Eucharist & Calvary: Strength For Our Daily Life

June 22, 2008

A Story

Let me begin with a story. You may take it for what it is worth and nothing more. However, it is an extraordinary story. It has all the power of a metaphor. The change in the attitude and the conversion the story brings about are unusual and amazing! Let us “listen” to it with no pre-conceived ideas or prejudice!

“The story was told to me,” says Sr. veronica Murphy, “by an elderly nun who heard it from the lips of the late Rev. Fr. Stanislaus SS.CC.” It took place in a small town in Luxembourg.
One day, some years ago, a captain of the Forest Guards was in deep conversation with a butcher when an elderly woman entered the shop. The butcher broke off the conversation to ask the old woman what she wanted. She had come to beg for “a little meat”, but had no money. The captain was amused at the conversation which ensued between the poor woman and the butcher. “Only a little meat! But how much are you going to give me?” “I am sorry, I have no money. But I’ll hear Mass for you.” Both the butcher and the captain were good men, but very indifferent about religion. So they at once began to scoff at the old woman’s answer.

“All right then”, said the butcher finally, “you go and hear Mass for me and when you come back I’ll give you as much meat as the Mass is worth.” The woman left the shop and returned later. She approached the counter, and the butcher seeing her said, “All right then, we’ll see.” He took a slip of paper and wrote on it, “I heard Mass for you.” He then placed the paper on the scales and a tiny bone on the other side, but nothing happened. Next he placed a piece of meat instead of the bone, but still the paper proved heavier. Both men were beginning to feel ashamed of their mockery, but continued their game. A large piece of meat was then placed on the balance, but still the paper held its own. The butcher exasperated, examined the scales, but found they were all right. “What do you want, my good woman, must I give you a whole leg of mutton?” At this he placed a whole leg of mutton on the balance, but the paper outweighed the meat. A larger piece of meat was put on, but again the weight remained on the side of the paper!

This so impressed the butcher that he was converted, and promised to give the woman her daily ration of meat. As for the captain he left the shop a changed man. In the course of time he became an ardent lover of daily Mass. Two of his sons became priests – one a Jesuit, and the other a Priest of the Sacred Heart.

Fr. Stanislaus finished by saying, “I am that Religious of the Sacred Heart, and the captain was my father.”

Take the story for what it is. But seen as a metaphor, it is not without its power to influence one’s life.

The Eucharist

In recent years there has been “an extraordinary concentration on the sacrament of the Eucharist” in the Catholic Church’s reflections. It is seen from the abundance of writings on it.[1]

St. Thomas Aquinas calls the Eucharist “The Sacrament of charity”, “The Sacrament of unity”. Ecclesia de Eucharistia (John Paul II, 17 April, 2003) affirms at the very start, “The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church”.[2] And Sacramentum Caritatis (Benedict XVI’s Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, 22 February 2007, opens with the following significant statement, “The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist, is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God's infinite love for every man and woman”.[3] A closer study of both of these recent documents reveals the richness of the Eucharist making alive for us today the promise of Jesus Christ, “I am with you always”.

Calvary

The institution of the Eucharist is a marvellous source of light which enlightens the Sacrifice of Calvary and which reveals its deep meaning. The event on Calvary in itself would be obscure without the light of love that comes from the Eucharist. For what does it matter that so and so was crucified on Calvary! It was the death of a man “condemned” and who had “become a curse for us (Gal 3:13). And statements such as “Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8), “gave himself for our sins” (Gal 1:4), “loved us and gave himself up for us” (Eph 5:2) would have had no explicit basis for Christian faith without the Eucharist. It was the institution of the Eucharist which “radically” changed the meaning of Calvary.

At the Last Supper Jesus “foretells his death on the cross and through his gestures and words, gives it a positive meaning. His gesture was an act of giving: Jesus gives his disciples, gathered in the Upper Room, the bread broken, the wine poured out. At the same time, he pronounces the words that crystallized the mysterious meaning of the gift, which, at first sight, seemed ordinary: ‘This is my body which is given for you’; ‘This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’ ” [Lk 22:19-20], thus making the event on Calvary present in advance and transforming it into a gift of love and the basis of a new covenant.[4] “No transformation more radical …” writes A. Vanhoye, “could have been possible [than what took place at the Last Supper and on Calvary]”.[5] Indeed there is no grater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend. And in the case of Jesus, that love that emptied itself on Calvary continues to be with us in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Jesus gives death a new meaning by overcoming it in love. Hence, Jesus’ death, being a death in love, was the death of death itself.[6] The Eucharist, the divine-human agape, is the daily loud proclamation of the death of death. It is eternal LOVE made present in this passing world. It is the overcoming of “Calvary” in the power of love. Thus the Institution of the Eucharist is a “stupendous source of light” to understand what happened on Calvary.

Meditation on a Few of the New Testament Texts on the Eucharist

A meditation on a few of the significant New Testament passages on the Eucharist can nourish our understanding of Jesus self-gift in the Eucharist and on Calvary.

The historical accuracy of the New Testament texts regarding the Eucharist, affirms A. Vanhoye S.J., “is exceptionally reliable, since it is based on the convergence of two very ancient traditions: the tradition of Mark and Matthew and that of Paul and Luke.”[7] The accuracy becomes all the more compelling, since the two traditions are not interdependent. John - as we shall see below - insists on the need to receive the Eucharist to taste” “eternal life” already in this world. Eternal life is a life of love, since God is love (1 Jn 4:8, 16).
We can say that a healthy life in love is a foretaste of eternal life -the result of eating the “living bread,” (“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever” [Jn 6:51]).[8]

The Emmaus Story (Lk 24:13-35)

The first thing that strikes the reader of the Emmaus story is the manner in which Jesus deals with the two dejected disciples. He draws near to them, and is ready to walk with them. Can there be anything better than having the courage and the humility to take the first step to closer to restore friendship and to bring peace and understanding! Just as Jesus took the first step to join the dejected disciples, it is possible for any one of us too. Anyone who takes the first step becomes like the heavenly Father who sends his rain on the good and the bad alike. That is indeed the meaning of “Be ye perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect”. Nobody can be like the Heavenly Father! But everybody can take the first step towards those in need. We may not be able to do great works, but we can be just at the side of those in need. Besides taking the first step towards the disciples Jesus listens to them. He listens patiently without interrupting. He already knows everything. But he has the goodness to listen. His example of empathetic listening makes the disciples in their turn listen to Jesus when he explains the Scriptures to them gradually beginning with Moses and the prophets. His explanation of the inevitability of suffering is well taken. All this prepares the disciples for the “breaking of the bread” or the Eucharistic meal. With the presence of the Risen Lord in their midst, the disciples who were going away from the sad realities of Jerusalem, are now ready to go back there.

Their hearts were burning with what they had heard from Jesus. They could not wait. They had to share what was burning in their hearts with the Apostles and with the rest of the disciples. So they return to Jerusalem. They share with their companions what had happened on the way and at the breaking of the bread. A failed mission becomes highly successful one. They joined their brethren. They are ready to work together and carry forward the mission entrusted to them.

The Eucharist is complete only when there is concern for those in distress, willingness to offer hospitality, readiness to listen, the determination to endure suffering and the willingness to go and share with others the joy of having experienced the power of the Good News.

The Multiplication of the Loaves and the Discourse on Living Bread (Jn 6:1-71)

The multiplication of the loaves and fish, and Jesus’ discourse on the Living Bread take place in a Passover setting (Jn 6:4). He becomes the real lamb who saves. In the Johannine narrative there is no “breaking” of the bread thus making a reference to the Old Testament “do not break any of the bones” (Ex 12:46) and to John’s “Not one of his bones will be broken” (Jn 19:36). The gentle, patient and non-violent attitude of Jesus wins without shouting, for he carries authority in his words. Taking friendship to deeper levels, it is Jesus who takes the initiative to serve the food unlike in the Synoptics. In John it is not only compassion the reason for the multiplication of the loaves. The multiplication forms the backdrop to offer to the peoples the food that leads to Eternal Life, food unlike the manna which their fathers had eaten, but died.

Chapter 6 of John should be understood in the light of the farewell discourse of Jesus wherein the friendship of Jesus and his disciples becomes so personal and intimate. Jesus shares with the apostles what is uppermost in his heart before he goes back to his heavenly Father. He loves the disciples to the full extent of his love (13:1). He is not afraid to take on the form of a slave by washing the disciples’ feet. When he says that “you also should wash one another’s feet” he is placing before us the only condition for successful building up of transparent friendship. Happy are the disciples who can put it into practice, for “you will be blessed if you do it” (Jn 13: 17). This is indeed the new commandment the world had not seen before and shall never see anything better in the future: “Love one another” “as I have loved you”.

As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” The emphasis is not on mere “loving” [for it can be misunderstood in a thousand and one way], and so the Lord forestalls the danger by adding “as” I have loved you, namely, to the point of giving oneself in service for the other. This is the best guarantee of an unbreakable friendship, which the world cannot easily understand. In the midst of politics where there is scramble for power, where no one would like to lose the “chair” of authority (not of service, but of personal aggrandisement), the relationship which Jesus presents and which he himself nourishes with the Eucharistic Bread is hard to have many takers unless the Father draws them!

The Eucharistic friendship reaches its climax when the disciple is ready to give his/her life for the Lord. “Lord, why can’t I follow you?” protested Peter, “I will lay down my life for you.” (Jn 13:37). Peter’s courage comes from what the world cannot imagine of, namely, total trust in his Lord and Master (Jn 14:1). From this trust comes intimacy, transparency, a feeling of unbreakable family bond. “In my Father’s house are many rooms… I am going there to prepare a place for you…I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going” (Jn 14:2-4). In the conversation that ensues Jesus reveals his total self once again, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6) - in such a way that to know Jesus is to know the Father, to see him is to see the Father! Philip expresses what is uppermost in the hearts of every human being when he exclaims, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us” (Jn 14:8). In the comment of that follows we have the most beautiful self-revelation of God in Jesus Christ, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” – I and the Father are ONE! It is this oneness of being with Jesus we have a life’s programme for every believer in Christ. In this being, all are included. It leaves out no one. It creates a family of love having its source in the Trinitarian communion. Here we can say that the Christian mission is nothing else than to lead all peoples back to the very same communion that exists in the Trinitarian love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This lasting communion of love is nourished by the Spirit of Christ: “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever – the spirit of truth” (Jn 14:16-17a). The warning that follows is important, since there can be a lot of mix up with between secular and divine efficiency,” The world cannot accept him [the Spirit of truth], because it neither sees him nor knows him” (Jn 14:17).

Relationship reaches its unbreakable limit when we are told, “whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him” (Jn 14:21). The fruit of this divine-human communion is peace, the peace which only Jesus can give his disciples. He gives it not as the world gives (Jn 14:27). Hence, he can also assure us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (Jn 14:27), and remember that the prince of this world has “no hold” on us who believe in Christ (Jn 14:30). The only condition for a lasting and fruitful communion is to “remain in Jesus” (Jn 15) in spite of difficulties and persecutions (Jn 15: 20-21).

Other Instances in John’s Gospel

The incident at Cana (Jn 2 :1-12) where Jesus changes water into wine is also the inauguration of a spiritual marriage between Jesus, the eternal bridegroom, and the disciples who believed in him (Jn 2:12). In this sense the Eucharist becomes the food that nourishes an everlasting friendship with God. The same can be said of Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman who is given the living water (Jn 4:1-42); of Jesus declaring himself on the last and the greatest day of the Feast of the Tabernacles as the one who can give the Spirit (Jn 7:37-39). The Eucharist which anticipated what was to take place on Calvary is also the symbol of the unbreakable Mother-Son relationship (Jn 19:26-27) into which all who believe in Christ are drawn. However, the relationship which the Eucharistic Body and Blood nourishes is expressed as an organic reality in the symbol of the vine and branches (Jn 15). It is the guarantee of the resurrection.

Chapter 6 of John should be understood in the light of the farewell discourse of Jesus wherein the relationship between Jesus and his disciples becomes very personal and intimate. Jesus shares with the apostles what is uppermost in his heart before he goes back to his heavenly Father. He is not afraid to take on the form of a slave by washing their feet. When he says that “you also should wash one another’s feet” he is placing before us the only condition for successful building up of transparent relationship. Happy are the disciples who can put it into practice, for “you will be blessed if you do it” (Jn 13: 17). This is indeed the new commandment the world has never seen before, “Love one another as I have loved you!”

As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” The emphasis is not on mere “loving” [for it can be misunderstood in a thousand an one way], and so the Lord forestalls the danger by adding “as” I have loved you, namely, to the point of giving oneself in service for the other. This is the best guarantee of an unbreakable relationship, which the world cannot easily understand. In the midst of politics where there is scramble for power, where no one would like to lose the “chair” of authority (not of service, but of personal aggrandisement), the relationship which Jesus presents and which he himself nourishes with the Eucharistic Bread is difficult to have many takers unless the Father draws them!

The Eucharistic relationship reaches its climax when the disciple is ready to give his/her life for the Lord. “Lord, why can’t I follow you?” protested Peter, “I will lay down my life for you.” (Jn 13:37). Peter’s courage comes from what the world cannot imagine of, namely, total trust in his Lord and Master (Jn 14:1). From this trust comes intimacy, transparency, a feeling of unbreakable family bond. “In my Father’s house are many rooms… I am going there to prepare a place for you…I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am…” (Jn 14:2-4).

First Letter to the Corinthians

This letter of Paul can be considered as a great letter on the Eucharist. In addition to the explicit teachings on the Eucharist there are several passages that relate the reader to the Eucharist.

Chapter 12 along with Chapters 13 and 14 is an unparalleled example of unifying relationship or fellowship. The symbol of the body can be understood by any one, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we all are given the one spirit to drink. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (12:12-13. 27). The unifying role of the Eucharist overcomes all types of barriers: national (Greek-Jew, 12:13), religious (circumcision-uncircumcision (7:19), cultural (barbarian-scythian) and social (slave-free) just as the “one” bread (Mk 8:14) unites the Jews and the Gentiles.

The Theme of Unity in the Light of Paul’s Teaching on the Eucharist

The theme of unity is underscored again and again by Paul. He uses several imageries for it. The Christian community is compared to God’s field, God’s building (1 Cor 3:9); God’s temple (3:16; 6:19); the body of Christ (12:27). It is a growing organism like a plant that needs watering and caring (3:6). When Paul refers to “belonging to Christ” or sums up all his teaching in one phrase “in Christ Jesus”, he has in mind the only worthwhile thing in the world, namely, sincere, unbreakable and passionate friendship with Jesus Christ, and in him and with him with everybody else.

Paul’s teaching on suffering and the crucified Christ (1 Cor 1: 13.23; 2:2) as well as on the need of being humble (1 Cor 1:26ff; 4:6;9:22) are important building blocks for lasting friendship. The Christological hymn on the kenosis of Jesus (Phil 2:6-11) removes all claims to superiority, a big block to building friendship.

Sin is no cementing factor for building good friendship. Hence Paul devotes ample space to the removal of sin from community and individual lives. “Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth … do not associate with sexually immoral people … or the greedy and the swindlers or idolaters … or a slanderer, [or] a drunkard…With such a man do not even eat” (cf. 1 Cor 5:8-11; see also 6:9-11; 9:27). Paul invites the Corinthians to conquer their passions and inclinations (1 Cor 7). He speaks of the most important aspect of building friendship when he affirms that in the power of Christ’s resurrection sins of the Corinthians are forgiven (1 Cor 15:17). Here we may remind us that Matthew’s account of the institution of the Eucharist shows that the blood is poured out “for the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28).

The Synoptic Gospels

The words of the Institution of the Lord’s Supper in Matthew, Mark and Luke has the word “Covenant”. Luke uses the phrase “new” covenant “in my blood” (Lk 22:20). The word covenant expresses the special frienship between God and the people of Israel. A covenant relationship is rooted in mutual and freely made promises. When God is a party to it, it would mean that everything else may fail, but God will not fail. Man can trust on him with a contrite heart, even in spite of man’s repeated sinfulness. Here one needs to go back to God’s covenant relationships with Israel in the Old Testament to feel the full impact of what it means that God is a party to the covenant (cf. The several examples of covenant friendship in the Old Testament, especially Gn 6:18 [Yahweh and Noah]; Gn 15:10 ff.[Yahweh and Abraham, Gn 17:10]; Ex 19:1 ff.[The Lord and Moses]; Ex 24:1-8 [The Lord and Moses = the Blood of the Covenant]; Jer 31:31-34 [A New Covenant the Lord makes with the house of Israel and the house of Judah].

The covenant friendship which Jesus established with the new Israel at the Last Supper is sealed with his blood, with his very life. Christians enter into it this new and eternal covenant through Baptism and through faithfulness to God’s teachings. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, gives believers power to live the New Covenant. In the Eucharist, as we share in the consecrated bread and wine, it is the New Covenant that we celebrate and renew to live the New Friendship we have in Christ Jesus with our brothers and sisters and with the whole of humanity. The New Friendship is a Paschal Friendship nourished by the Eucharistic Meal.

Summing Up

The everyday problems we meet with and the trials and sufferings we go through in our relationship with others need a source of strength to support us. And that is the Eucharist. Just as the Eucharist throws light on the events of Calvary, our frequent participation in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist can provide strength to carry our daily crosses and give meaning to our lives in whatever situation we are in.

Footnotes

[1] The three great encyclicals on the Eucharist published in times closer to our own are Mirae Caritatis of Leo XIII of 28 May 1902; Mediator Dei of Pius XII of 20 November 1947; and Mysterium Fidei of Paul VI of 3 September of , 1965. Their content converged in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, especially, Lumen gentium and Sacrosanctum Concilium. Coming to times very close to us we have John Paul II’s Domenicae Cenae, 24 February, 1980 in which he indicated certain aspects of the Eucharistic Mystery and its impact on the lives of those who are ministers of it. The declaration of the year 2000 as the International Eucharistic Year by John Paul II. Three years later in 2003 he published the Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia in which he affirmed that the gaze of the Church is turned to her Lord Jesus present in the Eucharist and from whom the Church draws her life and nourishment. The Eucharist, the Pope explains, is the full manifestation of Christ’s boundless love for mankind. The Apostolic Letter Mane nobiscum Domine of 7 October 2004 which followed invites the Church to live the values contained in the Mystery of the Eucharist. The International Eucharistic Congress 10-17 October 2004 at Guadalajara (Mexico), the Synod of Bishops on theme “The Eucharist: the Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church” held in the Vatican 2-23 October 2005; the World Youth Day at Cologne, Germany, 16-21 August 2005 to make the Eucharist “the vital source” of the young; the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis published on 22 February 2007 for a renewed commitment to Eucharistic enthusiasm and fervour in the Church; and above all Benedict XVI’s first Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est in which he refers more than once to the Eucharist and stresses its relationship to Christian love – both of God and of neighbour – are some of the main teachings on the Eucharist in recent times.

[2] Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 1.

[3] Sacramentum Caritatis, 1.

[4] The formula of Mark and Mathew, “This is my blood, the blood of the covenant” (Mk 14:24; Mt 26:28) refers to the founding rite of the covenant of Sinai when Moses took blood [of the sacrificed animals] and threw it upon the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the Covenant” (Ex 28:8). This brings out the sacrificial meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross [Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 12] with the tremendous difference that his own blood [and not the blood of animals] was the blood of a man, conscious and free who gives up his own life for the sake of the truth of love! In this sense, even though, the context of Exodus refers to the old covenant, Jesus’ self-offer made his death indeed a “new” covenant. This newness of the covenant is brought out by the formula which the tradition of Paul and Luke uses. It says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (1 Cor 11:25; Lk 22:20), and refers directly to the “new Covenant mentioned in Jeremiah (31:31-34).

[5] Vanhoye Albert, SJ., “The Holy Eucharist in the sources of Sacred Scripture. Reflections on the Holy Father’s Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia in L’Osservatore Romano, 23 July 2003, 10.

[6] Bruno Forte, The Essence of Christianity, Grand Rapids, Michigan/ Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003, 39.

[7] Vanhoye Albertm “The Holy Eucharist in the sources of Sacred Scripture. Reflections on the Holy Father’s Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia in L’Osservatore Romano, 23 July, 2003, 10.

[8] Imagine, all the bread we eat is “dead” bread. From dead food no one may pretend to have “eternal life”. Eternal life can come only from eating “Living Bread”.

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