St James Catholic Church

One of the hallmarks of our Catholic faith is the Mass.  We are a Eucharistic people, listening to God’s word and receiving sustenance from the Body and Blood of our Lord in the Eucharist so that we may be sent out as disciples, manifesting the real presence of Jesus in our lives as we build up the body of Christ.  In this year of the National Eucharistic Congress, may our appreciation of his real presence in his Body and Blood be revived and may our enthusiasm for the Church’s mission be rekindled.

When we hear in the first reading that Moses sprinkled animal blood on the people, we are a little taken back.  But this is the tradition that Jesus and his disciples know.  Blood was regarded as the life force.  It created a covenant, actively binding the parties, which in this case were God and the people.  When Jesus gives them the cup and says, “This is my blood of the covenant.”  But this is not the same kind of blood Moses used.  This he says is his own blood, shed for many.  He is the one who is sacrificed and it is his blood that creates a new covenant between God and us.  This cup of eternal salvation binds us to new life.

Jesus and the disciples came together that night to celebrate the Passover, the feast of passing over from captivity to freedom, from death to life, from condemnation to salvation.  Christ, the new Passover, transformed the meal to lead us to a new freedom, freedom from the condemnation of sin, a new life, a life of Resurrection, a new salvation, the eternal salvation of the Kingdom of God.  As we celebrate that meal again, our faith informs us that Jesus is present, body, blood, soul and divinity transforming us anew.  On this solemnity of the most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, let this Eucharist, a more meaning thanksgiving be a real prayer of gratitude for that marvelous gift itself.

Love, Peace, Joy,

Fr. Bob