Welcoming the Holy
Here we invite you to take time for yourself in personal prayer. The following spiritual reflection offers words and images which we hope will evoke for you an experience of God.
By: Sister Karen Dietz
“Lord, our God, how wonderful Your name in all the earth.” Psalm 8.1
Opening Prayer
Now the new the old effaces, truth away the shadow chases, light dispels the gloom of night. (Sequence for the Feast)
Reading
1 Corinthians 11: 23 – 26
Brothers and sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
Reflection
It feels to me as though we really need the shadows chased away and the gloom of night dispelled. Today’s Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ reminds me that sharing around the Eucharistic table and so many other tables time and again can chase away the darkness and shadows of confusion, concern and trouble.
Recall a gathering of family or friends around a meal that you found particularly relaxing. I recall a recent meal I shared with a friend at which we talked and laughed and shared all that was on our hearts and minds. We talked of family and Church and politics and the situations in our world that grieve us both. We did not solve any problems or come to any conclusions. We were simply together in friendship and support. I left the restaurant buoyed in spirit and ready to face another day.
This sharing around a meal was Eucharistic in that we gave thanks for the gift of our friendship, we broke bread and shared, and we told our individual stories. We also spoke of our shared story as members of the human family. In our own small way, we proclaimed the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in remembrance of him.
We are living in a time when we can get bogged down in the struggles and sorrows of our time. This Feast reminds us to seek out friends and family with whom to share the stories and share a meal. This sharing will remind us who we are and whose we are, offering us the light necessary to dispel the darkness. Who will you invite to share a meal this week?
Closing Prayer
Very bread, good shepherd, tend us, Jesu, of your love befriend us, You refresh us, you defend us, your eternal goodness send us in the land of life to see. (Sequence for the Feast)
