COLLECT: “O GOD, WHOSE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON HAS APPEARED IN OUR VERY FLESH, GRANT, WE PRAY, WE MAY BE INWARDLY TRANSFORMED THROUGH HIM WHOM WE RECOGNIZE AS OUTWARDLY LIKE OURSELVES. WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU IN THE UNITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN”.
1Jn 4:7-10; Ps 71:1-4,7-8 and Mk 6:34-44.
The Gospel passage we reflect on contains a foretaste of the Eucharist, which was eventually and officially instituted on Maundy or Holy Thursday, and which we commemorate or celebrate as a Memorial every day and every Sunday.
The Eucharist, which also means the Mass (and not only the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ), we celebrate every day and every Sunday, has two principal parts. The first part is the Liturgy of the Word, which begins with the Collect or the Prayer before the Readings and ends with the General Intercession or Prayer of the Faithful.
The second part, called the Liturgy of the Eucharist, begins with the Preparation of the Gifts at Collection and ends with the Prayer after Communion. Well, we have the Introductory and Penitential Rites before the Liturgy of the Word, and the Concluding Rites after the Prayer after Communion.
The two main parts of the Eucharist are eminent in the passage we meditate on today. First of all, the crowd listened to Jesus, the Word of God that became Flesh. After Jesus spoke to them, he fed them with bread and fish. The importance of the Eucharist can never be overemphasised. In the Eucharist, we receive God’s love, his compassion and mercy. The Eucharist is our spiritual nourishment and food for the soul.
However, when the soul is nourished, the body is equally nourished and vice versa. The Eucharist gives us strength and energy to withstand and fight the Evil One in our lives and in the world. It makes us sons and daughters of God. The Eucharist can work miracles in our lives.
In fact, as a testimony, one time, a man who stopped receiving communion because he was no longer in the state of grace, but eventually reconciled and received Communion, testified that, ‘I have seen and believe that the Holy Communion is more powerful, effective and efficient than any medicine in the world’. According to him, he received some instant healing when he resumed the reception of Holy Communion.
Other benefits we receive from the Eucharist are that it increases or augments our union with Jesus Christ since it is the foundation of Life in Christ.
Secondly, when we participate in the Eucharist, all things being equal, it separates us from sin for Jesus gave up his Body and Blood for the forgiveness of sin.
Thirdly, the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins for the more we share or participate in the life of Christ and progress in his friendship, the more difficult it is to break away from him by mortal sin. In addition, the Eucharist makes the Church. It is celebrated when the faithful people of God gather as one body, the Church. By this, they are united closely to Christ.
The Eucharist unites the faithful and makes them one in bread, one in chalice, one in body and one in the Lord. Finally, when we participate or partake in the Eucharist, at the end of the celebration, it commits us to the poor, to share what we have received in the Eucharistic celebration with those who have not received it.
Therefore, let us not allow anything to prevent us from partaking in the Eucharistic celebrations. Even if you think that, for one reason or another, you are not in the state of grace to receive Holy Communion, that should not prevent you from taking part in the Eucharistic celebrations. Note, the Word of God also gives nourishment to our psychological, spiritual and emotional hunger and thirsts. May you always be nourished by both the Word of God and the Holy Communion. May Saint Raymond intercede for us. Stay blessed by the Lord.
WE MEDITATE TODAY, TUESDAY, ON THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES: ‘THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN, THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR, THE CROWNING WITH THORNS, THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS AND THE CRUCIFIXION’ (WE PRAY FOR SORROW FOR SIN, PURITY, COURAGE, PATIENCE, AND PERSEVERANCE) “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and the hour of our death, Amen”.
PRAYER: “O GOD, WHO TOUCH US THROUGH OUR PARTAKING OF YOUR SACRAMENT, WORK, WE PRAY, THE EFFECTS OF ITS POWER IN OUR HEARTS, THAT WE MAY BE MADE FIT TO RECEIVE YOUR GIFT THROUGH THIS VERY GIFT ITSELF. THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN”.
Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya. (00233-0207867239/0545462863. Email: aloybaya20@yahoo.com
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