readings this weekend reminds us of an important aspect of our Eucharistic Celebration. While all the accounts identify the meal as integral to the event, the reading from Genesis speaks of the priestly offering of bread and wine as Melchizedek professes his faith in the prayer of blessing.

In the Second Reading from Corinthians, we reflect on the words of the institution of the Eucharist: “this is my body,,...this cup is the new covenant in my blood.” They point to the sacrificial element in a Celebration that anticipates the second coming of Christ.

In Luke’s account of the feeding of the five thousand on the Mount, the generosity of the Lord extends to the physical and spiritual needs of people who eat of the loaves and the fish. In our case the Lord feeds and sustains us with the bread of life and wine when we partake of the Eucharist.

The Eucharistic celebration is truly a sacrificial meal in which the body of Christ is broken for us. It is also a celebration of the intimate union of all believers with the Lord and with one another as the body of Christ as Church because we share in the one bread and drink of the one cup. Likewise, it is an action we continue together as a community of believers, remembering the Lord and strengthening our resolve to live as his disciples.

We only comprehend in faith our integral and intimate union with Christ and with one another as his body. We are urged to reflect on our faith in the Lord in the Eucharist. However this faith extends itself to the whole community’s understanding and appreciation of itself as the body of Christ, its willingness to share in the sacrifice of Christ, and its response to the gift of the Lord.

The imagery in the readings also stimulates reflection: bread, wine, meat, feeding Body and Blood. These images are part of our daily lives. Likewise, they are personal, dynamic and essential to our very existence. The images while representing biblical tradition, reside within the experience of every family and community.

The celebration of the Body of Christ occurs not only in the Eucharist, but we also celebrate our union with the Lord in the ordinary circumstances of our lives. Furthermore, a connection exists between our appreciation of the Eucharist and our appreciation of the Church as a community.

Finally, the readings urge us to consider our responsibility of feeding others as did the apostles and the other disciples. The Lord uses his followers and the Church to witness his presence in our world. As a community, we can do for others what people cannot do for themselves.

We can provide for the physical and spiritual needs of others, nourishing them with his word. Just as the readings suggest the continued abundance of the Lord, we might explore and put into practice ways of sharing in the abundance we may have with others. It may be time spent with the aged, the sick and the lonely. It may financial or material resources to feed the hungry and the destitute. It may be prayers said with and for them. There are many varied and creative ways of reaching out to others.

We want to do this because we share in the intimacy with Christ in the Eucharist because we are the Church, his Body.

Taken from the bulletin of St Francis Xavier Serangoon