Weekly Mass Discussion #39

!catholics !christians Happy Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ!

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First Reading

When Moses came to the people

and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD,

they all answered with one voice,

"We will do everything that the LORD has told us."

Moses then wrote down all the words of the LORD and,

rising early the next day,

he erected at the foot of the mountain an altar

and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

Then, having sent certain young men of the Israelites

to offer holocausts and sacrifice young bulls

as peace offerings to the LORD,

Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls;

the other half he splashed on the altar.

Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people,

who answered, "All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do."

Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying,

"This is the blood of the covenant

that the LORD has made with you

in accordance with all these words of his."

-Exodus 24:3-8

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Responsorial Psalm

R. (13) I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

or:

R. Alleluia.

How shall I make a return to the LORD

for all the good he has done for me?

The cup of salvation I will take up,

and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

or:

R. Alleluia.

Precious in the eyes of the LORD

is the death of his faithful ones.

I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;

you have loosed my bonds.

R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

or:

R. Alleluia.

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,

and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

My vows to the LORD I will pay

in the presence of all his people.

R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

or:

R. Alleluia.

-Psalms 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18

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Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

When Christ came as high priest

of the good things that have come to be,

passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle

not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation,

he entered once for all into the sanctuary,

not with the blood of goats and calves

but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

For if the blood of goats and bulls

and the sprinkling of a heifer's ashes

can sanctify those who are defiled

so that their flesh is cleansed,

how much more will the blood of Christ,

who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God,

cleanse our consciences from dead works

to worship the living God.

For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant:

since a death has taken place for deliverance

from transgressions under the first covenant,

those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.

-Hebrews 9:11-15

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Sequence

Lauda Sion

Laud, O Zion, your salvation,

Laud with hymns of exultation,

Christ, your king and shepherd true:

Bring him all the praise you know,

He is more than you bestow.

Never can you reach his due.

Special theme for glad thanksgiving

Is the quick'ning and the living

Bread today before you set:

From his hands of old partaken,

As we know, by faith unshaken,

Where the Twelve at supper met.

Full and clear ring out your chanting,

Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,

From your heart let praises burst:

For today the feast is holden,

When the institution olden

Of that supper was rehearsed.

Here the new law's new oblation,

By the new king's revelation,

Ends the form of ancient rite:

Now the new the old effaces,

Truth away the shadow chases,

Light dispels the gloom of night.

What he did at supper seated,

Christ ordained to be repeated,

His memorial ne'er to cease:

And his rule for guidance taking,

Bread and wine we hallow, making

Thus our sacrifice of peace.

This the truth each Christian learns,

Bread into his flesh he turns,

To his precious blood the wine:

Sight has fail'd, nor thought conceives,

But a dauntless faith believes,

Resting on a pow'r divine.

Here beneath these signs are hidden

Priceless things to sense forbidden;

Signs, not things are all we see:

Blood is poured and flesh is broken,

Yet in either wondrous token

Christ entire we know to be.

Whoso of this food partakes,

Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;

Christ is whole to all that taste:

Thousands are, as one, receivers,

One, as thousands of believers,

Eats of him who cannot waste.

Bad and good the feast are sharing,

Of what divers dooms preparing,

Endless death, or endless life.

Life to these, to those darnation,

See how like participation

Is with unlike issues rife.

When the sacrament is broken,

Doubt not, but believe ‘tis spoken,

That each sever'd outward token

doth the very whole contain.

Nought the precious gift divides,

Breaking but the sign betides

Jesus still the same abides,

still unbroken does remain.

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Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven,

says the Lord;

whoever eats this bread will live forever.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

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Gospel

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,

when they sacrificed the Passover lamb,

Jesus' disciples said to him,

"Where do you want us to go

and prepare for you to eat the Passover?"

He sent two of his disciples and said to them,

"Go into the city and a man will meet you,

carrying a jar of water.

Follow him.

Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house,

'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room

where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"'

Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.

Make the preparations for us there."

The disciples then went off, entered the city,

and found it just as he had told them;

and they prepared the Passover.

While they were eating,

he took bread, said the blessing,

broke it, gave it to them, and said,

"Take it; this is my body."

Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them,

and they all drank from it.

He said to them,

"This is my blood of the covenant,

which will be shed for many.

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."

Then, after singing a hymn,

they went out to the Mount of Olives.

-Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

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A few observations: The blood of bulls is used to seal the Old Covenant of the Israelites, while the blood of Christ is used to seal the New Covenant with all of humanity. The letter of Paul seems to back the theory that sin is made up for with sacrifice, and thus the sacrifice of Christ was necessary to make up for the collective sins of humanity. Jesus says in Mark that he will not drink wine again until he is in the kingdom of God, which is true. He is offered a sponge soaked in wine & vinegar during the Crucifixion but declines it.