We have before us one of the greatest miracles to have ever been performed, there is not enough money to feed the 5,000, there is not enough bread or fish to give them even a fragment, and yet, Jesus took what He had, five barley loaves and two fish, gave thanks, which translated from the Greek is “Eucharist,” distributed them, and there was not just enough, there was too much, so much so, twelve wicker baskets were filled with fragments.
It is the perfect foreshadowing of what He will do at the Last Supper, what He will leave us in the sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist, a food that will not just be enough but will be more than enough, to sustain us and to give us strength for the journey.
For, in the largest host to the smallest fragment Christ is present, the Eucharist is real. In fact, it was St. Thomas Aquinas who explained it well, he said: when you break a mirror and there are many tiny fragments of that mirror, if you were to look into even one of those fragments, you could see your entire image.
While the Eucharist is not just an image of Christ, but truly Christ, it is why the largest host to the smallest crumb, to the littlest drop is still Jesus. That is why we are so careful and take the time to purify the vessels, not because we are being meticulous or oversensitive, but because Christ is truly present in them.
And, we even see that in the Gospel, when what they collect is not entire pieces of bread or fish, but fragments, and while, for them, they were merely little pieces of what once used to be whole, for us, they are little pieces of what is still whole, because Christ’s presence is there.
It is overwhelming to think that even in one host Christ is present, that we do not receive just a piece of bread and distribute that, but, rather, Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
In fact, that too, is why after everyone had their fill of the loaves and the fishes, Jesus told them to “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted” and why we do the same by reserving a place for the Eucharist, for Jesus in the tabernacle and why we genuflect and show reverence to it.
And, we should know, that this same Jesus, present in the Most Holy Eucharist is the same that we will receive in a little while, so that, we too, will have the strength for the journey, so that we too will eat and, indeed, have our fill.
It is the perfect foreshadowing of what He will do at the Last Supper, what He will leave us in the sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist, a food that will not just be enough but will be more than enough, to sustain us and to give us strength for the journey.
For, in the largest host to the smallest fragment Christ is present, the Eucharist is real. In fact, it was St. Thomas Aquinas who explained it well, he said: when you break a mirror and there are many tiny fragments of that mirror, if you were to look into even one of those fragments, you could see your entire image.
While the Eucharist is not just an image of Christ, but truly Christ, it is why the largest host to the smallest crumb, to the littlest drop is still Jesus. That is why we are so careful and take the time to purify the vessels, not because we are being meticulous or oversensitive, but because Christ is truly present in them.
And, we even see that in the Gospel, when what they collect is not entire pieces of bread or fish, but fragments, and while, for them, they were merely little pieces of what once used to be whole, for us, they are little pieces of what is still whole, because Christ’s presence is there.
It is overwhelming to think that even in one host Christ is present, that we do not receive just a piece of bread and distribute that, but, rather, Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
In fact, that too, is why after everyone had their fill of the loaves and the fishes, Jesus told them to “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted” and why we do the same by reserving a place for the Eucharist, for Jesus in the tabernacle and why we genuflect and show reverence to it.
And, we should know, that this same Jesus, present in the Most Holy Eucharist is the same that we will receive in a little while, so that, we too, will have the strength for the journey, so that we too will eat and, indeed, have our fill.
No comments:
Post a Comment