Solemnity of the BODY and BLOOD of CHRIST 25th June 2000

First: Ex 24:3-8; Second: Heb 9:11-15; Gospel: Mk 14:12-16.22-26

THEME of the READINGS

The covenant or pact is the almost compulsory point of reference of this Sunday’s liturgical texts. The covenant sealed with the Blood of Christ is the heart of the worship and life of the Church: "This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for many" (Gospel). This covenant is prefigured and gives a definitive character to the old covenant, sealed with the blood of bullocks: "This is the blood of the covenant which Yahweh has made with you, entailing all these stipulations" (first reading). The covenant in the blood of Christ perpetuates the presence of God among us and purifies humankind from all its sins to worship the living God (second reading).

DOCTrinal MESSAGE

The Old Covenant. The text of the first reading mentions some of the parts of the rite of the covenant, common to the Eastern people of the time. First of all, there is the reciprocal nature of the covenant: Yahweh on one side and the people of the other. Then it mentions the stipulations of the pact, which indicate the binding contents to which both God and the people are committed: the sacrifice of communion, which will culminate in a banquet; the rite of the sprinkling of the blood on the parties to the pact, by means of which the pact is ratified. God’s indulgence with man goes to the extreme of a reciprocal pact! This pact speaks to us with great clarity of God’s love and of his eternal fidelity. In spite of the many infidelities to the pact on the part of Israel, in all of its historical vicissitudes this pact was always an unchallenged point of reference and an unequivocal sign of hope and permanent renewal. Little by little, in its long historical experience, Israel learned that God never abandons man, that his fidelity is ever-lasting. In seeing God’s faithfulness, Israel felt the attractive force of faithfulness, of responding to the pact with Yahweh with a sincere and definitive Amen.

The New Covenant. Due to Israel’s constant infidelity to Yahweh, God revealed to the prophet Jeremiah the promise of a new covenant, a covenant written on the heart, which will bestow upon all the gift of the knowledge of God and of his merciful forgiveness (Jr 31:31-34). This promise was definitively fulfilled in Jesus Christ, in the paschal supper that he had with his disciples on the night that he was going to be taken away, in the blood of the covenant, shed for all on the summit of the Calvary. The Jews recalled the Old Covenant each year with the feast of Passover; we Christians recall and re-live the New Covenant each day, but in a special way on Sunday, in the Eucharistic celebration. The feast of the covenant is not annual but daily, weekly. Let us not forget the reciprocal covenant of God with the Church and with each one of her children, and consequently, of the Church and each one of her children with God. As Christians, each and every one of us must value the beauty of a covenant with God in the Blood of Jesus Christ, and at once the seriousness and responsibility of a pact to which we have sworn our fidelity.

The Novelty of the Covenant. The Gospel and the second reading present some features of this novelty. 1) In Jesus Christ both the mediator of the covenant (Moses in the Old Covenant) and the sacrificed victim with whose blood the covenant is sealed and ratified coincide (in the Old Covenant, the blood of the bullocks); 2) the covenant in the Blood of Christ is not only with the people of Israel, but with all of humankind. This is why his Blood was shed for all, and we enjoy eternal redemption; 3) the covenant that Christ makes between God and humankind is not only new, but also definitive. Thus, as revelation finds its fullness in Christ, so the covenant finds fullness. He does not seal the penultimate, but the absolutely final covenant; 4) The covenant between God and man in Christ Jesus is present in history, with its definitive mark, and through this mark it is subjected to the different dimensions of space and time. This covenant will culminate and achieve its perfection at the end of all centuries, in eternity with God. This is why Jesus says to the disciples "I shall not drink wine again until the day I drink the new wine in the Kingdom of God".

PASTORal SUGGESTIONS

Priests of the New Covenant. The New Covenant is destined to all men. Jesus Christ, the mediator of the New Covenant, needs mouths in order for the good news of this covenant reach all. He needs mouths and hands to consecrate the bread and wine of the new covenant and to distribute them to men. Both God and men need priests. It is necessary for the Christian community to be more aware of this need. If there are no priests, who will make present in the world the mediation of Christ between God and men? If Christian families have no children, or have only one child, two at the most, won’t the number of those that have been called by God to priesthood necessarily decrease? If the new couples live together without getting married, or get married only with a civil rite, won’t it be almost impossible for their children, once they have them, to hear God’s call to a priestly vocation? These are serious questions. All of the Christian community must ask itself these questions, and must cooperate, to the extent possible, to look for and offer valid answers.

To worship the living God. In the Eucharist Jesus Christ is present, true God and true man. This is why the Catholic Church has worshipped and continues to worship the Eucharist, not only during Mass, but also outside its celebration. Pope John Paul II wrote, "The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never case" (cf CCC 1380). There are those that attribute to the bustle of life the fact that they have no time for Eucharistic adoration, but let us be honest... they do have time to go to the soccer game, to spend most of the night out, to go skiing for the weekend, to sit staring at the television watching a film or a show. All of these things are good in themselves, but why not make some time, between these or other activities, to go to Mass or to go into church for a few minutes and worship the transubstantiated Jesus Christ?

Source: http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2004-05/21-13/CICLOB.html by P. ANTONIO IZQUIERDO L.C. (1948-2013)

[참고: 이 파일은 저서명 "가톨릭 교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이: 소순태, 출판사: 가톨릭출판사)의 각주의 연장으로 마련되었습니다].