First Reading - Genesis 14:18-20
Second Reading - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel - Luke 9:11-17
In the first reading, we encounter Melchizedek, a mysterious priest-king who brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram. Though his appearance is brief, Melchizedek’s actions foreshadow the Eucharist: the offering of bread and wine, the blessing from a priest, and the thanksgiving to God Most High. This moment plants a seed—a sacred image that will later be fulfilled perfectly in Christ, the eternal High Priest, who offers Himself under the forms of bread and wine.
In the second reading, Paul hands on to the Corinthians the very heart of the Church’s life: the institution of the Eucharist. Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread and wine, gave thanks, and said, “This is my body… this is my blood… do this in remembrance of me.” Here we do not find merely a symbolic ritual, but a living memorial—a sacramental participation in the one sacrifice of Christ. Every time we gather for the Eucharist, we are not merely remembering something that happened two thousand years ago; we are stepping into it, receiving the same Christ, crucified and risen, who continues to give Himself completely to us.
The Gospel presents the multiplication of loaves and fish. Faced with a hungry crowd, the disciples are overwhelmed. They see only five loaves and two fish. But Jesus sees abundance where they see lack. He takes what little they have, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it—and it becomes more than enough. This miracle, too, points ahead to the Eucharist, where Jesus continues to take, bless, break, and give—not bread alone, but His very self. In the hands of Jesus, even the smallest offering becomes a banquet.
Dear friends, these readings converge to show us one great truth: God never leaves His people hungry. Whether it is Abram blessed with bread and wine, the disciples given the Body and Blood of the Lord, or a hungry crowd fed on a hillside, God provides. And His provision is not merely physical—it is deeply spiritual. The Eucharist satisfies the deepest hunger of the human heart: the hunger for love, for communion, for God.
But this feast also calls us to a response. Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” To "do this" is not just to repeat the ritual, but to live the mystery. Just as Jesus offers Himself to us in the Eucharist, we are called to offer ourselves to one another. Just as He feeds us, we are to feed the hungry—whether with food, time, compassion, or mercy. The Eucharist is not meant to remain locked in the tabernacle of the Church, but to overflow into the tabernacle of the world through our lives.
And so today, as we kneel before the altar, let us renew our amazement at this divine gift. The Eucharist is not a thing—it is a person. It is Jesus. He is truly present, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. He gives Himself fully, so that we may be filled with His life and become what we receive.
Let us pray, then, for a deep love of the Eucharist. May we never take it for granted. May we approach it with faith, reverence, and gratitude. And may our lives become a living Eucharist—blessed, broken, and shared for the life of the world.
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