"He broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd."

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

Genesis 14:18-20

Then Melchizedek,

King of Salem, brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High,  and he blessed Abram saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth!   And blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hands!”  And Abram gave him a tenth part of everything.

 

Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4,

You are priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

 

    ＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

 This is the tradition of the Lord that I received and that in my turn I have handed on to you; the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was delivered up, took bread and,   after giving thanks, broke it, saying, “This is my body which is broken for you; do this in memory of me.”   

In the same manner, taking the cup after the supper, he said, “This cup is the new Covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of me.”   So, then, whenever you eat of this bread and drink from this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord until he comes.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 9:11b-17

So he welcomed them, and began speaking about kingdom of God, curing those who needed healing.

 The day was drawing to a close and the Twelve drew near to tell him, “Send the crowd away and let them go into the villages and farms around, to find lodging and food, for we are here in a lonely place.”   But Jesus replied, “You yourselves give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves and two fish; do you want us to go and buy food enough for all this crowd?”   For there were about five thousand men. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Make people sit down in groups of fifties.”

 

So they made all of them settle down.   Jesus then took the five loaves and two fish, and raising his eyes to heaven, pronounced a blessing over them; he broke them and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd.   They ate and everyone had enough; and when they gathered up what was left, twelve baskets were filled with broken pieces.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Corpus Christi

Read:

King and priest Melchizedek offers up bread and wine. In Paul, we have the earliest account of the institution of the Eucharist. Jesus feeds about five thousand men.

Reflect:

The Feast of Corpus Christi affirms the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist – a scandal for many, but a core experience of faith for the believer. Writing on the Real Presence, Flannery O’Connor, a thoroughbred catholic story teller, recalls an encounter with another author, a fallen-away catholic:

“[She]said that when she was a child and received the Host, she thought of it as the Holy Ghost, He being the ‘most portable ’person of the Trinity; now she thought of it as a symbol and implied that it was a pretty good one. I then said, in a very shaky voice, “Well, if it’s symbol, to hell with it.”

That was all the defense I was capable of but I realize now that this is all will ever be able to say about it, outside of a story, except that it is the center of existence for me; all the rest of life is expendable.”

Pray:

For an unshakable faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

Act:

Today, tend to the Corpus Christi in the body of a needy person.