FIRST READING
Exodus 24:3–8
When Moses came to the people and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all answered with one voice, “We will do everything that the LORD has told us.” Moses then wrote down all the words of the LORD and, rising early the next day, he erected at the foot of the mountain an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then, having sent certain young men of the Israelites to offer holocausts and sacrifice young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD, Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls; the other half he splashed on the altar. Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.” Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his.”
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 116:12–13, 15–16, 17–18 (13)
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord. or R. Alleluia.
How shall I make a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me? The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord. or R. Alleluia.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD is the death of his faithful ones. I am your servant, the son of your handmaid; you have loosed my bonds.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord. or R. Alleluia.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the LORD. My vows to the LORD I will pay in the presence of all his people.
R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord. or R. Alleluia.
SECOND READING
Hebrews 9:11–15
Brothers and sisters:
When Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.
For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
ALLELUIA
John 6:51
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Mark 14:12–16, 22–26
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.” The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover.
While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
REFLECTIONS:
Why did Jesus offer himself as "food and drink" to
his disciples? Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had
announced earlier at Capernaum giving his disciples his body and his
blood (John 6:51-58). Jesus passing over to his Father by his death and
resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Last Supper and celebrated
in the Eucharist or Lord's Supper, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and
anticipates the final Passover of the church in the glory of Gods kingdom.
This is the most significant meal of Jesus and the most important occasion
of his breaking of bread. In this meal Jesus identifies the bread as his
body and the cup as his blood. When the Lord Jesus commands his disciples
to eat his flesh and drink his blood, he invites us to take his life into
the very center of our being (John 6:53). That life which he offers is
the very life of God himself. Jesus' death on the cross, his gift of his
body and blood in the Supper, and his promise to dine again with his disciples
when the kingdom of God comes in all its fulness are inseparably linked.
Jesus instructed his disciples to "do this in remembrance of me". These
words establish every Lord's Supper or Eucharist as a "remembrance" of
Jesus' atoning death, his resurrection, and his promise to return again.
"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the
Lord's death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). Our celebration of
the Lord's Supper anticipates the final day when the Lord Jesus will feast
anew with his disciples in the heavenly marriage feast of the Lamb and
his Bride. Do you know the joy of the drinking Christ's cup and tasting
the bread of his Table in sincerity?
Mark ties the last supper meal with Jesus' death and the coming of God's
kingdom. Jesus transforms the passover of the old covenant into the meal
of the "new covenant in my blood". In the Old Covenant bread and wine were
offered in sacrifice as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to their Creator.
Melchizedeks offering of bread and wine, who was both priest and king
(Genesis 14:18), prefigured the offering made by Jesus, our high priest
and king. The unleavened bread at Passover and the miraculous manna in
the desert are the pledge of God's faithfulness to his promises. The "cup
of blessing" at the end of the Jewish passover meal points to the messianic
expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Jesus gave a new and definitive
meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup when he instituted the
"Lord's Supper" or "Eucharist". He speaks of the presence of his
body and blood in this new meal. When at the Last Supper Jesus described
his blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28),
he was explaining his coming crucifixion as a sacrifice for sins. His death
on the cross fulfilled the sacrifice of the paschal lamb. That is why John
the Baptist called him the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the
world. Jesus made himself an offering and sacrifice, a gift that was truly
pleasing to the Father. He offered himself without blemish to God (Hebrews
9:14) and gave himself as a sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2). This meal
was a memorial of his death and resurrection.
When we receive from the Lords table we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ,
who makes us sharers in his body and blood. Ignatius of Antioch (35-107
A.D.) calls it the "one bread that provides the medicine of immortality,
the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus
Christ" (Ad Eph. 20,2). This supernatural food is healing for both body
and soul and strength for our journey heavenward. When you approach the
Table of the Lord, what do you expect to receive? Healing, pardon, comfort,
and rest for your soul? The Lord has much more for us, more than we can
ask or imagine. The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist is an intimate
union with Christ. As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the
Eucharist strengthens us in charity and enables us to break with disordered
attachments to creatures and to be more firmly rooted in the love of Christ.
Do you hunger for the "bread of life"?
"Lord Jesus, you nourish and sustain us with your very own presence
and life. You are the "Bread of Life" and the "Cup of Salvation". May I
always hunger for you and be satisfied in you alone."
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