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The feast of the body and blood of the Lord is on sunday, June 6, 2010. John sutter: it is this heavenly food that will sustain us on our pilgrimage. Paul's instruction to the Corinthians from what is probably the earliest written account of the last supper.
The feast of the body and blood of the Lord is on sunday, June 6, 2010. John sutter: it is this heavenly food that will sustain us on our pilgrimage. Paul's instruction to the Corinthians from what is probably the earliest written account of the last supper.
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The feast of the body and blood of the Lord is on sunday, June 6, 2010. John sutter: it is this heavenly food that will sustain us on our pilgrimage. Paul's instruction to the Corinthians from what is probably the earliest written account of the last supper.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Verfügbare Formate
Als DOC, PDF, TXT herunterladen oder online auf Scribd lesen
(Genesis 14:18-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; Luke 9:11b-17)
As we pass over from the festive seasons of Lent, Easter and
Pentecost into Ordinary Time, we revisit the Last Supper one more time for the Feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord. It is this heavenly food that will sustain us on our pilgrimage. The main menu of the feast is Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians from what is probably the earliest written account of the Last Supper. Paul notes that he hands on what he received from the Lord. Thus it is established already as a tradition (i.e. “what is handed on”) that has come directly to Paul from the Lord. But Paul regards the Church as the Body of Christ, so this may mean that he received as a tradition “from the Body of Christ, what I also handed on to you.” It would still have the same authority coming from the Church as from Christ. There was a formula firmly fixed that involved certain verbs “took...gave thanks...broke...gave.” Almost all Eucharistic settings in the Gospels reflect this or a similar formula. Note Sunday’s Gospel where at the feeding Jesus “took...blessed...broke...gave.” There can be no doubt that Luke had in mind the Lord’s Supper in this account. Paul does not present a spiritual reflection on Eucharistic theology. He uses the formula that had developed around the celebration of the Lords’ Supper in these first few years after the death and resurrection of Christ as the intro to the words of the Lord, literally: “This is my body for you. This do in my memory.” The same straight-forward simplicity is used for the cup: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do, whenever you drink, in my memory.” Paul repeats the command to “Do this” after both the bread and the cup. Paul is the first commentator we know of to interpret the ritual as a proclamation of the death of the Lord until he comes. Thus Paul invites all to become actively engaged in proclaiming the Lord’s death and the Christian hope for Christ’s return. It is in fact a participation not only in what Christ did on the night before “he was handed over.” It is also a continuous proclamation of that reality through the ages. In receiving the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood in both forms of bread and from the cup, we have returned to the practice of the New Testament period itself. This noble simplicity allows us to ponder the presence of Christ in the Eucharist as the Word made flesh dwelling among us. The upcoming revised English translation of the Mass, has chosen “chalice” over the “cup” (happily in use since the 1970’s) which the New Testament used for this drinking vessel (poterion in Greek). Even the Latin word from which “chalice” comes (calix) means a drinking vessel or a goblet. Replacing “chalice” for “cup” is not exactly returning to New Testament tradition but may well continue an apparent new quest for the Holy Grail. Paul invites the Corinthians (and us) to consider that participation in the Eucharist is an active proclamation of the death of the Lord until he returns. This should be enough to sustain and nurture us. Extras (linguistic or other) added to deepen the mystery distract from simple truth. In some ways today, Eucharistic piety has become Eucharistic politics, a source of division and scandal, leading to the exclusion of some from the table of the Lord. The Lord here feeds 5000 hungry people. He simply tells the disciples “give them food yourselves.” He does not start by separating saints from sinners. He said feed them and all were satisfied. May we be too!