Readings
for
13 June 2004
Corpus Christi
MP3 recording of this sermon
Today's First Reading is from The Book of Genesis beginning at the
14th Chapter and the 18th Verse (Gen 14:18-20)
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest
of the Most High God. And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be
Abram
by the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be
the Most High God, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!"
La Primera Lectura es del libro del Génesis , empezando en
el 14mo Capitulo, y el 18mo Verso (Gen 8:22-31)
En
aquellos días, Melquisedec, rey de Salem, presentó pan
y vino, pues era sacerdote del Dios altísimo, y bendijo a
Abrán diciendo: «Bendito sea Abrán de parte
del Dios altísimo, creador de los cielos y de la tierra; y
bendito sea el Dios altísimo que entregó a tus enemigos
en tus manos».
Y Abrán le dio el diezmo de
todo
Today's Song of Praise is taken from Psalm 110: (Ps 110:1,2,3,4)
R. You are a priest for ever, after the order
of Melchizedek.
The LORD said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand
till I make your enemies your footstool."
R. You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.
The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion:
"Rule in the midst of your enemies."
R. You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.
"Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you."
R. You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.
The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent:
"You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek."
R. You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.
El Salmo Responsorial se toma del Salmo 110 (Ps 110:1,2,3,4)
Tú eres
sacerdote para siempre a la manera de
Melquisedec.
Oráculo del Señor a mi señor:
«Siéntate a mi derecha,
hasta que ponga a tus enemigos
como estrado de tus pies».
Tú eres sacerdote para
siempre a la manera de Melquisedec.
Desde Sión
extenderá el Señor el poder de tu reinado:
¡domina
en medio de tus enemigos!
Tú eres sacerdote para siempre a
la manera de Melquisedec.
«Tuyo es el señorío
desde el día de tu nacimiento en el templo;
antes de la
aurora, como rocío, te engendré».
Tú
eres sacerdote para siempre a la manera de Melquisedec.
El
Señor lo ha jurado y no se retractará:
«Tú
eres sacerdote para siempre a la manera de Melquisedec».
Tú
eres sacerdote para siempre a la manera de Melquisedec.
Today's Epistle is from Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians,
beginning at the 11th Chapter, and the 23rd Verse (1 Cor 11:23-29)
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the
Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when
he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is
for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the
cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the
new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in
remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink
the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever,
therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an
unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the
Lord Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink
of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning
the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.
Epistolo del Primera Carta de San Pablo a los Corintios, empezando
en el
Capitulo 11mo, y el Verso 23mo (1 Cor 11:23-26)
Hermanos: Por lo que a mí
toca,
del Señor recibí la tradición que les he
transmitido: que el Señor Jesús, la noche en que iba a
ser entregado, tomó pan, y, después de dar gracias, lo
partió y dijo:
«Esto es mi cuerpo entregado por
ustedes; hagan esto en memoria mía». Igualmente,
después de cenar, tomó el cáliz y dijo:
«Este
cáliz es la nueva alianza sellada con mi sangre; cuantas veces
beban de él, háganlo en memoria mía».
Así
pues, siempre que coman de este pan y beban de este cáliz,
anuncian la muerte del Señor hasta que vuelva. De manera que, cualquiera que comiere este pan ó
bebiere esta copa del
Señor indignamente, será culpado del cuerpo y de la
sangre del Señor. Por tanto, pruébese cada uno á
sí mismo, y coma así de aquel pan, y beba de aquella
copa. Porque el que come y bebe indignamente, juicio come y bebe
para sí, no discerniendo el cuerpo del Señor
+A Reading from the Gospel of Luke, beginning at the 9th Chapter,
and the 11th Verse (Luke 9:11b-17)
He welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of
God, and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began
to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him,
"Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round about,
to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place."
But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We
have no more than five loaves and two fish -- unless we are to go and
buy food for all these people." For there were about five
thousand men. And he said to his disciples, "Make them sit down in
companies, about fifty each." And they did so, and made them all
sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked
up to heaven, and
blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before
the crowd. And all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what
was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
+Lectura de Santo Evangelio según San Lucas, empezando en el
9mo Capitulo, y el 11mo Verso (Lucas 9:11b-17)
En
aquel tiempo, Jesús se puso a hablar a la gente del reino de
Dios, y curando a los que lo necesitaban. Cuando empezó a
atardecer, se acercaron los Doce y le dijeron:
«Despide a
la gente para que se dirija a los pueblos y caseríos de
alrededor a buscar hospedaje y comida, porque aquí estamos en
despoblado».
Jesús les dijo:
«Denles
ustedes de comer».
Ellos le replicaron:
«No tenemos
más que cinco panes y dos peces, a no ser que vayamos nosotros
a comprar alimentos para toda esa gente».
Eran unos cinco
mil hombres. Entonces Jesús dijo a sus discípulos:
«Que
se sienten por grupos de cincuenta».
Así lo hicieron
y acomodaron a todos. Luego Jesús tomó los cinco panes
y los dos peces, levantó los ojos al cielo, pronunció
la bendición, los partió y se los iba dando a los
discípulos para que los distribuyeran entre la gente.
Comieron
todos hasta hartarse, y con lo que sobró se recogieron doce
canastos.
Sermon
for
13 June 2004
Corpus Christi
Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi -- the Body of
Christ -- and, after Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, my favorite
feast of the year, being devoted as I am to the Real Presence of Christ
in the Eucharist. The Lectionary prescribes a series of
significant readings, and I will comment on them at length.
The first reading, from Genesis, is a
short passage, with no apparent context. The Patriarch Abram --
not yet "Abraham" -- after taking part in a victorious military
campaign, passes through the town of Salem (most likely the later
Jerusalem) -- which means "Peace". There he meets the king of the
place, called Mekchizedek (King of Righteousness), gives him ten
percent of all he owns, and:
"Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and
wine; he was priest
of the Most High God. And he blessed him and said, 'Blessed be
Abram
by the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be
the Most High God, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!'"
We notice a few points here:
1) Melchizedek is a priest, as well as a
king.
2) He is the king and priest of the city
which will become David's royal capital and the venue of Jesus'
Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
3) Unlike other sacrifices in the Old
Testament, which are of animals and are bloody, this one is of bread
and wine -- and bloodless -- as is our Eucharist.
The meaning for the Church of this otherwise
isolated passage is expanded on and interpreted by St. Paul in the 7th
Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews:
1: For this Melchizedek, king of Salem,
priest of the Most
High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and
blessed him;
2: and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth
part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of
righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of
peace.
3: He is without father or mother or genealogy, and
has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son
of God he continues a priest for ever.
4: See how great he is! Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe
of the spoils.
5:
And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a
commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from
their brethren, though these also are descended from Abraham.
6: But this man who has not in their genealogy received tithes
from
Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
7: It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the
superior.
8: Here tithes are received by mortal men; there, by one of whom
it is testified that he lives.
9: One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes,
paid tithes through Abraham,
10: for he was still in the loins of his ancestor Abraham when
Melchizedek met him.
11:
Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood
(for under it the people received the law), what further need would
there have been for another priest to arise after the order of
Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron?
12: For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is
necessarily a change in the law as well.
13: For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to
another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.
14:
For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in
connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
15: This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in
the likeness of Melchizedek,
16:
who has become a priest, not according to a legal requirement
concerning bodily descent but by the power of an indestructible life.
17: For it is witnessed of him, "Thou art a priest for ever,
after the order of Melchizedek."
18: On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because
of its weakness and uselessness
19: (for the law made nothing perfect); on the other hand, a
better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
20: And it was not without an oath.
21:
Those who formerly became priests took their office without an oath,
but this one was addressed with an oath, "The Lord has sworn and will
not change his mind, `Thou art a priest for ever.'"
22: This makes Jesus the surety of a better covenant.
23: The former priests were many in number, because they were
prevented by death from continuing in office;
24: but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he
continues for ever.
25:
Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God
through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
26:
For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy,
blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the
heavens.
27: He has no need, like those high priests, to
offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of
the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
28:
Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the
word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has
been made perfect for ever.
Paul here makes an early and powerful statement of
Soteriology -- the doctrine which describes how Christ saves us, what
His function is in God's plan to draw us back to Himself. This
mysterious Melchizedek is described with epithets which will later be
applied to Jesus: "King of Righteousness" and "King ot
Peace". Paul says of him: "He is without father or mother or
genealogy, and
has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son
of God he continues a priest for ever."
Paul also makes the point that the priesthood of
Levi and Aaron is NOT something Jesus had by birth and ancestry -- for
He was of the Tribe of Judah -- but something He had directly of
God. The Christian and Catholic priesthood therefore is not
related to the Jewish priesthood, but is a new thing\ -- of God --
instituted by Jesus in his commands to, and blessing of, His Apostles.
In Psalm 110, today's Song of Praise, the refrain
is: "You are a priest for ever, after the order
of Melchizedek" -- in Latin: "...tu es sacerdos in
aeternum, secundum ordinem Melchisedech . . ." This is the one
phrase that echoes and re-echoes in my mind from my ordination as a
priest in 1970. It is a frequent subject of my meditations on
what it means to be who and what I am.
It tells me that I am to be His instrument -- His
hands, His voice -- in this life, and sing His praises in the
next. It tells me that this life, this world, are not "all there
is"; not the only meaningful universe, but that there is
something unimaginably greater beyond. That I am not just a "meat
machine", but have an immortal soul, which will go on to "eternity" --
beyond all comprehension -- in and with Jesus, in the Presence of the
Father.
Paul talks about the Eucharist, and explicitly
refers to it as the "Body and Blood" of Christ, in today's
Epistle. Some modern commentaries on this subject are:
The Jerome Biblical
Commentary says (I paraphrase a bit):
"In verses 23-25, Paul recalls the original Last
Supper; it is a teaching that he had learned from the early
Christian community, and had faithfully handed on to the
Corinthians. This is the earliest extant testimony about the
institution of the Eucharist. Written about eight years before
Mark's Gospel, the Pauline record of the words of institution is very
similar to Luke 22:19-20 and probably represents the form used in the
Antiochene liturgy. That of Mark and Matthew probably represents rather
the
Jerusalem liturgical form."
Jungmann, in his "Mass of the Roman Rite" comments:
"In all the known liturgies the core of the
eucharistia, and therefore of the Mass, is formed by the narrative of
institution and the words of consecration. Our very first observation
in this regard is the remarkable fact that the texts of the account of
institution, among them in particular the most ancient (whether as
handed down or as reconstructed by comparative studies), are never
simply a Scripture text restated. They go back to pre-biblical
tradition. Here we face an outgrowth of the fact that the Eucharist was
celebrated long before the evangelists and St. Paul set out to record
the Gospel story. Even the glaring discrepancies in the biblical texts
themselves regarding this very point are explained by this fact. For in
them we evidently find segments from the liturgical life of the first
generation of Christians."
The Mass that we celebrate here today is a living
thing -- an outgrowth and a descendant of the liturgies of the Earliest
Christians, meeting after Pentecost to celebrate the Lord's Day --
Sunday -- on the day he rose from the dead. Not, notice, on the
Jewish Sabbath
-- Saturday -- when they would have gone to the Temple or Synagogue, to
hear the Word of the Lord. We offer the same Sacrifice --
ourselves and Jesus -- to the Father that they did, and receive
from
Him the same grace and mystery -- the Body & Blood of Jesus Christ
Himself -- as they did.
In the Epistle, Paul says: "Whoever,
therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an
unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the
Lord." It is obvious from this passage that the Earliest
Christians saw the Eucharist as the real Body and Blood of the Lord --
for if it were not actually Him, how could we be "... guilty of
profaning the body and blood of the
Lord."???
In this day and age, it has become fashionable to
say that Communion is "only symbolic", or that Christ is present
because of Jesus' promise that: "..where two or more are gathered
in my name, there also am I." This is emphatically NOT the
teaching of the Church from Apostolic Times onward -- and is the reason
that I have included St. John Chrysostom's (347-407 A.D.) Communion
Prayer, which includes the words: "I also believe that this is
truly Your pure Body and that this is truly Your precious Blood."
I cannot make the point strongly enough that the
Eucharist IS
Jesus Christ -- Body, Blood, and Divinity -- with us and in
us, in the Sacrifice of the Mass.
Today's Gospel gives another image of the Eucharist
--
the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, where Jesus feeds a multitude
from a few loaves and a couple of fishes. As He fed them in the
flesh some two millenia ago, He feeds us in the spirit today.
Again paraphrased a bit, the Jerome commentary says:
"This episode is the only miracle story common to
all
four Gospels; it constitutes a climax of Jesus' Galilean ministry, for
after this he concentrates upon the training of his apostles, with his
thoughts centering upon his destiny. Eucharistic symbolism is certainly
evident in this account, and the manner in which all four Evangelists
link the multiplication of the loaves with the announcement of the
passion underlines the "sacrificial" feature of the Eucharist.
In Verse 12, "began to wear on": Luke
associates the need for food with the late hour of the day. Mark's
Gospel must have been further enriched after Luke had drawn from it,
for Luke certainly would have included Mark's reason for the miracle:
"he
had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a
shepherd." In Verse 16, note the word "taking...": In each of the
multiplication scenes (Mark and Matthew record two such events), in the
words of institution of the Eucharist, and at the Emmaus supper (24:30)
the same words, in the same sequence, occur: "took.. .looked up..
.blessed.. .broke.. .gave." Luke further intensifies the Eucharistic
resemblance, for he suppresses Mark's double reference to the fish,
thus
giving more attention to the bread. In Verse 17, note
the word "fragments": The Greek word is klasmata, and is used in the
Didache (9:3-4) as the technical term for the broken particles of the
Eucharist."
The Didache (Teaching of the 12 Apostles) is a late
1st or early 2nd century work, probably written in Syria. It is quoted
very early, and reflects the teaching and ideas of the Church from
about the time of the death of John, the last of the Apostles, in 100
A.D.. It is very interesting that the Didache, which follows it
by some
30 or so years, uses
the same Greek technical term as Luke's Gospel, which dates from
shortly after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 A.D.
In the first part of today's
Mass, we hear the Word of the Lord --
and my interpretation in this Sermon. In the latter part, we
receive
the Bread and Wine, offered, like Melchizedek's sacrifice, to the Most
High God, which He makes for us the Body and Blood of His Son, Jesus
Christ, Our Lord.
We are fed, of the boundless bounty of God, and thus
let us praise Him . . .
In the
Name of
the Father +
And of the Son
+
And of the
Holy Spirit +
Amen.
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