A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples." Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there." The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take and eat, this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them and they all drank from it. He said to them, " This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine, until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

REFLECTION: "Take and eat, this is my body"

The sharing of a meal is a celebration. The anticipatory Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Sunday meals unite families and friends for companionship and sharing of our love and life with one another. Imagine, a King inviting you to participate in his supper and he sends you personally a portion of what he had on his own plate for you to enjoy. What an honor!!! But what if the king, instead, gives you everything he has--he gives you all, he keeps nothing for himself? In fact he gives us all that he owns--!!!

Such is what happened at the Last Supper with our King, Jesus Christ.

While others may leave you their rings, money, clothing, land or other inheritances as a sign of their affection, Our beloved King, Jesus Christ, left us the greatest proof of his love--he gave us himself in the Holy Eucharist.

The Last Supper was the most significant meal of Jesus and the most important. In this meal, Jesus identifies the bread as his body and the cup as his blood. This was announced by Jesus earlier in Capernaum and satisfied at the Last Supper.

Jesus desired to show us the greatest proof of his love for us by leaving us himself in the Holy Eucharist. At the very time men were betraying him and preparing to put him to death, Jesus, our loving Redeemer, chose to leave us this gift of the Holy Eucharist--he wanted to pour out his love beyond his life on the cross. He wished to pour out to us all the riches of his love, by leaving himself for our food in the holy communion.

God became the food of his very creatures.

In the Eucharist, God reminds us of His love and His individual attention to our very own needs. Each of us can partake in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, everyone of us can become the body of Christ--we are joined not only with Him but with one another. We become what we eat, we inherit his peace and love so that we are filled with his peace and no matter what we face we know we live in him and he lives in us.

Each one of us is a prayer that only God can understand.

We find such great comfort in having Jesus alive in us and in others. Each time we receive the Eucharist we grow closer to the Lord. The Eucharist, the living body and blood of Christ, opens our eyes to God and helps us get closer to Him . Jesus said when we meet the needs of the poor, the forsaken, the thirsty, the lost and the abandoned, we are meeting him as we do in the Eucharist.

PRAYER:

It is our responsibility , as Catholics, to let others know that the living presence of the Body and Blood of Christ is in the Eucharist. Dear Lord, please show us how. Amen

Please pray the Prayer for Priests found on our website.

God Bless