Today, the whole of Catholicism celebrates the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, in Latin, is Corpus Christi. When I was in high school, the celebration of Corpus Christi meant a huge procession. How times have changed since. To remind us of how the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was instituted, the gospel reading today is about the Lord’s Supper or the Last Supper which you can read in Mark 14:12-16,22-26.
“12 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover Lamb, [Jesus’] disciples said to him. “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13 He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him.
14 Whatever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” 15 Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.” 16 The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and prepared the Passover.
22 While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it: this is my body.” 23 Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” 23 Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. “ 26 Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
To understand the Holy Eucharist or the new covenant instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, you must first understand the importance of the Passover (Pessah in Hebrew), the most sacred of all Jewish feasts. It is a celebration of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. As the last plague was spoken by Pharaoh that the first born of Israel would die, he also condemned the first born of Egypt to die. In anguish, Moses prayed to God who ordered him to sacrifice an unblemished lamb, put its blood in the doorsill with a hyssop branch so that the Angel of Death would pass over the house that obeys God’s command.
The Passover Lamb is roasted and eaten, while wearing travel clothes. Then they recite the Seder, which is a traditional command to all Jews “to tell their son” about the hardships of slavery. Then the Haggadah is read, which retells the Exodus story of the time they were in bondage in Egypt. The Passover or Seder meal also uses unleavened bread and this is exactly what our Lord Jesus had during his Last Supper.
During the Jewish Passover meal, the Jews are obligated to drink four cups of wine, where each cup has its own significance to their deliverance from slavery. The 1st cup is the Festival Blessing or the cup of blessing or the Kiddush. The 2nd cup is the cup of deliverance and is drank while the Passover narrative is recited and the 3rd cup is the cup of thanksgiving or gratitude and drank while eating the roasted lamb and unleavened bread.
The 4th cup completes the Passover meal and accompanied by singing of the hymn, the Great Hallel (Psalms 114-118). This is when the presiding priest or the host of the Passover meal would say, “It is consummated or it is finished.” I’m sure that by now our readers have a better understanding of what our Lord Jesus did during the Last Supper; after all, Jesus was a Jew and followed the laws of God.
However, during the Last Supper, he instituted the Holy Eucharist when he took the unleavened bread and gave it to his disciples and said, “Take it: this is my body.” He was now the unblemished Lamb, the sinless Man who would die for our sins, who if we eat his flesh, we shall have eternal life. Then he took a cup of wine and gave it to his disciples and said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.”
To complete this story, please turn your Bible to John 6:54-56 where Jesus told his disciples, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”
Finally our Lord told his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” What our Lord Jesus meant by this is to complete the new covenant, he would have to suffer greatly and die on the cross. This is why when he was about to die, he said, “It is consummated or it is finished.” He has now completed his mission and promised that he would always be with us until the last day. He is with us when we take his Body, Blood, Soul and divinity when you take him in the Holy Eucharist. He is God with us!
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