Corpus Christi -
The Lamb of God
Psalm: 147
Reading II: 1 COR 10:16-17
Gospel: JN 6:51-58
When we reflect on the Sacred Body and Blood of our Savior, we realize that under that humble appearance of bread and wine, we have the Almighty God Himself hidden. There are many titles given to help us get a glimpse of the wonders within. Our minds cannot contain them all at once. We need to focus on one at a time.
One of my favorite titles is used just before we receive Holy Communion. The priest holds up the Host and says: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” “Lamb of God” is such a tender title. It bespeaks gentleness, sacrifice, and
new life.
How sweet the image of the gentle little lamb. How gentle the Lamb
of God is dealing with us sinners. How strong and self-sacrificing He was to undergo the Passion with all the cruelty shown by those very creatures whom He had chosen to redeem! What humility to allow Himself to be consumed by His creatures in the Eucharist so that they may be one with Him and one another!
There is no other explanation except that He loves us so dearly that we could say that He is “crazy about us.” All He asks is that we return that love and love one another as He has loved us. We are so weak that we even have to ask His grace to love Him as He deserves to be loved and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
There is so much meaning packed into the title “Lamb of God”
that it is no wonder that the priest at Mass calls on us to pause and contemplate the Host saying: “Behold the Lamb of God, Behold
Him who takes away the sins of the world.” What could be more
fitting just before we are fed with His Sacred Body and Blood? What an awesome God we have! How truly “Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lord!” How wonderfully blessed are we!!!
Spanish Translation of Reflection Above...
Corpus Christi - El Cordero de Dios
Cuando reflexionamos sobre el Sagrado Cuerpo y la Sangre de nuestro Salvador, nos damos cuenta de que bajo esa apariencia humilde de pan y vino, tenemos el Dios Todopoderoso Oculto. Hay muchos títulos dados para ayudarnos a tener una visión de las maravillas dentro. Nuestras mentes no pueden contenerlas todas a la vez. Tenemos que centrarnos en uno a la vez.
Uno de mis títulos favoritos es usado justo antes de recibir la Santa Comunión. El sacerdote levanta la Hostia y dice: “He aquí el Cordero de Dios que quita los pecados del mundo”. “Cordero de Dios” es un título tan tierno. Significa dulzura, sacrificio y nueva vida.
¡Qué dulce es la imagen del corderito! ¡Qué cordial es el Cordero!
De Dios está tratando con nosotros pecadores. ¡Cuán fuerte y sacrificado iba a sufrir la Pasión con toda la crueldad mostrada por aquellas mismas criaturas a las que Él había escogido redimir! ¡Qué humildad para permitir que Él sea consumido por Sus criaturas en la Eucaristía para que puedan ser uno con Él y unos con otros!
No hay otra explicación excepto que Él nos ama tanto que podríamos decir que Él está “loco por nosotros”. Todo lo que Él pide es que devolvamos ese amor y nos amemos unos a otros como Él nos ha amado. Somos tan débiles que incluso tenemos que pedirle a Su gracia que lo amemos como Él merece ser amado y amar a nuestro prójimo como a nosotros mismos.
Hay mucho significado en el título de “Cordero de Dios”
Que no es de extrañar que el sacerdote en la Misa nos haga una pausa y contemple a la Hostia diciendo: “He aquí el Cordero de Dios, He aquí Aquel que quita los pecados del mundo”. ¿Qué podría ser más Justo antes de que nos alimenten con Su Sagrado Cuerpo y Sangre? ¡Qué Dios tan maravilloso tenemos! Cuán verdaderamente “¡Bienaventurados los llamados a la cena del Señor!” ¡Cuán maravillosamente bendecidos somos!
When I am feeling tired or stressed there are two foods I always turn to – chocolate and bread. Chocolate provides me with an immediate sense of contentedness thanks to its several chemical feel-good factors that temporarily lift my mood. However, when I need a deeper level of satisfaction I always choose bread. Bread has substance and satisfies my longings. Bread nourishes and sustains!
ReplyDeleteIn today’s gospel, we hear Jesus tell the crowds, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Jesus compares Himself coming into the world with the bread God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness. The manna satisfied a physical hunger the Israelites were experiencing. Jesus’ presence is meant to satisfy the deeper hunger of all people.
God provided Jesus to meet all our needs – salvation, as well as meaning and direction for life, comfort and strength to bear life’s challenges, the opportunity to glorify Him, and hope in our brokenness. Jesus is both our Provider and our Provision.
By equating Himself with bread, Jesus is saying he is essential for life – not physical life but spiritual life. Physical bread perishes; spiritual bread gives eternal life. Our weary hearts are hungry for the Bread of Life.
In the Eucharist we come into real union with Christ. The Eucharist is the sacrament through which Jesus enters into an intimate communion with us. Henri Nouwen writes, “Eucharist is the sacrament of the table. It is the sacrament of food and drink. It is the sacrament of daily nurture. Jesus gave us the Eucharist as a constant memory of his life and death. Not a memory that simply makes us think of him but a memory that makes us members of his body. By eating His Body and drinking His Blood, we become one with Him.” Jesus is our spiritual bread that brings us eternal life.
The beautiful Sequence in today’s Mass, Lauda Sion, composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, in honor of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, celebrates this sacred life-giving Bread. I close with my favorite stanza:
Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
Jesu, of your love befriend us,
You refresh us, you defend us,
Your eternal goodness send us
In the land of life to see.
Pat C., ASBS
The profound gentleness suggested by the striking illustration of the lamb is a real inspiration, as it reminds of "The Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world".
ReplyDeleteThe following excerpts, relating to the institution of the Holy
Eucharist, are from the "Catechism of the Catholic Church:"
"The Lord, having loved those who were his own, loved them to the end. Knowing that the hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father, in the course of a meal he washed their feet and gave them the commandment of love. In order to leave them a pledge of this love, in order never to depart from his own and to make them sharers in his Passover, he instituted the Eucharist as the memorial of his death and Resurrection and commanded his apostles to celebrate it until his return." (C.C.C. 1337)
"Since Christ was about to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which he loved us "to the end", even to the giving of his life. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love:
"The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease." (St. Pope John Paul II.) (C.C.C. 1380)