Our first reading today is a promise that God made through the prophet Zachariah to pour out grace upon all peoples so that human beings will turn to God and allow God to lead them in order that they will have true peace and joy in life. St John, in his gospel, tells us this promise is fulfilled in the Death and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (19: 37). Yes, God has fulfilled his promise and has offered his son to us as a gift, but the question is “Has the world accepted that gift?” 

Jesus desired that people of all ages and places continue to experience that grace of God, which brings peace and joy to the world; and he gave his Church the Sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Holy Orders, Holy Matrimony, and Anointing of the Sick) as the principal means of receiving His grace. Jesus’ wish is that by celebrating the sacraments, we will become the sacraments of God in the world. 

A question: If today we had baptism and I planned to baptize ….. with beer. Can I do that? Would you allow me to do that? Why not?

Gn 14:18-20,

Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4,

 1 Cor 11:23-26,

 Lk 9:11b-17

“Do this in memory of Me”: Living a Eucharistic life

Beloved in Christ, I have a question for you today. What is the most important thing in your life? If I ask you to mention one thing that you cannot live without, what will that be? Today, we celebrate the most important gift in our lives as a Church, the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is the most important gift that Christ has given to us because it is the precious gift of His Body and Blood, His life.

Our second reading today contains some of the earliest words of Jesus Christ that were written down. The letters of Paul to the Corinthians were written before the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were written. In Paul’s letter, he documented the last words of Jesus, His Will, before He went to the Cross. At the time of Jesus, people mostly spoke their Will, they did not write them down. So the spoken words of a person who was dying were as important as the written will we have today. St. Paul tells us that the Will of Jesus is that his disciples celebrate and live the Eucharist. This is what he meant by “Do this”. Jesus did not say: “receive this” but “DO THIS” and the “doing” means not just celebrating; but also living the Eucharist. The early Christians understood this. For them, the Mass was the most important “thing” in their lives. It was the “One Thing” they could not live without. They would rather die than to miss Mass. They would even hide in caves to celebrate the Eucharist; not even the threat of death could let them give up the Eucharist.

The early Christians did not just celebrate the Eucharist; but they actually lived Eucharistic life. The question I have been asking myself today is “As a priest, am I just celebrating the Eucharist or am I really living a Eucharist life? Our first reading and the gospel give us some qualities of a Eucharist life.

·      A Eucharistic life is a life of Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Sacrifice. That is the story of Abraham and Melchizedek. The background to that story is that Abraham had had some problems with his nephew Lot and the two of them had gone their separate ways. After some time, Abraham heard that his nephew, Lot, had been captured in a war by some kings of Canaan. When he heard that, Abraham forgave his nephew, sacrificed his life once again, and went to fight to rescue his nephew. It was after this sacrifice, forgiveness, and reconciliation that Melchizedek, the priest, met with him and gave Abraham bread and wine, a prefiguration of the Holy Eucharist. The forgiveness and reconciliation that Abraham brought to his nephew is what is symbolized in the bread and wine. In other words, what Abraham offered to God was what he had already lived out in his daily life.

We all have people in our families who have offended us. May be it is your husband, your wife, your sister, your brother, your children, your parents, co-workers etc. Are you ready to forgive them too? Are you ready to live the forgiveness we celebrate on this altar?

·      The Gospel tells us that a Eucharist life is a life of Obedience. The people who were fed, those who celebrated the Eucharist with Jesus, were people who had first listened to his voice. Beloved, it is our obedience to God’s will that makes our celebration of the Eucharist pleasing so Him. We cannot celebrate the Eucharist and refuse to listen to God’s words. As we celebrate this great feast, we need to examine our attitude towards God. Do we obey him in our daily lives?

I pray that God will continue to give us the grace we need so that we will not just go through the motions as we celebrate the Eucharist; but to dare to live a Eucharistic life. Amen!