Lectio divina

Lectio divina

Do this in memory of me

For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

Then he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you; do this in memory of me." Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."
(Lk 22:14-20).

We are in Jerusalem, the sacred city par excellence; the darkness of the night covers the horizon of a day that will be remembered throughout the world by all Christian generations. That day, most likely April 6, year 30 of the Christian era, will be called, over time, Holy Thursday.
The twelve apostles of the Nazarene are gathered together "on the upper floor" of "a large room with carpets, already prepared." (Mk 14, 15) for the Passover banquets that they are about to celebrate. They are guests in the home of one of the wealthiest families in Jerusalem. Jesus had already planned everything with the friend who was the owner of the house, to whom he sent two of his disciples for immediate preparations..
(cf. Mk 14, 12-16).

Referring to a very ancient tradition, most scholars think of the home of the family or some relative of the evangelist Mark, because this house, after the death of Christ, was transformed into a habitual meeting place for the Christians of Jerusalem.
(cf. Acts 1:13. 2:1-2).

In the Upper Room, there is an air of solemnity and sadness at the same time. They are celebrating a feast, joy should reign, but Jesus' words create dismay, confusion; the disciples are dismayed, their hearts beat strongly in their throats; the Master says that one is betraying him: "Truly, I say to you, one of you, who eats with me, will betray me."
(Mk 14:18).

The flavor is that of farewell. With their hearts already sad, they hear Jesus declare that this is his last Passover supper, the hour of the Passion awaits him, he will no longer eat the Passover with them until they eat it together in the kingdom of God.
(cf. Lk 22:15-16).

Jesus performs all the rites prescribed for the Passover banquet in memory of the great wonders performed by God to free Israel from slavery in Egypt: he pronounces the blessings, intones the psalms of the various thanksgivings; they all eat the roast lamb, the unleavened bread dipped in the reddish sauce, the bitter herbs, they drink from the cup full of wine.

And, at a certain point, "after having supped" (Lk 22:20), here is the shocking news narrated by the evangelists with particular care. Jesus takes his followers by surprise, he takes them all by surprise. No one expected that at that very hour the great promise made long before in the synagogue of Capernaum would be fulfilled: "It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven; the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (Jn 6:32-33). Metaphor, symbolism, play on words? In order not to cause misunderstandings, Jesus arrives at the height of realism: "The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world".
(Jn 6:51).

At the end of that Last Supper, Jesus, contrary to what was expected in the Easter rite, takes one of the loaves from the table, any one, blesses it, divides it into pieces, gives it to his neighbors, invites everyone to eat. He does so by pronouncing simple words, but full of mystery, words that have an immense flavour: "This is my body which is given for you".
(Lk 22, 19).

The flavor is that of farewell. With their hearts already sad, they hear Jesus declare that this is his last Passover supper, the hour of the Passion awaits him, he will no longer eat the Passover with them until they eat it together in the kingdom of God.
(cf. Lk 22:15-16).

Jesus performs all the rites prescribed for the Passover banquet in memory of the great wonders performed by God to free Israel from slavery in Egypt: he pronounces the blessings, intones the psalms of the various thanksgivings; they all eat the roast lamb, the unleavened bread dipped in the reddish sauce, the bitter herbs, they drink from the cup full of wine.

And, at a certain point, "after having supped" (Lk 22:20), here is the shocking news narrated by the evangelists with particular care. Jesus takes his followers by surprise, he takes them all by surprise. No one expected that at that very hour the great promise made long before in the synagogue of Capernaum would be fulfilled: "It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven; the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (Jn 6:32-33). Metaphor, symbolism, play on words? In order not to cause misunderstandings, Jesus arrives at the height of realism: "The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world".
(Jn 6:51).

At the end of that Last Supper, Jesus, contrary to what was expected in the Easter rite, takes one of the loaves from the table, any one, blesses it, divides it into pieces, gives it to his neighbors, invites everyone to eat. He does so by pronouncing simple words, but full of mystery, words that have an immense flavour: "This is my body which is given for you".
(Lk 22, 19).

He then takes the cup of wine that he had used during the dinner, raises it, giving thanks to God, passes it to those near him, repeating words similar to those pronounced when distributing the bread: "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."
(Mt 26:27-28).

There is no greater love than this, no more radical donation: Jesus Christ abandons himself completely to man, lets himself be totally possessed, gives his body to eat, his blood to drink "for the life of the world" (Jn 6:51). His flesh is in fact true food and his blood true drink. (cf. Jn 6:55) "In this scene there is nothing that recalls magic, there are no spells or invocations to spirits. There are not even long ceremonies. The whole thing lasted two or three minutes. No high-sounding word was uttered. There was talk of bread and wine, of flesh and blood, of donation and sin. They are words that have the taste of life and death, but pronounced without the slightest emphasis.

The apostles know that something decisive has happened. They "know" it, they do not understand it. Those sentences - they do not understand why - have resounded as creative words, similar to those, so often read, with which Yahweh made the light, the sea and the stars. But it will not take them much longer to understand what kind of "creation" it is that they have witnessed".
(J. L. Martin Descalzo)

The Eucharist is a wonderful event! Beginning, completion, summit of creation! Invention of a Love without borders (cf. Jn 13:1)! Bread from heaven, divine nourishment, new food for the new man redeemed by the blood of the Lamb! Christ does not give "something" of himself, but all the fullness of his human-divine being in the Eucharist. "The words explain the gestures. Offering the bread he says to them: "Take, eat: this is my body". The word "body", in the biblical mentality, does not indicate a part of the person, but indicates it in its totality, in its capacity to give itself, to relate, to communicate with others. The word body is synonymous with the pronoun "I". The words of Jesus mean: This is me who wants to give myself to you, to enter into communion with you, to make you my community".
(M. Galizzi).

The Eucharist is the work of eternal Wisdom; «Wisdom... has prepared the wine and has set the table... To those who are without sense she says: "Come, eat my bread, drink the wine that I have mixed".
(Prov 9, 1.2.4-5).

The Eucharist is a miracle of the infinite Omnipotence that dominates creation and for which "nothing is impossible".
(Lk 1, 37).

«The Word of Christ, who could create from nothing what did not exist, cannot transform into a different substance what exists? It is no less an undertaking to give a new nature to things than to transform it».
(Saint Ambrose).

The wonders of infinite Love!
Christ never ceases to amaze us because always in the intimacy of the cenacle, in addition to the gift of the Eucharist, of his body given and his blood poured out, he is about to offer the apostles also the gift of his Priesthood. The words of Jesus that immediately follow those on the bread and wine (cf. 1 Cor 11:23-25): "Do this in memory of me" (Lk 22:19), are no less astonishing than the first; they have an immense flavor, they breathe mystery and novelty, they are pregnant with life, they inaugurate a new creation.
(cf. Mk 3:14).

Entrusting the apostles with the "memorial" of his sacrifice. Christ has truly made them participants in his priesthood, this is what the Church teaches following the example of the Council of Trent: "If anyone says that by the words: "Do this in memory of me". Christ did not institute the apostles as priests, or did not command that they and the other priests offer his body and blood, let him be anathema."
(On the Sacrifice of the Mass, 17.IX. 1562, can. 2).

"The great reality of this supper is that it does not end in itself. Luke once and Paul twice observe that after having consecrated the bread and wine, Jesus gave his disciples the command to do the same thing in memory of him. What must they repeat: the Passover meal? For this reason, the command was not necessary. It had been celebrated for centuries and for centuries the Jewish people would continue to repeat it. The simple gathering of friends to remember Jesus? It would have made no sense to give so much solemnity to this command and even less to say it immediately after his words about the bread and then repeat it after his words about the wine. Evidently Jesus commands them to repeat what is new in this supper, that is, the words about the bread and the wine.

Repeating a memory is something that men can do without much effort. But Jesus had created before them a reality, not a simple memory. They did not have the powers of Jesus. Did they understand that, at that moment, Jesus was ordaining them priests, was transmitting his power to them? Jesus could not command them to do something impossible, without at the same time giving them the power to do it. His order was, therefore, an ordination.

It was the crowning of a vocation born three years earlier. He had initiated them into his doctrines; he had made them participants in his mission; he had announced to them that he would place them at the head of the twelve tribes of Israel; he had made them become fishers of men; he had emphasized that it was not they who had chosen Him but He who had chosen them; he had reminded them that they were no longer his servants, but his friends. Now it was the crowning of everything: he commanded them to do what he had done and, at the same time, he gave them the ability to do it. Thus his apostles became his successors, the extension of Him. And the supper ceased to be an occasional and transitory event to become a permanent institution. When he would no longer be there, it would continue in the church and in this way, his presence in the bread would not be only for these twelve, but for all those who would believe in Him for ever and ever.

With the Eucharist the priesthood was born, as an essential complement. A priesthood different from that known to the Jews, as different was the sacrifice they would have to make, as different was the alliance that began at this moment... In establishing the new alliance Jesus confers this same perpetuity on his own. And it is these few words - do this in memory of me - that they do in thousands and thousands of altars, thousands and thousands of priests. Trembling, with their human hands that are not holy and venerable like those of their master, they raise the bread and distribute it. Not even they understand it. In their faces there is the same amazement that there was in those of the first disciples. But the miracle repeats itself. Christ returns to be food for his own and continues to remain among those who believe in Him as on that night on the eve of his death".
(J. L. Martin Descalzo).

Mystery and miracle the Eucharist!
Mystery and miracle the Priesthood that generates it!
A bad day in our personal lives when we no longer perceive the Presence of infinite love in the Eucharist and in the Priesthood or underestimate these most precious gifts of Christ for the good of the Church or worse, consider them with habit, superficiality, coldness.

St. John Chrysostom, also called "Doctor of the Eucharist", Patriarch of Constantinople in the 4th century, meditating on the priestly power to transform bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, exclaimed: "When you see the Lord sacrificed and lying and the priest standing before the altar praying and all those around him reddened by that precious blood, will you still think of being among men and of treading the earth, or will it not seem to you rather of being suddenly transported to the heavens?

What a magnificent reality! How great is the goodness of God! Certainly these are wonderful things and fill us with great wonder!».
(On the Priesthood. III, 4).

Ephrem the Syrian, the holy deacon of Edessa, Doctor of the Church, admired the Eucharist and the Priesthood, intimately associated with it, as «most brilliant gifts» of grace, «magnificent pearls» given by the Lord to the Church his bride.
(Discourse on the Priesthood).

It is right that every member of the ecclesial community feels particularly loved by Christ for these splendid gifts and enjoys them with deep satisfaction and gratitude. But it is even more right that every priest whose identity, existence and ministry emanate from the Eucharist, sings more than anyone else the joy of belonging to Christ and shapes his existence in conformity with the sacrament of which he is a servant and in which all the spiritual good of the Church resides. It is a question of faith! The flame cannot shine and shed light on all if it is not constantly nourished and vivified by oil; without faith (= oil), little by little every enthusiasm dies out, every great apostolic ideal vanishes, and the smoke of the dull flame ends up annoying and nauseating.

Together with the Eucharist, each priest is a mystery of faith. To understand himself and live in full fruitfulness, his ministry can only live by faith, refer to faith, in the light of Christ. Jesus never ceases to address to each one the invitation he once made to Jairus, the leader of the synagogue: "Do not be afraid, only continue to have faith." (Mk 5:36). Christ, "high priest of the faith that we profess" (Heb 3:1), continually intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father so that the gift of God does not languish and "does not fail" (Lk 22:32) in our hearts. "When priests celebrate Mass, the liturgy requires that, once the transubstantiation has taken place, they turn to the people, but also close and fused in one with that Mystery, and say: Mysterium Fidei. What the Word made flesh wanted has happened. What the Word made flesh commanded to be done has happened.

Mysterium fidei!
But be careful that the priest does not make a dangerous detachment: if He preaches that transubstantiation is a Mystery of Faith, He must first preach Him as the operator and generator of the Eucharist, being a Mystery of Faith. They will never be able to proclaim the Eucharistic mystery to the people of God if they are not first already a Mystery of Faith.

Faith is Christ, the Word made flesh. If therefore the generation of the Eucharist is proclaimed, it means that the Priest has identified himself with Christ. In fact, the words he pronounces are words in the first person: "This is my body... "Without the Eucharist the Church would not exist, no one could overcome evil, persevere in grace and reach holiness.
And without the Priesthood there would be no Life of the Church, the Bread of life: the Eucharist. As we now prepare to meditate on these ineffable mysteries of grace, intimately related to each other, we raise our supplication to Christ with the words of John Paul II: "Lord Jesus, we thank you for your Body and your Blood that you allow us to offer every day for the salvation of the world, to receive in ourselves, to give to our brothers and sisters and to venerate in our churches. Do not allow our hearts to become accustomed to this gift: grant us to see in it your supreme Love. Amen."
(Ars-France, 6.X.1986).