First Reading Commentary
In
this Reading we see some of the rituals of the covenant with Moses and the
people of Israel. Perhaps today it is
more often referred to as the “Old Covenant.”
In this covenant animals were sacrificed which prefigures the Sacrifice
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The book of
the covenant was read aloud to the people so that they could all hear what the
Lord expected of them.
Blood
sprinkled on the people was symbolic. It
was a reminder to the people of Israel to heed the commands of the Lord or it
could be their blood that was spilled – a fate, actually an act of love, which
God’s own Son fulfilled. At this point
we can almost anticipate the infinite love that God would reveal to His
people. As the people of Israel are
reminded that their blood could be spilled if they defy the Lord, we now
realize that God in His infinite justice, mercy and love for us did indeed
allow Blood to be shed because of the sinfulness of His people; but the Blood
that was shed was His own.
When
we commit sin we distance ourselves from God; and it seems just that we should
receive some sort of punishment for our failings. But now what we need to do is repent and
confess our sins because God made a decision which revealed His infinite love
for us when He became Man and took upon Himself the punishment that deservedly
should be ours. This is not, however, an invitation to abuse His love by
haphazardly committing sin thinking that the Sacrament of Penance is a quick
fix. No, there must also be a sincere
conversion of the heart as well.
Jesus
Christ sacrificed Himself as payment for our sins in what is now known as the
“New Covenant.” And it is not only a
“New Covenant,” but an “Everlasting Covenant” as well. This was the ultimate and supreme
Sacrifice. Nothing else will ever take
the place of the Sacrifice of Jesus. And
so we can say that God is indeed a just God because a price had to be paid; but
we can also say that He is a loving and merciful God because He paid the price
for us.
Second Reading Commentary
“The
good things that have come to be” is referring to heaven and eternal life. In the old covenant the priests passed
through a tabernacle made by human hands.
Jesus is the “perfect Tabernacle” and this Tabernacle, as Saint John
Chrysostom puts it, is framed by the Holy Spirit.
It
is not the “blood of goats and bulls” that can redeem us; but it is the Blood
of the Lord Himself that has restored our relationship with God.
In
the old covenant there were both priests and victims for sacrifices. Jesus was both Priest and Victim and His
Sacrifice has won for us eternal redemption, something that could not be
achieved in the old covenant. In the old
covenant, once a year the high priest atoned for the sins of the people in what
was called the “Day of Atonement”.
Christ’s Sacrifice is eternal; time has no value. His Sacrifice does not need to be repeated
every year. At Mass, every time the
priest says the words of Consecration, Christ is not being sacrificed all over
again as if He needed to be sacrificed every Sunday or daily. No, Christ’s Sacrifice is eternal and at Mass
that eternal Sacrifice is being re-presented.
When
we speak or think about eternal things or eternity, it is difficult for our
minds to comprehend this because we live in the limits of time and space. But when we are at Mass and the priest says
the words of Consecration, we are, at that moment, at Calvary in the shadow of
the Cross because the Sacrifice is eternal and has no boundaries of time and
space; and it is that eternal Sacrifice of Jesus that has rewarded us with “the
promised eternal inheritance.”
Gospel Commentary
In
the first half of this Gospel, preparations are being made for the
Passover. Jesus tells His disciples, where
to go, what to do, and what to say; and everything happens as He said it
would. Perhaps this part of the story is
included so that all the hearers and readers would be more easily convinced
that Jesus was indeed the One Whose coming was foretold by all the
prophets. Jesus knew that the disciples
would meet up with “a man carrying a jar of water.” Who else but God could know in advance such
details?
“Where
do you want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” This
verse seems insignificant but Saint Jerome says that by these words the
disciples teach us to direct our every step according to the will of God.
“While
they were eating, He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to
them, and said, ‘Take it; this is My Body.’” In Saint John’s Gospel,
chapter 6 Jesus says, “The bread that I shall give is My Flesh,” but the Flesh
is not seen by us because of our infirmity; for if we were allowed to actually
see the Flesh and Blood of Jesus, it is highly unlikely that we would ever
approach the Altar of the Lord. Our
Lord, therefore, completely understanding our weakness, preserves the
appearance of bread and wine, but changes them into His Body, Blood, Soul, and
Divinity.
Saint
John Chrysostom, in his sermon on the treason of Judas explains, “Christ is
also now present to adorn our table, the same that was present to adorn that
table. For it is not man that causes the
elements to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but the very Christ, the same
that was crucified for us. The priest
stands as His delegated authority, and pronounces the words, but the power and
grace is of God. He says, this is My
Body, and the Word changes the elements.
These words of Consecration, once spoken, constitute an absolute,
perfect Sacrifice upon every altar of the Church from that day to this, even to
the time when Christ shall come again at the last day.”
“This
is My Blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” These words are so explicit
that it is difficult to find any other meaning than a literal translation. They are designed to speak of the memorial of
Christ’s Passion and death.
“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.” This “vine,” as Saint Bede the Venerable explains,
represents the synagogue or house of Israel; and of this vine Christ drank for
some time.
The
Church offers daily this banquet of the Body and Blood of Christ; and of this
banquet Saint Thomas Aquinas writes, “How precious and wonderful is this
banquet, which brings us salvation and is full of all delight! What could be more precious? At this meal Christ, the true God, is set
before us for us to eat. What could be
more wonderful than this Sacrament? No
Sacrament contributes more to our salvation than this; for it purges away our
sins, increases our virtues, and nourishes our minds with an abundance of all
the spiritual gifts. It is offered in
the Church for the living and the dead, so that it may be beneficial to all, as
it was instituted for the salvation of all.”
And the Angelic
Doctor also teaches us: “Since it was the will of God’s only-begotten Son that
men should share in His Divinity, He assumed our nature in order that by
becoming Man He might make men gods. Moreover,
when He took our flesh He dedicated the whole of its substance to our
salvation. He offered His Body to God
the Father on the Altar of the Cross as a sacrifice for our reconciliation. He shed His Blood for our ransom and
purification, so that we might be redeemed from our wretched state of bondage
and cleansed from all sin. But to ensure
that the memory of so great a gift would abide with us forever, He left His
Body as Food and His Blood as Drink for the faithful to consume in the form of
Bread and Wine.”
