HOMPOD - Living Bread

Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Deut 8:2-3-16

1Cor 10:16-17

Gospel John 3: 16-18

Hymn- Songs of the Spirit - The Night Before Our Saviour Died - 24 Damian Lundy & Gerard Maryland copyright- Kevin Mayhew Ltd. 1978

Deacon Tom Copyright © 2022 -2026 
I  sincerly hope that no copyright has been infringed. Pardon is sought and apology made if the contrary is true, and a correction will be made in any future Hompods.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Hello, so let me see if this holy body and blood of Christ. I will call the balls. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. At that time Jesus said to the crowd, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. The gospel of the Lord. Take a little moment now to allow the seed of God's word to take root in our hearts. Jesus calls himself the living bread in the Gospel we have just read. This is also the title of an incredible book written by Trappist Monk Father Thomas Merton, fifteen years before the Second Vatican Council, that developed our whole outlook on the Eucharistic celebration of the Mass. I'll be using many of his thoughts and ideas which seem just as relevant today. The Second Vatican Council pronounced these clear words about the Mass. At the Last Supper, our Saviour instituted the sacrifice of his body and blood, by which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated until he comes again. The source and summit of the Church's life today is the Eucharist, celebrated particularly today at the Feast of Corpus Christi. From the time of the Apostles, the purpose of the Mass is to say yes to this sacrifice, to show agreement, and especially to give thanks. The New Roman Missal gives two major parts which form this celebration. They both require words and actions from those present to show agreements and gratitude. And perhaps a silent pondering on the scripture. Secondly, the liturgy of the Eucharist culminates in the distribution of the most holy body and blood with the words of reception, Amen. This means yes to Christ, yes to the grace of salvation, and yes to the gift of what Thomas Merton calls the supersubstantial living bread. The Eucharist is the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. This is no ordinary food. This is so different from the manner in the deserts that we hear about in the first reading that sustained the Israelites on their journey for forty years. This living bread is to prepare us for eternal life in the heavenly place. Jesus was very clear and simple about this tremendous mystery. The new translation says, And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Do you remember the Samaritan woman at the well, where Jesus was describing living water to her? And on that day the woman said cheekily, Oh, let me have that water, so I don't have to come here to this well anymore carrying all this water back. The Judeans who heard Jesus in today's reading were more angry than cheeky, I think, when they said, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? They were also not ready for the reply coming their way. Did you notice the repetitions? Saying truly is like an agreement, someone. They say something you say, oh, it's truly, yes, that's it's an old acquainted term, isn't it? But in that sense, a double truly is like an over-the-top agreeing. So when Jesus says, straight back to these men, truly, truly, that is, yes, yes, that's it, I agree with you. But that is what I am truly, truly saying. And then for emphasis, he adds, unless you eat the flesh and drink my blood, then you will not be raised up on the last day. It's the means of bringing us ready for eternal life. It's recorded that Jesus said all this in the synagogue in Capanum. He wasn't joking. It's a serious teaching. From the Last Supper and beyond, these words of Jesus have been taken as to him referring to the Eucharist that has been celebrated now for over 2,000 years. Every day of the week, somewhere in the world, mass is happening. Thomas Merton says that by this means Jesus is truly and substantially present in species of consecrated bread and wine through which he unites the faithful to himself in one body. This is a gift to Christianity. This is the gift of Christ Himself, living in those he has united as one body. Christ not only gives his grace, but himself in Holy Communion, the super substantial food. In eating the sacrament, body and blood of Christ, we're absorbed into the mystical body of Christ. We who eat his body and drink his blood receive life in him. And by this living bread, we find ourselves united to one another. As St. Paul says to the Corinthians, because the bread is one, we, though many, are one body. All of us partake of the one bread. There are times when we can't receive Holy Communion, but we never should dismiss the willingness to want to receive Holy Communion. Particularly if you remember during lockdown, the difficulties. And there is a prayer that I think gets us ready for communion every time we're waiting. No matter how long that period is that we have to wait. Sometimes we're very lucky. We have mass every week, even every day. Two or three times a week is extremely wonderful for us to be able to do. But in between, there is this prayer. Lord Jesus, please come to me in spiritual communion. Send your body and blood gushing through my veins. Lift me up to your bosom and infuse me with your divine love. On the other hand, holy communion unites us in the mystical body of Christ to one another with a love that is so pure, spiritual, so intense, it trans any natural law. It's a love that the world cannot give. The disciples weren't ready for what happened at the Last Supper. Just as we are probably not ready for the ideal of the mystical body at times, we find it quite difficult. And the way that it should affect our daily lives. The apostles are prepared for a traditional Passover to celebrate the rescue from Egypt. However, once they had witnessed the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Spirit gave them that deep understanding, that deeper understanding needed for their task of spreading the good news in their difficult times. And we need the gifts to help us appreciate all of that in these difficult times, and the involvement that we have, and the belief and understanding of what Thomas Aquinas says in today's sequence. Particularly, he says, Christians are by faith assured that to flesh the bread is changed, the wine to blood most precious. Under kinds two in appearance, two to show but one in substance, lie things beyond comparison. By the time the Gospels were written, a liturgy of Christian celebration with the distribution of bread and wine was well established. The fledgling Christian communities used every opportunity to show their belief in Jesus and to give continual thanks to God for what He had done. The feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood gives us the same opportunity today. The living body and blood of Christ can still open our souls to the Holy Spirit and inspire love in our hearts for each other, and to take courage and hope for the future of the world, for which we will give great thanks each time we celebrate the Eucharist and praise God the Almighty Father and the Holy Spirit who inspires us into the realms of eternal life and to whom we offer thanks as through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

unknown 14:13

Take the easy to my body for you. Take the business and easy to my body.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

And taking the cup of things again.