8 - Eucharist

THE EUCHARIST

The time has come to explore the greatest source of God's grace on Earth, the Eucharist. What we have learnt about from the covenant comes to perfection and completion in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is God's total gift of self to you. It is Jesus' body, soul and divinity in the appearance of bread. It is true food of our soul. The key to making the Eucharist alive is to give yourself to God through it. God gives everything to us and invites us to do the same. We should give everything to God, all our sin, hopes, dreams, possessions, friends, family, our will, heart, soul, body, our very selves. Through this gift of self to God, this submission to God, we come into union and communion. This is an action of the heart particularly when we receive. To open our heart and invite Jesus in to every part of our lives and share all with Him. As we share, his love enters through us into every aspect of our lives. This love poured into our hearts overflows out through us into the world.

Day 1: Summary of Jesus teaching and the Mission of the Twelve Mk 6:6b-13

All that Jesus can do he shared with the Apostles. They could heal, preach and cast out demons. This shows leadership. At some point we must start to actually do what Jesus did. What is Jesus asking you to do?

Day 2: Who is Jesus? Herod's opinion about Jesus Mk 6:14-29

Herod though Jesus was John the Baptist raised to life. We have a contrast here with Peter's declaration (which we will examine next week). This is a sad passage in Mark's gospel. It would have remineded Jesus of his own impending death. But there is humour at work here - John will be raised eventually and Jesus is the resurrection. So in the midst of this hardship is the promise of the resurrection. Sometimes life is hard and dark. A bit of humor can help along the way, but hope can take us the whole journey.

Day 3 Feeding the Five Thousand Mk 6:30-46 and The Four Thousand Mk 8:1-10

Five loaves and two fish. Our meager efforts are like that, so small, but in the hands of Jesus, they are multiplied.

Day 4 Jesus Walking on the Water Mk 6:47-52

"Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid." Jesus can quite literally do anything. He is Lord of heaven and Earth. He is also humble and relies upon us. Sometimes our 'boat' our life is a struggle. By spending a little time in prayer we allow Jesus to come into our boat and encourage us. Prayer is so important.

Day 5 Unwashed Hands Mk 6:53 - 7:13 and things which Defile Mk 7:14-23

We have already explored how the Pharisees viewed the law and used it to work out who was 'in' and who was 'out'. What are our rules for good and bad? How do we judge people? Are we ready to just accept others as they are, like Jesus?

Day 6 The Children and the Dogs Mk 7:24-30 The Deaf-and-Dumb Man Mk 7:31-37

Jesus is cheeky. He can play tricks with us, but for a purpose. He wants us to grow in faith. Sometimes we have to keep asking, keep trusting and we will be rewarded.

Again Jesus performs a miracle, and tries to keep it secret. But to no avail. Jesus healed anyway. He did not let peer pressure stop him from doing the right thing. So must we.

Day 7 The Leaven of the Pharisees Mk 8:11-16 and Lack of Understanding of disciples Mk 8:17-21

We now have the crux of this section. They have one loaf of bread in the boat. But later they say they have none. Jesus is the loaf of bread. This is an allusion to the Eucharist. That Jesus is the Eucharist. This miracle of multiplication is a preparation for a deeper understanding of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is a great a miracle. The bread actually turns into Jesus. If Jesus can multiply the bread, he can turn himself into bread. If we give away Jesus, Jesus is multiplied. If we hold Jesus to ourselves he will go stale in our hearts. Who should you share Jesus with today?