Today we heard the Gospel of Saint Mark’s account of the feeding of the multitude. This feeding of the multitude serves not as the first Eucharist, but as an anticipation of it. Therefore Christ finds those who are hungry and gives them something to eat. This hunger is not simply bodily, but it also concerns the wellbeing of their soul. Despite this great miracle and thus the gift which was worked in their presence we are sadly told in the 66th verse of the 6th chapter of the Gospel of Saint John: “after this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him.”
For us we have the opportunity to behold the great gift which is Christ present with us in the Eucharist. As the Israelites wondered about the desert lost and hungry they were given bread which came down from Heaven in order to give them their fill not only bodily, but spiritually in order that they may not turn back, but continue onward towards the Promised Land. So too with the feeding of the multitude which fed them bodily as well as spiritually. Now, through Christ, we encounter something which is so much greater then either of these gifts for we physically have the opportunity to receive Christ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
On that blessed day when this miracle concerning the multitude was accomplished there were those who devoted their life fully to Christ, there were also those who hovered in the middle of concern, and worse yet those who decided to draw back and no longer go about with Him. So too when we have the opportunity to receive our Lord in such an intimate way do we find those who devote their life to Christ, those who move back and forth, and sadly those who abandon Him in pursuit of the world.
If we were able to receive communion in the normal way I would pray over each communicant: “Corpus Domini Nostri Iesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam, Amen.” In English: “May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul unto life everlasting. Amen.” Truly we should strive for eternal life and through our heartfelt reception of the Eucharist we are given food for this journey.
Therefore, we must treat this opportunity to receive our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion with complete concern. Before we go unto the altar of God let us make a proper examination of conscience. Let us not be led to believe that we have the right to receive this sacrament no matter the state of our soul. As is said in Saint Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.”
As God poured forth bread for the Israelites and Christ multiplied the loaves and fish for the multitude, so to we have the opportunity to receive something far greater. We have the opportunity to receive Christ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. May the Eucharist come to preserve our soul unto life everlasting.
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