“The Eucharist is The Gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving.”
I think of Jesus on the mountainside, as John 6 describes today, and He is assuring Philip and Andrew and other apostles that God can provide enough for the need at hand.
They had thousands to feed on the hillside, lest they dismiss home presently, but Jesus wanted them to hear the message and to stay and to witness the sign of God’s provision. He gave them “bread from Heaven”—the Bread of Life of Himself.
In our situation, we must believe that God can do what He says He can do. He can provide for all our needs.
The miracle that happened that day on a Galilean hillside is actually outdone today by Jesus as He’ll supply hundreds of thousands of people with Himself as the Eucharist, all in the many Masses and holy liturgies of the Eucharist of the Church on this 17th Sunday of the Year.
Listen to the Eucharistic Prayer today, and try to participate in it and do the responses, too, as we are co-witnesses to the Divine One being in our midst. It’s not on a hill, but in our churches.
The Eucharistic Prayer II is a familiar prayer in that it becomes possible that we just hear words, but do not really think about what we it is saying, or what we are consenting to experience with Jesus. The Great Amen to the prayer says “Yes, we do believe, and we need You to nourish in every way, O Jesus!”
When we really reflect on the Eucharistic words, they invite us to have a personal encounter with God, or even better, a communal encounter through His Son and in His Spirit.
The most important meal to which the risen Christ invites us is the Eucharistic Banquet, where He is the Host and we are His guests. He welcomes us and invites us to change. At Mass we can encounter him in living altering ways.
I once called that being in an “altered” state, but people did not get it.
Maybe not this time, too! ☺
We encounter the risen Lord as the gifts of bread and wine are placed on the altar, and we place ourselves on the altar. We ourselves are offered up with them, surrendering ourselves to God’s marvelous transforming action. We encounter Him in the Eucharistic Prayer, where these humble gifts and we ourselves are consecrated. Christ Jesus is Present in a Eucharistic Coming.
I AM the BREAD OF LIFE, He says.
On the next page, I will give you words from a Eucharistic Prayer to ponder…
EP 4
It is truly right to give you thanks, truly just to give you glory, Father most holy, for you are the one God living and true, existing before all ages and abiding for all eternity, dwelling in unapproachable light; yet you, who alone are good, the source of life, have made all that is, so that you might fill your creatures with blessings and bring joy to many of them by the glory of your light. And so, in your presence are countless hosts of Angels, who serve you day and night and, gazing upon the glory of your face, glorify you without ceasing. With them we, too, confess your name in exultation, giving voice to every creature under heaven, as we acclaim:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
117. The Priest, with hands extended, says: We give you praise, Father most holy, for you are great and you have fashioned all your works in wisdom and in love. You formed man in your own image and entrusted the whole world to his care, so that in serving you alone, the Creator, he might have dominion over all creatures. And when through disobedience he had lost your friendship, you did not abandon him to the domain of death. For you came in mercy to the aid of all, so that those who seek might find you. Time and again you offered them covenants and through the prophets taught them to look forward to salvation. And you so loved the world, Father most holy, that in the fullness of time you sent your Only Begotten Son to be our Saviour. Made incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, he shared our human nature in all things but sin. To the poor he proclaimed the good news of salvation, to prisoners, freedom, and to the sorrowful of heart, joy. To accomplish your plan, he gave himself up to death, and, rising from the dead, he destroyed death and restored life.
To all of us, your children, grant, O merciful Father, that we may enter into a heavenly inheritance with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and with your Apostles and Saints in your kingdom. There, with the whole of creation, freed from the corruption of sin and death, may we glorify you through Christ our Lord, He joins his hands. through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.
Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.
The people acclaim: Amen. The Great Amen! ###