Fr. Piero Lazzarini sx
THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD: “This is my body: take it! This is my blood: drink it!”
We shall never exhaust exploring the mystery of the body and blood of the Lord. A person of faith will never tire of contemplating, in prayer and meditation, this supreme, unparalleled gift of God. It is not possible to try to present the reality of this mystery at one go, summarily. We have to try to approach it partially, by concentrating on one single aspect, one at a time.
I shall not draw my reflection directly from the texts of the liturgy (Year B). I would like to present the mystery of the Eucharist according to a sort of intuition I had some time ago, namely, as a fulfillment of one of God’s dreams.
We start from the story of the burning bush (Ex. 3,1-6.13.15). “What is your name?” Moses asked. “I am who I am” was the reply. What does this name mean? How can it be interpreted? We tended in the past to interpret it in a philosophical way: I am the one who exists for ever… I am the absolute being… But in recent times the exegetes seem to have discovered a new shade of meaning that changes the interpretation remarkably, an interpretation that stresses the relationship and the operation. “To be” in that context means “To be there”. To Moses it may have sounded: “Do not be afraid. I am there for you and with you!”
This expression - which echoes throughout the Bible from Abraham, to the prophets, to Mary, to the apostles, to Paul… - is the most accurate translation of the name of God. It is the anticipation/announcement that one day He will become Emmanuel: God-with-us. On that occasion (the encounter at the burning bush), God calls himself also “the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob”, the God of our Fathers, who therefore are alive, not dead; a God of men, a God who enters into relationships with human beings (‘Moses spoke to God as a man to man’). “God of the living”: this is how Jesus commented the story of the burning bush (Luke 20,37-38)
The O. Test. revealed that God is a living God, a God close to you, “for you and with you”, God of the living. The N. Test. Revelation puts into that vision “a heart” – as it were - with the affirmation that “God is love” (John 4,8.16). That this is so is proved by Jesus’ very statement to Nicodemus: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only son” (John 3, 16). Such love is manifested in a real, concrete, visible, audible, touchable person: Jesus Christ, Word made flesh! (John 1, 14; 1John 1,1). Also: “He put his tent among us” (John 1, 14)
But God is not satisfied yet with putting on our flesh and living in our midst. He wants more, he dreams of something deeper, closer, unthinkable for man. He dreams of embracing his creature in an incredible way: a creature, “the only creature on earth God has willed for its own sake “ (G&S,24). “Make your home in me as I make mine in you” (John 15, 4). “I am the bread of life” (John 6,35). ” I am the living bread come down from heaven” (John 6, 51). (I want to be your food, I want to be eaten and so become totally one with you, not momentarily, but permanently).
“The bread that I shall give is my flesh” (John 6, 51). “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6, 54). “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, lives in me and I live in him” (John 6, 56). Indeed if we prayerfully consider the history of salvation as manifested in the Scripture, we are led to conclude that the mystery of the body and blood of Jesus appears like a dream come true. A dream - in a way, to use human language – for God, but something totally unimaginable for man. Or perhaps, better, a gradual revelation of the highest degree of God’s love.
THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD: “This is my body: take it! This is my blood: drink it!”
We shall never exhaust exploring the mystery of the body and blood of the Lord. A person of faith will never tire of contemplating, in prayer and meditation, this supreme, unparalleled gift of God. It is not possible to try to present the reality of this mystery at one go, summarily. We have to try to approach it partially, by concentrating on one single aspect, one at a time.
I shall not draw my reflection directly from the texts of the liturgy (Year B). I would like to present the mystery of the Eucharist according to a sort of intuition I had some time ago, namely, as a fulfillment of one of God’s dreams.
We start from the story of the burning bush (Ex. 3,1-6.13.15). “What is your name?” Moses asked. “I am who I am” was the reply. What does this name mean? How can it be interpreted? We tended in the past to interpret it in a philosophical way: I am the one who exists for ever… I am the absolute being… But in recent times the exegetes seem to have discovered a new shade of meaning that changes the interpretation remarkably, an interpretation that stresses the relationship and the operation. “To be” in that context means “To be there”. To Moses it may have sounded: “Do not be afraid. I am there for you and with you!”
This expression - which echoes throughout the Bible from Abraham, to the prophets, to Mary, to the apostles, to Paul… - is the most accurate translation of the name of God. It is the anticipation/announcement that one day He will become Emmanuel: God-with-us. On that occasion (the encounter at the burning bush), God calls himself also “the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob”, the God of our Fathers, who therefore are alive, not dead; a God of men, a God who enters into relationships with human beings (‘Moses spoke to God as a man to man’). “God of the living”: this is how Jesus commented the story of the burning bush (Luke 20,37-38)
The O. Test. revealed that God is a living God, a God close to you, “for you and with you”, God of the living. The N. Test. Revelation puts into that vision “a heart” – as it were - with the affirmation that “God is love” (John 4,8.16). That this is so is proved by Jesus’ very statement to Nicodemus: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only son” (John 3, 16). Such love is manifested in a real, concrete, visible, audible, touchable person: Jesus Christ, Word made flesh! (John 1, 14; 1John 1,1). Also: “He put his tent among us” (John 1, 14)
But God is not satisfied yet with putting on our flesh and living in our midst. He wants more, he dreams of something deeper, closer, unthinkable for man. He dreams of embracing his creature in an incredible way: a creature, “the only creature on earth God has willed for its own sake “ (G&S,24). “Make your home in me as I make mine in you” (John 15, 4). “I am the bread of life” (John 6,35). ” I am the living bread come down from heaven” (John 6, 51). (I want to be your food, I want to be eaten and so become totally one with you, not momentarily, but permanently).
“The bread that I shall give is my flesh” (John 6, 51). “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6, 54). “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, lives in me and I live in him” (John 6, 56). Indeed if we prayerfully consider the history of salvation as manifested in the Scripture, we are led to conclude that the mystery of the body and blood of Jesus appears like a dream come true. A dream - in a way, to use human language – for God, but something totally unimaginable for man. Or perhaps, better, a gradual revelation of the highest degree of God’s love.