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Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

Gospel according to Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

On the First Day of the Unleavened Bread, when the Passover Lamb is sacrificed, the disciples said to Jesus, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, “where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them: and they prepared the Passover meal. While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them and said, “Take this: this is my Body.” Then he took the cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my Blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it in the kingdom of God.” When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

Reflections

The Body and Blood of Christ is the central element of the Catholic Mass, which through rites and rituals, performs the same sacrificial offering to God as it was since the time of Abaraham and the Priest of Melchizedek (Genesis 14:1-24). In the ancient times, it was customary to offer grain and animal sacrifices to God by burning them on the altar. This was the highest form of praise and worship of God. We find it even in the times of Adam and Eve, when Abel offered a young lamb to God. The smoke went straight up toward the sky, meaning that God welcomed this offering. Cain, Abel’s brother, also wanted to offer a sacrifice but his offering was not as pleasing to God as that of Abel. Therefore, he killed his brother out of jealousy (Genesis 4: 1-16).

Since Adam and Eve, sin has become widespread on earth through human choice that yielded to temptation from evil (Genesis 3, Gen 6:5-8). God sent his prophets to keep reminding the people that through renewing their vows and remaining faithful to God and his commands, they can change their paths and shape themselves into new people, serving each other and worshipping God. However, sacrifice after sacrifice, burnt offering after burnt offering, vows were broken, and the people turned to wicked ways that took them away from what God had intended for them. Nonetheless, God remained faithful to his promises. In due time, he sent his own son, Jesus, the Messiah. His death would reconcile mankind with God forever (Mark 14:61, 62).

Jesus did not achieve this through conquering and subduing human freedom, but through showing a path of responsible action that one can follow. His entire message was based on responding to God’s love. Consequently, to freely aim to improve and perfect the world, starting with us. Though being sinless, Jesus gave his life as the final and decisive sacrifice that breaks the chains of evil, corruption, and death, forever.

The life of the new church was built of Jesus’s sacrifice. It centered on Jesus’ life and teaching, the heart of which was his love. He chose ordinary and everyday substances, such as bread and wine, which were part of everyday diet, although served exquisitely prepared on special occasions, to reveal the Infinite in the finite. During the last Passover, when Jesus blessed and broke the bread, and handed it to his disciples, he gave the promise to be henceforth present in that sacrament through transubstantiation. Thus, according to the teaching of the Catholic church, the bread does not only symbolize Jesus’ body, as in other Christian denominations, but it is, mysteriously, Jesus’ body. The wine is not just a symbol of his Blood, but it is Jesus’ Blood. This miraculous transubstantiation happens at the center of the mass, when the priest repeats the words of Jesus: “This is my Body, given for you. This is my Blood, shed for you.”

In the ancient religions, God only communicated with the priests who then communicated this message to the people. In the Eucharist, we are all invited into the closest communion with the living God. The center of our worship is Jesus who is God and leads us to the Father through the Holy Spirit. In the Eucharist we meet our Savior, our Redeemer, our Messiah—Jesus.

Two weeks ago, we celebrated Pentecost, when the disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit. On this occasion, we invoked the aid of the Holy Spirit on all the world. Last week, we celebrated the Holy Trinity, God the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit; One God in Three Persons, in perfect unity and harmony. This week, we celebrate the most Holy Body and Blood of Christ which is the sign of our liberation and salvation. It is through this sacrament that Jesus promised an eternal covenant, in which we are not slaves and subordinates, but friends, family, and collaborators of God.

The early church believed that the Kingdom of God was imminent. Were they wrong to act on Jesus’ promise?

Today we celebrate that the signs of The Kingdom of God are with us. The greatest of all miracles, God in communion with us, hidden in the form of a tiny, white wafer and a sip of wine. According to its substance and taste, the Eucharist is close in appearance to the Mannah that God gave in the desert to Moses and the Israelites when they were journeying in the desert, panting for water and a piece of bread (Exodus 16). “Maan-uh?” meaning “What is it?” in ancient Aramaic, was bread that fell from Heaven--the Bread of Heaven (Psalm 78:24, 1).

Bible scholars think that the Mannah refers to a sweet substance that naturally forms in the deserts of the Sinai Peninsula around tamarisk trees (Ebers Tamaris mannifera), which exudes sweet, honey like liquid when its roots are pierced by an insect similar to a sting-beetle, called Gossiparia mannifera. The liquid gathers on the twigs and falls to the ground from which it can be collected first as a whitish substance which quickly turns yellow and dries up on the hot sun and disappears. The other theory is that manna is a sweet tasting lichen, Lecanora esculenta—which, at times of need, desert dwellers have gathered and grinded to make into bread. (2) According to a third theory, this lichen can be eaten with sugary manna from the trees. (3) No matter which naturally occurring resource one considers, the Israelites depended on this sweet, honey and wafer tasting substance for forty years, until they crossed the river Jordan and celebrated the Passover in the Promised Land (Joshua 5:12).

When the disciples asked for miracles from Jesus, so that they would continue to believe in Him after they miraculously fed thousands of people, he wanted them to see beyond the physical bread when he replied: “I am the bread of life.” (John 32-35). This bread is the Bread of Heaven, the Bread of Life, the miraculous Mannah, through which Jesus takes up dwelling in our hearts, and travels with us until we reach the Heavenly Jerusalem.

Carlo Acutis (1991-2006) was an Italian computer programmer and website designer who set up a website for documenting and following Eucharistic miracles and approved Marian apparitions around the world before his premature death from leukemia at the age of fifteen. He will soon be canonized as Saint by Pope Francis. (4) Some quotes attributed to him are the following: (5)

In the Sinai desert, the tamarisk is stung by a sting beetle to produce a sweet substance fit for consumption …The side of Christ was pierced by a lance, from which healing Salvation sprang; From the bitter springs forth the sweet when the natural is imbued with supernatural… All in the palm of the hand. --Food for a thought.

Sources:

  1. Elwell, W. (1997). “Entry for Manna.” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Public Domain.

  2. Orr, J. (1915). “Entry for Manna.” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Public domain.

  3. Mastermann, E. W. G. (2024). Manna. Bible Study Tools. Accessed May 31, 2024. Biblestudytools.com

  4. Ferreras, V. A. (2024). Carlo Acutis: A mother’s faith clears millennial’s path to sainthood. GMA News Online. Gmanetwork.com/news/tpstories/specialreports/9008511//carlo-acutis-a-mother;s-faith-clears-millennials-path-to-sainthood/story

  5. Westminster Youth Ministry (2020). 18 Inspiring Quotes by Carlo Acutis. Youth.rcdow.org.uk/voices/carlo-acutis-quotes/