John 6:53-69
Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever" These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Then many of his disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
Matthew 26:26-28
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my Body"
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you,
for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins."
While these 2 passages are seperated by maybe 100 pages or more, I think reading them this close together and in light of each other really helps to bring out the wonder of the Eucharist.
The thing that stands out to me while contemplating the 5th Luminous Mystery is how Jesus seems to give us something that we don't know if we can bring ourselves to do or even if we could, how we would go about doing it. Then He provides a way for us to do this thing that we never could have imagined.
In the first passage many disciples leave him when he says that He is giving His own Body and Blood for food an drink. These disciples had presumably left everything behind to follow Him and learn from Him. But this was to much because they couldn't fathom how they could accomplish this thing that He told them to do. And so, they "returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him."
But in the second passage, He does what He has always done even from the beginning of time. He gives us what we need, in the way that we need it. The Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. For our sake, He is veiled under the appearance of bread and wine, that we might be able to do as he said "eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood".
The 5th Luminous Mystery makes me think "What a GOD we have!"
Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever" These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Then many of his disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."
Matthew 26:26-28
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my Body"
Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you,
for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins."
While these 2 passages are seperated by maybe 100 pages or more, I think reading them this close together and in light of each other really helps to bring out the wonder of the Eucharist.
The thing that stands out to me while contemplating the 5th Luminous Mystery is how Jesus seems to give us something that we don't know if we can bring ourselves to do or even if we could, how we would go about doing it. Then He provides a way for us to do this thing that we never could have imagined.
In the first passage many disciples leave him when he says that He is giving His own Body and Blood for food an drink. These disciples had presumably left everything behind to follow Him and learn from Him. But this was to much because they couldn't fathom how they could accomplish this thing that He told them to do. And so, they "returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him."
But in the second passage, He does what He has always done even from the beginning of time. He gives us what we need, in the way that we need it. The Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. For our sake, He is veiled under the appearance of bread and wine, that we might be able to do as he said "eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood".
The 5th Luminous Mystery makes me think "What a GOD we have!"
Comments
When I receive I know that if I accept this gift and take Jesus with me I must also accept the cross but I will be given the courage and strength to deal with what ever comes my way.