Sunday Readings: Sunday Readings: Genesis 14.18-20, 1 Corinthians 11.23-26, Luke 9.11-17
Jesus spoke to the crowds of the reign of God, and he healed all who were in need of healing. As sunset approached, the twelve came to him and said, “Dismiss the crowd so that they can go into the villages and farms in the neighborhood and find themselves lodging and food, for this is certainly an out-of-the-way place.” Jesus replied, “Why don’t you give them something to eat yourselves?” The disciples insisted, “We have nothing but five loaves and two fishes. Shall we go and buy food for all these people?” There were about five thousand men. Jesus said, “Have them sit down in groups of fifty or so.” Jesus’ disciples followed his instructions and got the people all seated. Then, taking the five loaves and the two fishes, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven, pronounced a blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to his disciples for distribution to the crowd. They all ate until they had enough. What was left filled twelve baskets (Luke 9.11-17).
At every Eucharist, bread blessed, broken, and shared and a cup of wine blessed and shared become the sacrament of Jesus’ wholehearted love poured out for us even unto death. Participating in this sign can transform us into Christ. When we gather at every Eucharist, we remember Jesus’ giving his whole self for us. We find strength and courage to try this kind of self-giving ourselves. We gather again and again, so that we become more and more like him. We gather in pain and in delight. We pour out our lives as Jesus did. We put our lives on the altar with his. Like the sacrament itself, we become Jesus’ real presence in our world. We become what we receive.
How does celebrating Eucharist nourish you?