Corpus  Christi (Cycle C) "I am the living bread which came down from heaven." ENTRANCE ANTIPHON The Lord fed his people with the finest wheat and honey; their hunger was satisfied. PENITENTIAL RITE Today we are celebrating the feast of Corpus Christi. Through this celebration we thank Jesus for the gift of himself in the Eucharist. Here he comes to nourish us on our journey of life, to strengthen us in our struggles as well as to lead us to eternal life with him. Let us purify ourselves and make us worthy to take part in this Eucharist. (Pause) I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault (All strike their breast) in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God. Glory to God in the highest,/and peace to his people on earth./Lord God, heavenly King,/almighty God and Father,/we worship you,/we give you thanks,/we praise you for your glory./Lord Jesus Christ,/only Son of the Father,/Lord God, Lamb of God,/you take away the sin of the world:/have mercy on us;/you are seated at the right hand of the Father,/receive our prayer./For you alone are the Holy One,/you alone are the Lord,/you alone are the Most High,/Jesus Christ,/with the Holy Spirit,/in the glory of God the Father./ Amen. OPENING PRAYER Let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us the eucharist as the memorial of your suffering and death. May our worship of this sacrament of your body and blood help us to experience the salvation you won for us and the peace of the kingdom where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. FIRST READING (The simple gift of bread and wine that Melchizedek offers to Abram is a type pointing to the Eucharist.) A reading from the book of Genesis (14:18-20) Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. This is the Word of the Lord PSALM (109:1-4) Response: You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old. The Lord’s revelation to my Master: "Sit on my right: I will put your foes beneath your feet." R./ The Lord will send from Zion your sceptre of power: rule in the midst of all your foes. R./ A prince from the day of your birth on the holy mountains; from the womb before the daybreak I begot you. R./ The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change. "You are a priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek of old." R./ SECOND READING (St Paul, giving an account of the institution of the Eucharist, tells us that every Eucharist is a commemoration of Jesus’ self-giving love for us.) A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians (11:23-26) I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which 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 Lord’s death until he comes. This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION (Jn 6:51) Alleluia! Alleluia! I am the living bread which came down from heaven, says the Lord. If any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever. Alleluia! GOSPEL (Christ gives a hint of the Eucharist through the multiplication of bread and fish.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke (9:11-17) Jesus welcomed the crowds and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away; and, the twelve came and said to him, "Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place." But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish unless we are to go and buy food for all these people." For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, "Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each." And they did so, and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces. This is the Gospel of the Lord I believe in God,/the Father Almighty,/Creator of heaven and earth./ I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/ and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into Heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the Holy Catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./ Amen. PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, the body of Jesus which we receive is God’s gift to us. Our sharing in no way can compare with what God gives us. He is generous beyond comparison. Let us bring to him our needs and ask him to bless us. Response: Lord, graciously hear our prayer. 1. That the Church leaders may find in the Eucharist the power to effect change and share the riches of God’s word to all, let us pray. R./ 2. That we may give ourselves to others after the manner Christ gave himself to us, keeping his command in mind,"Do this in memory of me." For this let us pray. R./ 3. That as we have been reconciled to God by the death and resurrection of Christ we may be a sign of peace and reconciliation to all around us, let us pray. R./ 4. That as a covenant people we may live in union with God and with one another in our families, among our neighbours and in our work place, let us pray. R./ (Pray for personal/local needs.) Cel: Heavenly Father, we have become, by your grace, members of the body of Christ and your children. Help us to live as members of one family in love and respect for each other. We ask this… PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS Lord, may the bread and cup we offer bring your Church the unity and peace they signify. We ask this... PREFACE (P 47-48) COMMUNION ANTIPHON Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live in me and I in him, says the Lord. PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Lord Jesus Christ, you give us your body and blood in the eucharist as a sign that even now we share your life. May we come to possess it completely in the kingdom where you live for ever and ever. LITURGY  AND  LIFE The basic need of the human heart never changes and it is the need for God. It is only Jesus who can fuel our spirit. It is he who gives us his body and blood in the Eucharist as food and drink like the pelican which bites into its flesh to feed its young ones. Only when we are conscious of our hunger for God we can appreciate the Eucharist. Often we are immune to this hunger because we give our hearts to material pleasures. There is so much in the world that ruffles our spirit, so much that depresses us and so much that profanes us. We have the duty to resist this onslaught of worldly things and seek the Lord in prayer and in the Eucharist. We are at our greatest when we are on our feet or on our knees to receive the Lord in the holy Communion. There are 1.375 billion people living in absolute poverty. If that is the case how is it that so many Christians in the developed countries eat more than what is needed! So many restaurants in the west are overcrowded. Many seem to live to eat rather than to eat to live. If we ask the leaders of the countries which are piling up arms, why are they doing so, they will say that they want to fight for the freedom of the oppressed in the world. Is not every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired a theft from those who hunger and are not fed? Some are satisfied in preaching charity to the poor. A hungry stomach has no ears. How can you talk religion to an individual with bodily hunger in his eyes? Jesus before teaching about eating his body and drinking his blood, fed the people with bread. The scene of taking the bread, giving thanks, breaking and giving it at the Last Supper (Mk 14:22) had already occurred at the multiplication of the loaves (gospel reading). The Eucharist and the multiplication of the loaves are meant to be special signs by which the Lord wants us in our turn to share and feed the hungry. The story is told of two soldier buddies in Vietnam. One was a dull fellow and the other a sharp guy. But there was some kind of chemistry that made them inseparable. The dull fellow was badly wounded in the battle. His buddy immediately volunteered to give his blood. When the dull fellow realized whose blood saved him he said to his companion, "Now I feel like a new man." Something similar should take place each time you and I receive the Eucharist. By the very fact that we are Christians we have the bounden duty to help the poor because we have entered into a covenant with God and our neighbour. God was faithful to his people and he fed them with finest wheat and honey. By multiplying the loaves Christ fed thousands of people (Heb 9:12). The fidelity and the love of the Lord must urge us to be faithful and loving to God and to the needy. The Lord loves a cheerful giver. May the Eucharistic spark of love awaken us from the slumber of indifference towards those of God’s children who have no food. June 2007 READINGS  OF  THE  WEEK (Psalter Week 2) 11/Mon (R) S. Barnabas, Ap – mem Ms of mem, Pf Aps II Ac 11:21b-26; 13:1-3; Ps 97:1,2-3ab,3cd-4,5-6; Mt 10:7-13 12/Tue (G) 2 Cor 1:18-22; Ps 118:129-130,131-132,133&135; Mt 5:13-16 13/Wed (W) S. Anthony of Padua, pt dr – mem 2 Cor 3:4-11; Ps 98:5,6,7,8,9; Mt 5:17-19 14/Thu (G) 2 Cor 3:15-4:1,3-6; Ps 84:9ab&10,11-12,13-14; Mt 5:20-26 15/Fri (W) THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS – Sol Ezek 34:11-16; Ps 22:1-3a,3b-4,5,6; Rm 5:5b-11; Lk 15:3-7 16/Sat (W) The Immaculate Heart of Mary – mem Is 61:9-11; Ps 1 Sam 1,4-5,6-7,8abcd; Lk 2:41-51