Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (C)

 The Body and Blood of Christ [Lk 9:11-17]

19.06.2022

Multiplication of the Loaves (Feeding the Five Thousand)

Readings: (1) Gen 14:18-20 (2) 1 Cor 11:23-26

1.  Theme in brief

Breaking our bodies and shedding our blood for others

2.  Focus Statement

The Holy Eucharist, which is Christ’s Body broken for us and his Blood shed for our salvation, motivates us to share our resources in sacrificial service to others.

3.   Explanation of the text

Today’s gospel begins in the context of Jesus taking the apostles to a secluded place at Bethsaida after their return from mission journey, to have some private time with them (9:10). The crowds that were so much desiring to listen to his words and get healed of their illnesses came to know about it and followed him; thus, encroaching even his private space (9:11). In spite of that he did not consider them a nuisance but gave up his desire for privacy for their sake and once again began his twofold mission: (1) to proclaim the Kingdom of God and instruct people about its nature; and (2) to heal the sick (9:11).

As the sun was about to set, the apostles sensed a critical situation. As they were in a “deserted place” (9:12), where would the crowds get food to eat?  They proposed an immediate solution to Jesus: to send them away before it would be fully dark so that they could go to villages and countryside to find their own food and lodging (9:12). They thought dismissing the crowd to manage their physical needs on their own was the best solution instead of going through the enormous problems involved in buying and transporting provisions, cooking and distributing food for five thousand men excluding women and children (9:13)!

Instead of escaping from the problem, Jesus asked the disciples to face the problem with these emphatic words: "You give them something to eat" (9:13). They responded by pointing to the meagreness of their resources: “We have no more than five loaves and two fish" (9:13). Here we notice their tendency to focus on what they hadn’t got instead of what they had. Their focus was only on the enormous problem and not on any other possibility. Even after observing so many miracles of Jesus in their presence, they could not imagine the possibility of Jesus handling the hunger of the crowd with his power. They doubted about his ability to take care of this situation.

Jesus did more than just feeling pity for the misery of the crowd; he took action as soon as he heard from them that they had five loaves and two fish with them. He took the five loaves and two fish, blessed God, broke them and gave them to his disciples who distributed them to the people (9:16). The four words used here (taking, blessing, breaking, and giving) are similar to those used during the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper (cf Lk 22:19) and those used at Emmaus when Jesus sat for supper with two of his disciples (Lk 24:30). According to the Emmaus Story, Cleopas and the other disciple recognized Jesus precisely when Jesus was at table with them he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him (Lk 24:30-31). Some scholars say that Jesus’ request to his disciples before using these Eucharistic gestures to organize the crowd into groups of fifty each is a pointer to the Eucharist which was considered as the source of unity of Christian community (9:14-15).

4.  Application to life

In today’s feast of the Body and Blood of Christ we thank and praise God for the incomparable gift Jesus made of himself to us in the Holy Eucharist. In this feast we celebrate the abiding presence of Christ in our midst under the signs of bread and wine. On this day we collectively give thanks to him for his mysterious yet tangible presence with us in the Eucharist. Through this wonderful sacrament, Jesus who came into this world as our Emmanuel – God with us – continues to stay with us and draw us towards his love so that we can love one another with this spiritual nourishment. In addition, by celebrating this feast we express our faith in the “Real Presence” of the Risen Christ in the Eucharist. Who is really present in the Eucharist? The answer is: The one who gives himself as our spiritual nourishment; the one who shares his life fully with us; and the one who offers himself fully for us. Jesus was a man for others. And in the Eucharist he gives us a spiritual nourishment to be men and women for others by leading a life of caring, sharing and sacrificial service. When we receive the Eucharist since Christ dwells in us we become Christ-bearers to the world. This privilege places upon us the duty and responsibility of giving or communicating Christ to others at home, in society and in our workplaces – his love, mercy, forgiveness and sacrificial service.

What Luke narrates in today’s gospel, in fact happens in every Eucharistic celebration, especially when we gather for it on the Day of the Lord (Sunday). Christ invites and gathers us around the Eucharistic Table for threefold purposes for which he sacrificed even his desire to have private time with the apostles according to today’s gospel:  (1) to instruct us about the Kingdom of God and its meaning or implication for us today as we listen to the Word of God and reflect over it; (2) to heal us from our sins which are our spiritual sicknesses; and (3) to feed us with his Body and Blood so that with the strength of this spiritual nourishment we may go out to feed those who are physically and spiritually hungry.

As we have already pointed out, today’s gospel text of multiplication of loaves is prescribed for this feast precisely because it has a lot of Eucharistic connotation. This is clear from the fact that Luke uses the same four words in this miracle used by Jesus at the institution of the Eucharist: Jesus took bread, blessed God (gave him thanks), broke it and gave to his disciples (compare Lk 9:16 with 22:19). Some experts say that taking the loaves of bread, breaking and giving them to his disciples symbolize the “taking” of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane for crucifixion, the “breaking” of his body during his passion and on the cross and his “giving” of himself as a sacrificial offering for the remission of our sins. Like Jesus we too are called to take and recognize God’s blessings and gifts in our lives; to bless and thank him for all our gifts – our health, time, talents, abilities, job, friends, family and faith. We must also break these gifts and blessings by sharing, spending, distributing and sacrificing them for the good of others. This is the way we are called to give ourselves for the salvation of the world.

Just as Jesus broke the bread and gave to his disciples, so also Eucharistic Bread is the memorial of Jesus’ body broken for us and his blood shed for us on the cross, for our salvation. By using Eucharistic words for the multiplication of loaves, Luke probably wanted to tell his readers in his days and also tells us today that the celebration of the Eucharist must lead us to a spirit of greater sharing within Christian community that may result in the multiplication of the little resources we have. Sharing our resources  and energies is a service that demands sacrifices.  Every Eucharist reminds us of our obligation to make sacrifices for the service of others.

As Jesus makes himself fully available to us in the Eucharist, we also are strengthened by the Eucharist to make ourselves available for the service of others. As Jesus is generous to feed us and stay with us through Eucharistic presence, we also get strength to feed others (both physically and spiritually) and stay with those who are in need of our help. Every time we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, he tells us as he told his disciples in today’s gospel, “You give them something to eat” (9:13). Only when we are willing to take out the little we have Jesus blesses it to satisfy the hunger of people around us.

Jesus’ reply to the request of disciples to dismiss the crowd to get their provisions with these words implies that it is their duty and responsibility to feed those who hunger for material as well as spiritual bread (the Word and the Eucharist). As we approach the Eucharist, Jesus seems to tell us: “As I give myself fully or share my whole being (Body and Blood) in the Eucharist, take this and receive the spiritual energy to give yourself or share your energies, talents and time with others. You give something of what you have to feed (both physically and spiritually) those who do not have it.” In the Eucharist, Christ makes himself totally available for us and shares his life with us, so that we too may do the same for others. The Eucharist is a spiritual meal of our community which commits and strengthens us to a life of service. By receiving the Bread of God, we become strengthened to take care of the bread for which so many people hunger.

We hear in the media that in our world millions go hungry, lose their homes in war and natural calamities. We think we are helpless to do anything for them except offering some prayers for them and a little contribution of money in the collection box. If we cannot do more than this for those people far away, what is our attitude towards the poor and the needy at our doorsteps? Like the disciples of Jesus, when we see poor people we also say: Let them go and find some work and take care of their needs. Though human mercy comes up and tells us that we could share with them something of what we have, we suppress or silence this feeling by making excuses of the type the disciples of Jesus made: (1) five loaves and two fish are like peanuts when we have five thousand mouths to feed (that also excluding women and children); and (2) we don not have the means to buy food and feed such a crowd. When we meet problems often we think of solutions from outside. According to today’s text Jesus challenges us to find solutions to our problems from within us and generously bring out the resources at our disposal, however little they may be. When all of us share even a little there will be sufficient for all and ‘twelve baskets’ of leftovers. The miracle that is waiting to take place in our hearts is: our conversion from selfish persons into generous sharers. As Michael de Verteuil says in his book ‘Lectio Divina with the Sunday Gospels’: “If we complain about the little we have, we never have enough; but if we take what we have, raise our eyes to heaven and say the blessing over it, we have as much as we want, and even twelve baskets of scraps left over.” Like the disciples had thought, if we send the people to villages to find their own food without sharing something of what we have, we fail to be Christ’s disciples.

Next, let us consider the spiritual significance of this miracle. Miracles in the gospels are like sacraments – external and visible signs of internal and invisible spiritual meaning or significance (grace). Similarly, physical healings are external signs of inner healing. In the same way, satisfaction of physical hunger of the crowds in today’s gospel is an external sign of Jesus’ role as the One who satisfies our spiritual hunger. It is a fact that human hunger goes beyond physical hunger. Human beings do not live by material bread alone (Mt 4:4). They are hungry for justice especially when they live in a unjust social structure or political system. They are hungry for peace when they live in a world torn apart by wars, riots, conflicts, violence and crimes. Then there is the deepest hunger for love and care, especially when people feel unloved and uncared. Quite often people feel totally helpless and powerless to satisfy their spiritual hunger. Jesus has given us the most wonderful sacrament to tackle our spiritual under-nourishment, that is, the Holy Eucharist. We become what we eat. By taking Jesus into us through Holy Communion in faith and with proper disposition we become more and more like him  - more loving, service-minded and self-sacrificing persons. But if we eat only the junk food provided by the mass media and the evil company of the world without having close communion with Jesus, we take into us a lot of ‘poison’ (evil).

As mentioned in the explanation of today’s gospel text, the disciples are given the task of organizing the crowd and distributing the bread. This shows that we are called to share what we have with others, just as Christ shares his life with us. Just as the disciples are told to organize a scattered crowd of people into groups of fifty each, we are called to gather people into the unity of God’s Kingdom. We are also called to bring about a ‘miracle’ of unity in our divided world or community.

5.  Response to God's Word

Does Eucharist inspire and strengthen us to share even our meagre resources with the have-nots? Do we realize that we are fed with divine life, so that we may feed others with the same? Does our participation in the Holy Mass motivate us to render a service to the poor, the suffering and the needy, or just to fulfil a ritual or gain respectability and acceptability in our society? What is our attitude towards the poor and the needy?

6.  A Prayer

Lord Jesus, today we express our faith in your real presence in the Eucharist. As you give yourself fully as our spiritual nourishment and share your life fully with us give us the strength to be men and women for others. As we take and receive you in faith, may we become more and more loving, service-minded and self-sacrificing persons like you. As you are generous to feed us and remain with us, give us the strength to feed others, both physically and spiritually. By receiving the Bread of God, may we become strengthened to feed the spiritually and materially hungry. In a divided world, may our continual gathering around the Eucharistic table bring about unity among the scattered children of God. Amen.