Medicine of Immortality
Genesis 14:18-20; Psalm 110:1-4; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 9:11b-17
The name of Jesus in Chinese looks like this: “耶稣”. An entire theology of Christ's name can be written based on these two characters. The character to the left, “耶”, represents ear and refers to listening. Jesus’ entire life could be described as listening for the will of the Father (Hebr 10:7). The character to the right, “稣”, is a combination of two characters. The first one “鱼” means fish, the second one “禾” stands for grain. Since the miracle of multiplication recorded in today's Gospel, bread and fish became the earliest symbols of the Eucharist.
Bread and wine are at the center of the first and the second reading today. The grain of wheat falls to the ground, dies, and produces many seeds (John 12:24). The vine takes root in the earth and the produces many grapes. Bread sustains human hearts, and wine gladdens our hearts (Ps 104:15). "You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek" (Ps 110:4). The mysterious king of Jerusalem and the priest of God the Most High, met Abraham with bread and wine (Gen 14:18-20). Jesus takes bread and wine in His hands and transform them into His Body and Blood (1 Cor 11:23-26). Melchizedek resembles the Son of God (Hebrews 7:1-3) and his offering of bread and wine foretells the Eucharist.
In the temple of Jerusalem there were twelve loaves of bread representing twelve tribes of Israel (Lev 24:5-9). This bread was called "the bread of the presence" or "the bread of the face". Now, the Jewish Rabbi believed that the moment this bread was offered to God it could display supernatural properties. Talmud records a story were a small piece of that bread satisfied those who ate it. Something similar takes place in today's Gospel. After Jesus’'blessing, the five loaves and two fish satisfied the hunger of five thousand men (Luke 9:17).
In the Book of Exodus, we read: "Three times a year shall all your males see the face of the Lord, the Lord God of Israel" (Ex 34:23). These three times referred to the feast of Passover, Pentecost, and the feast of Tabernacles. But, how could they see the face of God? How could they fulfil this commandment? Again, according to Talmud, the priests would took "the bread of the face" from the temple, showed them to the people saying: "Behold, God's love for you!" By seeing "the bread of the face", they fulfilled the commandment of seeing the face of God. When we adore the Blessed Sacrament, we see "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world".
The first Christians believed that the Eucharist was "the medicine of immortality and the antidote against death, enabling us to live forever in Jesus Christ" (St. Ignatius of Antioch). Moreover, the teaching on the Eucharist was part of the catechesis on Mysteries (the Sacraments). It was forbidden to disclose this knowledge to unbelievers, because this sacred knowledge was compared to the Holy of Holies. Finally, the Fathers of the Church remind us that by partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ we participate in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Our bodies "are no longer corruptible, because they have the hope of the resurrection" (St. Irenaeus).
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