17 September 2018
Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
The letter of the Corinthians contains an important admonition of Paul about the Eucharist. In this letter Paul retells the history of the event at the last supper and the words of Jesus who identified the blessed bread and wine as his body and blood. Much has been written on the Eucharist, but as Catholics, our foundational reading about the Real presence is rooted, not only in the deposit of faith handed on by the apostles, but in the very words of scripture themselves. From the community that observed the life, death and were witnesses to the resurrected Lord, came the importance of the Real Presence in the Eucharist described both in the scriptures and in tradition. As my college students would say….this is like huge. The immensity of the Eucharist in our faith defies simple categories and concepts. Perhaps today’s reading calls us to reflect on the truth that the Real Presence in the Eucharist has been with the family from the beginning and will help form that family for years to come.