I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,
says the Lord.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever. JN 6:51
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| Our present food, our future rest, Come, make us each thy chosen guest, Co-heirs of thine, and comrades blest With saints whose dwelling is with thee. Amen. Alleluia. |
GENESIS 14:18-20
My Soul's Beloved,
This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.
LUKE 9:11-17
My Soul's Beloved,
Jesus made the crowds welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing.
It was late afternoon when the Twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the people away, and they can go to the villages and farms round about to find lodging and food; for we are in a lonely place here.’ He replied, ‘Give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go ourselves and buy food for all these people.’ For there were about five thousand men. But he said to his disciples, ‘Get them to sit down in parties of about fifty.’ They did so and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven, and said the blessing over them; then he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps remaining were collected they filled twelve baskets.
You are the mysterious High Priest, Melchizedek, King of Salem, King of Peace, and ruler of all, both visible and invisible. You are the Rock, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. By the Breath of the Holy Spirit, God uttered His only Word, His Eternal Word, God-breathed, and all that is came to be.
You are the fullness of all we need. You come to us humbly in the guise of bread and wine, and by the power of the Holy Spirit and the divine will of the Father, what looks like bread, smells like bread, and tastes like bread is no longer what it appears to be. By the miracle of transubstantiation, the bread and wine become Your Body and Your Blood, and all who eat and drink worthily are transformed into what we receive.
Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal Son of the Living God, grant us the grace to return to God all that He desires from us - our will and our whole lives, which in truth is a poor exchange for this most precious of all Gifts, Yourself, in the Holy Eucharist.
Melchizedek king of Salem brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. He pronounced this blessing:
‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, creator of heaven and earth,
and blessed be God Most High for handing over your enemies to you.’
And Abram gave him a tithe of everything.
PSALM 109(110):1-4
You are a priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, creator of heaven and earth,
and blessed be God Most High for handing over your enemies to you.’
And Abram gave him a tithe of everything.
PSALM 109(110):1-4
You are a priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
The Lord’s revelation to my Master:
Sit on my right:
Sit on my right:
your foes I will put beneath your feet.’
The Lord will wield from Zion
your sceptre of power:
rule in the midst of all your foes.
rule in the midst of all your foes.
A prince from the day of your birth
on the holy mountains;
from the womb before the dawn I begot you.
from the womb before the dawn I begot you.
The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change.
‘You are a priest for ever,
a priest like Melchizedek of old.’
a priest like Melchizedek of old.’
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
Thank You for the undeserved gift of being a cradle Catholic. Sadly, unless we are well catechised and well formed in the faith, we can never fully appreciate what this wondrous gift truly means. This is true of millions of Catholics who, like me, are cradle Catholics, but because of one reason or another, the main reason being ignorance of the treasure they have received, they do not practice the faith.
While the above is true of lapsed or non-practicing Catholics, the sad truth for protestants is their spiritual blindness, which is often a result of their inability to go beyond their prejudices and their false perceptions of what they deem the Catholic faith to be. Grace alone can penetrate through the thick veil of pride, stubbornness, and refusal to even try to understand sacred mysteries with an open mind. If only they did, Beloved, the Holy Spirit would lead them into the fullness of eternal Beauty, Goodness, and Truth, which is nothing other than You, O Lord.
This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.
LUKE 9:11-17
My Soul's Beloved,
All are invited to come to You and to receive all You have to give. You turn no one away, the most vulnerable among us, the greatest sinner, the one most sick, most helpless, the one suffering and in dire poverty, the one who has nothing, and even those who lack the strength to approach You, and ask You to come to them instead will not be rejected. All are welcome. We just need to desire You, to call out to You, to implore You, and You are there. Even if others approach You on our behalf, You will gladly hear their plea and answer.
You reject no one. You turn no one away. You assure us that the greater our sickness, wretchedness, and our sins, the greater our right to Your mercy, compassion, tenderness, kindness, and love.
Today, as the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, we are reminded about the great, mysterious, unfathomable, and infinite love of the Father in giving us His only Son as our food and drink. Without it, we would lack the strength to make this pilgrimage from earth to heaven, and we would fall by the wayside and perish. We are grateful to the Holy Spirit who makes this miracle of love possible by taking the gifts of bread and wine that we offer and transforming them into Your precious Body and Blood. We thank You also for instituting the gift of the priesthood, for without this Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have access to this wondrous gift.
This is the only food that does not perish, is available to all who are in a state of grace, and has the power to make us ordinary mortals like You, sons and daughters of the Father and co-heirs with You to the Kingdom of God.
Jesus made the crowds welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing.
It was late afternoon when the Twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the people away, and they can go to the villages and farms round about to find lodging and food; for we are in a lonely place here.’ He replied, ‘Give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go ourselves and buy food for all these people.’ For there were about five thousand men. But he said to his disciples, ‘Get them to sit down in parties of about fifty.’ They did so and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven, and said the blessing over them; then he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps remaining were collected they filled twelve baskets.
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