John 16:12-15

Genesis 14:18-20

Psalm 110:1, 2, 3, 4

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

John 16:12-15

Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God,

and he healed those who needed to be cured.

As the day was drawing to a close,

the Twelve approached him and said,

“Dismiss the crowd

so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms

and find lodging and provisions;

for we are in a deserted place here.”

He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.”

They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have,

unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.”

Now the men there numbered about five thousand.

Then he said to his disciples,

“Have them sit down in groups of about fifty.”

They did so and made them all sit down.

Then taking the five loaves and the two fish,

and looking up to heaven,

he said the blessing over them, broke them,

and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

They all ate and were satisfied.

And when the leftover fragments were picked up,

they filled twelve wicker baskets.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of the Eucharist. It is the memorial of your Son’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. It is the foretaste of the heavenly banquet and food for eternal life. May I always welcome this gift!

Encountering the Word of God

1. Five Sacrifices: In the Old Testament, in the Book of Leviticus 1:1-7:28, laws for five different types of sacrifices were established. The Burnt Offering, or Holocaust, consisted of the offering of the entire animal, except for its blood and hide. The entire animal is given to God. This represented the offerer’s own self-donation to the Lord. The Cereal Offering, or Grain Offering, was an unbloody sacrifice consisting of some form of grain, whether baked as a cake or not. The Hebrew name means ‘gift’ or ‘tribute’ to the Lord and expresses the communion between the offerer and God in the form of a kind of meal. Only a portion of the cereal offering was burned on the altar; the rest was consumed by the priests. The Peace Offering signified the state of communion between God and the worshipper. It was a communal meal with God and his priestly servants, and always followed any other offerings (burnt, sin, or guilt). “While the sin and guilt offerings serve to restore peace or shalom, with God, the peace offering both recognizes and celebrates it. It is a sacrifice of joy and thanksgiving” (Bergsma and Pitre, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament, 209). The purpose of the sin offering or purification offering was to restore communion with God through the forgiveness of sin – it literally “de-sins” or purifies a person or object. It cleanses the worshipper from ritual uncleanness. The guilt offering also serves to restore communion with God. While the sin offering restores the relationship with God, the guilt offering makes reparation or restitution for the damage done by sin. Forgiveness of sin and reparation for sin are not the same thing (see Bergsma and Pitre, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament, 209).

2. Eucharistic Fulfillment of the Burnt Offerings, Cereal Offerings, and Peace Offerings: On this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus, we can reflect on how Jesus fulfills these five sacrificial offerings in the Eucharist. Israel offered the daily burnt offering, the tamid, of a lamb every morning and evening. “Jesus’ death on the cross was a ‘holocaust’ in that he was entirely consumed by his self-offering; he gave himself so completely that he had nothing left to give” (Healy, Hebrews, 152). The Eucharist is the memorial of Jesus’ holocaust and complete self-giving. “Jesus’ passion was a ‘grain offering’ in that through it he becomes the bread of life for us (John 6:35; see John 12:25). By partaking of this bread in the Eucharist (see Heb 13:10), we share in his own divine life” (Healy, Hebrews, 152). The Peace offering or communion sacrifice was the only sacrifice in which some of the meat and bread was eaten by the worshipper and his household. When it was celebrated to thank God for a particular favor, such as saving one from death, it was called the “thanksgiving sacrifice” (see Psalm 107:21-22; 116:17). Jesus’ passion and the sacred banquet of the Eucharist fulfilled the Passover memorial and the peace offering. It establishes the ultimate communion between God and man; thus, the name of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is Eucharist, which means “thanksgiving” (see Healy, Hebrews, 153).

3. Eucharistic Fulfillment of the Sin Offerings and Guilt Offerings: The offering on the Day of Atonement was seen as the great national purification of the people of Israel. The Letter to the Hebrews sees Jesus’ passion, death, resurrection, and ascension as the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement. “Hebrews 13:11-12 suggests that Jesus’ passion was a purification offering, since he ‘suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people with his own blood’ (New Jerusalem Bible). His blood purifies the living temple, the Church, of all sin for all time” (Healy, Hebrews, 153). In the Eucharist, we celebrate the shedding of Christ’s purifying blood. Finally, the reparation or guilt offering sought to make atonement. Isaiah foretold that the Suffering Servant of the Lord would give himself as a reparation offering” (Isaiah 53:10), “a prophecy fulfilled by Christ, whose sacrifice was the all-sufficient restitution to God of the human love, trust, and obedience that had been withheld due to sin” (Healy, Hebrews, 153). The Catechism teaches that, “As a sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God” (CCC, 1414).  

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you shed your blood to save and redeem me. You poured out your blood on the Cross to wash away my sins. You are the pleasing and acceptable sacrifice. Help me today to unite my sacrifice to yours and offer it to the Father out of love.

Living the Word of God: Can I set aside time today to contemplate Jesus’ Passion? How am I called this week to give myself as Christ did? What do those around me need from me this week?