Scripture: Ezekiel 37:21-28. Jeremiah 31:10-13. John 11:45-47. Lectionary
# 257:

St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica (his synthesis of theology)
tells us that the Eucharist is the sacrament and sign of our unity and
peace in Christ who has sacrificed himself for us. St. Paul in the earliest
reflections on the Eucharist writes in I Corinthians, "For our Paschal
Lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. (I Cor. 5:7). This joins the Eucharist
to the Exodus Event as celebrated in the Passover and its message of
freedom through the covenant given to Moses for all of God's people. A
contemporary theologian and liturgist, Fr. Andersen writes on the subject
of the Eucharist and makes this statement in the opening sentence of his
book, " To talk about the Eucharist is to talk about the Church." (Frank
Anderesen, M.S.C, Making the Eucharist Matter, Ave Maria Press, Indiana,
1998). These thoughts and statements fit in well with the central content
of the readings for today. Both Ezekiel and Jeremiah are speaking of God
bringing back his people into a unity based on God's covenantal love of
merciful kindness. Jeremiah shows us that God as a Shepherd who keeps the
flock together, "The Lord will guard us like a shepherd guarding his
flock." In the Gospel of John we learn that Caiphas,who is conspiring as
highpriest to put Jesus to death,prophesies, "You have no understanding
whatever! Can you not see that it is better for you to have one man die
[for the people] than to have the whole nation destroyed?" (He did not say
this on his own. It was rather as high priest for that year that he
prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation --and not only for this
nation only, but to gather into one all the dispersed children of
God.)."(John 11:49-53). We are led to Vatican II's emphasis on Eucharist
as the liturgical action par excellence of the People of God who are to
participate together in this sacrament and experience it for the whole Body
of Christ, the Church, as the summit of our spiritual life. The prior
tradtion of an individual's receiving the Eucharist simply as a "Jesus and
I" experience is not the primary purpose of this great ecclesial
experience. We do well to read the Eucharist in the background of a
covenant as expressed in the prophet Ezekiel and Jeremiah. Perhaps,
reading the book of Exodus 19:3-8 will help us to see how we are a People
of God. Andersen gives us a good insight in the following, "The Hebrews
called themselves a "Passover People" and the great Event of their Exodus
from Egypt was the moment in which they became conscious of this calling."
(p.14). In today's celebration of the Eucharist we are led to think about
this sacrament as a sign of unity and peace (Aquinas) for the Church as a
Passover People (Andersen). We are a community of faith-filled participants
who believe Christ is very much alive in our midst not only in the Bread
and Wine become his precious Blood and glorified Body but also in all of us
gathered in his name to praise and worship the Father, Son,and Holy Spirit.
And let us not forget that Caiphas, the high-priest, profesied on this one
occasion and like a stopped clock, he was right...on this one occasion!
Amen.