Holy Eucharist as a Sacrificial Meal

06-14-2020Weekly ReflectionFather Prince Raja

This weekend diocese of La Crosse asked me to make this announcement since I will be released from all my responsibilities as a pastor of our three parishes from July 2, 2020, our parishes will have a new administrator Fr. Aruldoss who is at present serving in Chippewa Falls Holy Ghost Parish as a associate pastor. Fr. Aruldoss and me come from the same state of southern India. Though we belong to different dioceses, we speak same language and we studied together in seminary. Let's welcome Father to our three parishes.

During the liturgical year there are at least two feasts that invite us to meditate on the mystery of the Eucharist: the Maundy Thursday and the Feast of the Precious Body and Blood of our Lord (that is today!). On the Maundy Thursday, the reflection on the Eucharist is centred on the Passover meal and the institution of the priesthood. In the context of the Easter triduum (the three days of preparation towards Easter), the celebration of the Eucharist of the Maundy Thursday is also emotionally coloured by the impending passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. The feast of today gives us yet another opportunity to contemplate the mystery of the Eucharist.

Allow me to begin our reflection with a very concrete structure in the Church: the altar. Normally, the tabernacle in which the Holy Eucharist is enshrined is the focal point of any Catholic Church, and the tabernacle lamp draws our attention to this. However, during the celebration of the Eucharist (the Holy Mass) there are two focal points in the Church: the lectern – where the Word of God is broken; and the altar – where the bread is broken. In many Catholic Churches today, this distinction is very clearly brought out in the manner of the celebration of the Eucharist: the Introductory Rite begins at the Chair of the presiding priest, the Liturgy of the Word is celebrated at the lectern (or the Ambo), the Liturgy of the Eucharist is celebrated at the altar, and the concluding rite is again taken back to the Chair.

Let us now focus on the altar. What is the altar? I expect a spontaneous answer: it is the place of sacrifice. I still remember the homily given by Fr. William Dhein, chancellor of our diocese who came for our fountain city St. Mary's altar consecration, he too asked these same questions to our people on that Sunday. What else is the altar in our church? Now if the answer is not forthcoming, let me give you a hint. When the first Eucharist was ever celebrated by Jesus in the company of the apostles, where was it celebrated? In the Upper Room! What was the altar like in that celebration? The altar in the Upper Room was a table. A Dining Table! It is important not to forget this simple history. (My history teacher used to say: if only people study history seriously most of humankind's present mistakes could be avoided, and most disputes easily resolved. This is also so true in the Church today, even regarding the Liturgy!) So the altar is also the table of a meal.

The Eucharistic celebration is the enactment of the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. Sure, the Holy Mass is a sacrifice. Now if it is only a sacrifice then the proper place for the priest during the Mass is on the side of the people. He offers the sacrifice together with the people on behalf of the people. But St Paul reminds us,

The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." (1Cor 11:23-25).

And in the 2nd reading of today: "Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1Cor 10:17). The Eucharistic celebration is at once a sacrifice and a meal. As we participate in the Eucharist, on this feast of the precious body and blood of our Lord, may we so worthily partake of the body and blood of Christ, that we may come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.

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