Tag Archives: passover

LOOK BEYOND THE BREAD YOU EAT…

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Sunday 7th June –Solemnity of the most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

Reflection: Mark 14: 22-26

LOOK BEYOND THE BREAD YOU EAT…

The body and blood express the life of the being that possesses them. Christ once taught His disciples in these words at the close of His earthly life: “Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). There is therefore no greater expression of love than a sacrifice of life in its totality.

God; who is Love, gives His life in the sacrifice of His begotten Son (true God from true God and consubstantial with the Father). Christ out of perfect love gave a sacrifice of Himself for the salvation of the world at the first Eucharistic feast (Mass) during the Passover; with a perfect accomplishment of this ‘once for all’ sacrifice by His death on the Cross (Hebrews 9:12-14). At the Last Supper, He instituted the Eucharist as a memorial of His infinite Love. He gave us a daily nourishment of His true life: in the appearance of bread and wine that we may live His life of Love here on earth and join in the unending feast in heaven. With this perfect sacrifice, He sealed His covenant of love with us; as with the Israelites when Moses sprinkled the blood of sacrificed oxen after all the people had promised to live by the same divine covenant (Exodus 24: 3-8).

Friends in Christ, today we celebrate God’s love for us fully expressed in the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. Let us learn from Christ’s sacrifice as we feast at His table. Let us love as we have been loved: this is living by the divine commandment. Look beyond the bread you eat, see your savior and God. Look beyond the wine you drink, see His love for the world.

PRAYER: Dear God, give me perfect love like Yours. Amen.

KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 211 – How important is the Eucharist for the Church?

The celebration of the Eucharist is the heart of the Christian communion. In it the Church becomes Church.
We are not Church because we get along well, or because we happen to end up in the same parish community, but rather because in the Eucharist we receive the Body of Christ and are increasingly being transformed into the Body of Christ.

HIDE A TREASURE: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” John 6: 56 RSV-CE

Today’s Readings: Exodus 24: 3-8; Psalm 116: 12-13, 15-18; Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26

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OUR PASSOVER LAMB

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Thursday 2nd April – Holy Thursday

Reflection: Exodus 12: 1-8, 11-14

OUR PASSOVER LAMB

Israel was a unique nation, one with its laws, customs, feasts and even its very calendar set up by God. More than just a nation, they were the people of God. Today’s reading outlines the instruction God gave them in celebrating the feast of the Passover which marked the beginning of a new year for them as well as their liberation from slavery in Egypt. It marked the beginning of a covenant which God established with them through Moses.

As the Church celebrates the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood today, she celebrates the beginning of a new covenant, sealed not with the blood of animals but in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. As Christ ate the Passover meal with His disciples on the evening before His death, He fulfilled the old covenant and ushered in the new covenant that embraces not only Israel but the entire world. Just as the eating of the lamb was a prerequisite for the salvation of Israel in today’s reading, so is the eating of the flesh and blood of Jesus, our Passover Lamb a prerequisite for our entry into eternal life (John 6: 53).

You have entered into the new covenant through your baptism and Christ offers you Himself in the Eucharist each day to renew that covenant and as food for eternal salvation. What is your response to such great gift? Do you bother to prepare yourself to receive the Eucharist worthily? Do you avail yourself of receiving this great gift more often by attending daily Masses or you are simply satisfied to fulfill your Sunday obligation? Dear friend, do not forsake Christ’s call. Only in Him are we certain of eternal life.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for taking my sin upon yourself. Please open my mind to receive with faith and thanksgiving your Body and Blood in the Eucharist and let me be transformed through it. Amen.

KNOW YOUR FAITH: YOUCAT 95 – Why did Jesus choose the date of the Jewish feast of Passover for his death and Resurrection?

Jesus chose the Passover feast of his people Israel as a symbol for what was to happen through his death and Resurrection. As the people Israel were freed from slavery to Egypt, so Christ frees us from the slavery of sin and the power of death.

HIDE A TREASURE: “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” John 6: 53 RSV-CE

Today’s Readings: Exodus 12: 1-8, 11-14; Psalm 116: 12-18; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13: 1-15