My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today’s Gospel gives us a shadow, or refiguration, of what Jesus is going to do for His church later on, namely institute the Eucharist. Who can love us more than the One who offers total life, soul, body, spirit and whole being for us as food and drink? Only Jesus could do it because He has loved us unconditionally and eternally.
The Eucharist, in fact, makes present the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, but without shedding His blood. Therefore, when we enter into the spirit of the Eucharist, we must recognize and proclaim “the death of the Lord” and also the “Resurrection of the Lord”. In return, we should offer our bodies, our lives to the Lord as living sacrifices. The true spirit of the Eucharist is the spirit of sacrifice, not only the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus but also our own life-long sacrifice combining with Jesus’. Thus, it is very important to prepare ourselves worthily, to fast before receiving the Eucharist, to deny ourselves, and to take up our crosses each day with the intention of uniting ourselves to Jesus crucified and sacrificed. Through our good deeds and generosity, we make sacrifices pleasing to the Lord. We can unite these sacrifices with Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary and fill up in our own bodies what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.
As we gather and approach the Eucharist each weekend, we should desire to unite ourselves to Jesus, because the Eucharist is not the proclamation and perpetuation of our sacrifices but rather of His sacrifice. But the Eucharist is the participation of our sacrifices in His. Please live the Eucharist. Live a life of sacrifice. Through Jesus, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise. May God help us to recognize the most precious love that Jesus offers to us in each Eucharist.
With love,
Fr. Thuong Hoai Nguyen