Sharing Even the Last Bread (Corpus Christi C)

What can five loaves and two fish do? How can these ever satisfy the hunger of the multitude? Five loaves and two fish for the five thousand men?!  Not to mention women and children who were most likely among the crowd! Impossible!

This must have been the thoughts of the apostles in today’s gospel (Lk 9: 11b-17) as they counselled Jesus to dismiss the crowd that they might find their own lodging and provisions.  The feeling of helplessness and resignation must have dominated the apostles’ attitude:  Helplessness because of the obvious poverty of resources in the face of so great a need; and resignation because they felt no longer capable of addressing the crowd’s hunger. The need was simply beyond what they thought they could handle, so they opted for the easy solution—“dismiss the crowd” (v. 12).

This temptation to feel helpless and resigned is indeed very strong whenever we are confronted with the problem of having to come to terms with so little resources for so great a need.  I had the opportunity to start a parish from out of a rural chapel community. Right away as I began the journey with the people, I was made aware of so many things to be done which required, of course, resources.  Indeed, there were times when we were tempted to feel helpless whenever we realized we have very little to start with.  It wasn’t difficult to wonder, as the Lord’s apostles did, what can five loaves and two fish do in the face of all the needs.

Sharing overcomes poverty. But the gospel today not only assures us that we are not left alone in our poverty but also shows us the secret to overcoming the needs of the community.  As an assurance, Jesus does not dismiss the hungry crowd to fend for themselves. Rather, the gospel recounts that after gathering the people, Jesus takes, blesses, breaks, and gives the five loaves and two fish to the crowd to satisfy everyone present and even amazes them with the abundant surplus afterwards. Jesus takes whatever we can offer even out of our poverty, blesses them and does his marvelous works out of them.  Jesus brings us out of the helplessness of our poverty and assures us of the unlimited abundance that he offers. The secret: He starts by asking what we have to offer. The secret to abundance is sharing even whatever little we have.

Are we willing to offer him the last bread and fish that we have? Or do we hold on to our limited resources to make sure we have something left for ourselves albeit little?

I am more and more convinced that any form of poverty in any community is fundamentally rooted in the unwillingness of the individuals to share what they are keeping for themselves. There’s a lot of wisdom in our erstwhile national slogan, “Bayan muna bago sarili.” We could have been enjoying in abundance now had we truly lived by the maxim. Instead, starting from our public leaders down to the hoi poloi, what we tend to do is to make sure that we get for ourselves or our families and clan whatever is up for grabs.  “Sarili muna bago ang bayan.” Isn't this complete disregard of the common good in favor of our selfish agenda which serves as the sturdy backbone of the poverty in many of our communities?

Becoming a Eucharistic Community. The gospel today recounting the multiplication of bread and fish alludes to the last supper event when Jesus instituted the Eucharist.  His four acts, taking, blessing, breaking, and giving are common to these two events. So more than just a recounting of Jesus’ miraculous acts of multiplication of the bread, the gospel today is a catechesis on the Eucharist. The community that Jesus founded is essentially a Eucharistic community. A community that gathers, celebrates, and makes present the self-sacrificing act of Jesus at the last supper. Jesus offered to the Father not just any bread. What He took, blessed, broke, and gave was no longer an ordinary bread but the bread of life—his body, his very self.

What do we have to offer? Jesus wants us to offer even the last bread that we keep. It is little for sure. But it doesn't matter. What matters is that we offer the little that we have for the good of the community we belong to just as He offered himself for the sake of the many.

A Eucharistic community will always be one that transcends self-centeredness, one whose members are willing to do some acts of self-sacrifice... of “breaking” oneself to be “given” to others.

Hence, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi today is a renewal of our commitment as a Eucharistic community where the miracle of our Lord continues to happen. And the miracle is this: that each one of us is willing to give whatever one has, even one’s very self, for the good of the community just as Jesus does.  Then, we can be the joyful witnesses of the amazing left-over and abundance of God’s grace more than enough to dispel our sense of helplessness and our defeatist resignation.

This is My Body, This is My Blood (Corpus Christi B)

Once upon a time, in the heart of the Western Kingdom lay a beautiful garden where a gracious and noble Bamboo Tree was the centre of attraction and was the delight of the Master’s heart.  But one day the Master approached the beautiful bamboo tree:

Master: “Bamboo, Bamboo, I would use you.”

Bamboo answered with delight: “Master, I am ready.  Use me as you wish.”   

Master: (With a grave voice)”I need to take you, and cut you down!”

A trembling of great horror shook Bamboo:  “Cut me down?  Me?  Did you not make me the most beautiful in your entire garden? Why cut me down?  Use me for joy, oh!  Master, But cut not me down!”

The voice of the Master was graver still: “Beloved Bamboo, if I do not cut you down, I cannot use you.” Bamboo slowly bent his glorious head and whispered with pain:   “Master, if you cannot use me without cutting me down, then, do your will and cut me down.”

The Master said:  “Bamboo, beloved Bamboo, I would cut your leaves and your branches also.” Bamboo pleaded: “Master, Master, spare me.  Cut me down and lay my beauty in the dust, but do not take away from me my leaves and my branches also!”  

The master whispered: “Bamboo, alas! If I cut not them away, I cannot use you!”  Bamboo shivered in terrible expectancy, and then whispering low, said:  “Master, cut them away!”  The Master added with a crying voice:  “Bamboo, beloved Bamboo, I would yet cleave you in two halves and cut out your heart; for, if I cut you not, I cannot use you!”  Then, Bamboo bowed to the ground and softly whispered:  “Master, Master, then cut and cleave. I’m yours!”

So did the Master of the Garden take Bamboo and cut him down and hack off his branches and strip off his leaves, and cleave him in two and cut his heart.  And lifting him gently carried him to where there was a spring of fresh, sparkling water in the midst of his dry fields. Then, putting one end of the Broken Bamboo in the spring and the other end into the water channel in his field, the Master laid down gently his beloved Bamboo.

 And the clear sparkling waters of the spring raced joyously down the channel of Bamboo’s torn body into the waiting thirsty fields. Then the rice was planted and the days went by and the shoots grew and the harvest came and hungry mouths had their fill.

In that day, Bamboo, once so glorious in his stately beauty, was yet more glorious in his brokenness and humility. In his beauty he was life abundant, but in his brokenness he became a channel of abundant life to his Master's world.  (Adapted from a story from the Book of Songs of Waley).

This bitter-sweet allegory of sacrifice reminds us of Jesus’ own poignant act of perfect self-offering.  The Lord laid down his life on the cross in order for us to have the abundance of eternal life.   And in order for us to participate in the same salvific event  of his sacrifice, He memorialized his act at the last supper as He pronounced the bread his body and the cup of wine his blood.

Today is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.  This celebration gives us the opportunity to appreciate the great gift of his Body and Blood or the Eucharist.  One way to appreciate this gift is to see it as today’s readings would have us do:  To see the celebration of the Eucharist as sacrificial.

The first reading (Ex 24:3-8) recounts the ratification of the covenant between God and His people Israel by the offering of holocausts and animal sacrifices whose blood Moses splashed on the altar and sprinkled on the people as “the blood of the covenant.” In the old covenant, animals were used as sacrifice for peace offering.

In the second reading (Heb 9:11-15), Christ is now the high priest who achieved eternal redemption not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood. “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 up unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God!” (v. 13). In the new covenant, Jesus becomes the sacrifice himself offering his own blood once and for all for eternal redemption.

The Gospel of Mark (Mk 14: 12-16, 22-26) portrays Jesus in the upper room celebrating the final Passover meal with his disciples.  This event of the last supper memorialized his sacrifice on the cross by offering his body and blood: “Take this,” he said, “this is my body.” He likewise took a cup, gave thanks and passed it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them: “This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, to be poured out on behalf of many” (vv. 23-24).

Hence, our celebration of the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ allows us to reflect on the sacrificial character of the Eucharist. And every time we participate in the celebration of the Eucharist, we participate in the same sacrificial and saving act of Jesus.  Our participation invites us to be like Christ himself who offered himself up in perfect obedience to the Father and in total self-giving love.

Many times we do not heed the will of the Father and we refuse to give of ourselves for the sake of others because we give in to our natural orientation for self-preservation.  We tend to protect ourselves; hence, we don’t find the act of sacrifice appealing.  May our devotion to the Eucharist give us the grace to transcend our egoistic tendencies.

Like the noble Bamboo in the story, we cannot be used by God if we don’t allow him to cut us down, hack off our branches, strip off our leaves, and cleave us in two and cut our heart.  Like Jesus, we can only bring life to others when we are willing to give up ourselves.  Jesus gave up all for us: “Take this... this is my body... this is my blood.”

A Treasure that Gives Life (Corpus Christi Sunday A)

After almost three hours of exhausting walk to a far-flung barrio chapel, I and Alfonso, who graciously carried my things throughout the long trek, were at last met by the community.  There were only fifteen of them waiting to celebrate the Eucharist as we arrived!  While we rested, still catching our breath, Alfonso couldn’t hide his disappointment and asked me why must we travel on foot that far for only fifteen people.  Before I could offer a consoling answer, I was handed a pitcher of fresh Buko juice which I mercilessly gobbled down to the dregs.  After such a refreshing treat, I told Alfonso, “I know the answer to your question: The longer the walk, the sweeter the Buko juice becomes.”

In a more serious note, I wish to reflect on the question as we celebrate today the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.  The celebration, I believe, lends itself to our quest for meaning as regards our true Eucharistic piety.  My answer to Alfonso should have been: “Because the Eucharist is a treasure.  We have to go out of our way, cross the same river for over ten times under the scorching sun, brave the perils of the jungle, and pant for air to survive because we are up for a treasure—the pearl of great prize—long held by the Christian communities for generations.”

Pope John Paul II, in his spiritual reflection Ecclesia de Eucharistia, presents the Eucharist as our treasure as he says: “The treasure of the Eucharist... impels us towards the goal of full sharing with all our brothers and sisters to whom we are joined by our common baptism. But if this treasure is not to be squandered, we need to respect the demands which derive from its being the sacrament of communion in faith and in apostolic succession. By giving the Eucharist the prominence it deserves, and by being careful not to diminish any of its dimensions or demands, we show that we are truly conscious of the greatness of this gift.”

Source of communion as Brethren. In other words, the Pope reminds us of the greatness of the gift of the Eucharist and calls us to safeguard it as our treasure because it is in the Eucharist that we derive our life as Christian communities.  It is in the celebration of the Eucharist that we live out our communion as brothers and sisters in Christ sharing in the one and the same baptism as attested to by the second reading, 1 Cor. 10: 16-17—“We, many though we are, are one body for we all partake in one loaf.” In my pastoral experience, I can attest to the fact that the more a community gathers to celebrate the Eucharist, the more they burst with life with more and more people participating in the communal life and celebrating the diversity of their gifts as one community of faith.

Source of eternal life for Christ’s disciples. The Eucharist is a treasure because it is the source of the life of Christ’s disciples. The Body and Blood of Christ, in the humble signs of bread and wine, give life to those who receive them.  Our first reading (Dt. 8: 2-3, 14-16) reminds us that God’s people were fed with manna, a food unknown to them, in order to show them that man lives not by bread alone but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord (v. 3).  In the same vein, the Gospel of John (Jn. 6: 51-52) instructs us that it is Jesus who is the living bread that comes down from heaven.  The real manna of everlasting life. “He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal (v. 54).

Source of perfect union with Christ.  The Eucharist is a treasure because it makes possible the unique experience of “mutual indwelling” of Christ and the disciple in each other.  It is through the reception of the body and blood of Christ that we experience Christ living in us and us living in Christ. “The man who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him” (v. 56). We can say therefore that through our participation in the Eucharist we attain life eternal. And this eternal life is not so much about the length of life (and one which we shall have in the hereafter) as it is about the quality of life that we possess in the here and now. We speak of the life of Christ in us. It is divine life throbbing in us, impelling us to live as Christ lived—a life of love. 

No wonder then, that a priest takes all the troubles in going to the far-off communities in order to share this treasure to them. No wonder then, I was often told, that our overseas Filipino workers hunger for the Eucharistic celebration in foreign lands where they are deprived of this treasure.  They are there to “eke out a living.” But only the Eucharist can grant them true life—the life with Christ.

As we celebrate, then, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ today, let us approach the altar and feed on Christ in the signs of bread and wine turned to his body and blood. As we approach, let our hearts well up with gratitude for being so blessed as to receive this great gift of the source of eternal life. As we receive the Lord, let us do it with an interior devotion that shows how we truly treasure Jesus Christ who gives life by living in us.

Then, in silence, we pray for all Christians in foreign lands who are deprived of this great treasure—they may be your father or mother, husband or wife, brother or sister, or your friend. Pray also for all priests consecrated primarily for the celebration of the Eucharist, that they may draw their own life from it—from the treasure that gives life.