Today\u2019s readings present key texts that highlight the importance of the Eucharistic meal that Jesus
established as a memorial of the gift of himself. Our communion with Christ present in the Eucharist is food for our spiritual growth and should also serve as the basis of our union with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Genesis 14:18-20<\/strong> The first of today\u2019s readings was chosen because of its mention of the bread and In ancient times priests functioned as go-betweens on behalf of the people before their god In addition, the king serves as a go-between acting on behalf of his people before God and mediating God\u2019s will to the people. In this capacity the king acts as a priest, since the very nature of priesthood was to function as a bridge-builder (Latin: pontifex) between the people and their god. This psalm declares the king to be a priest like Melchizedek. The most likely allusion here is to the mysterious nature of Melchizedek\u2019s priesthood, which was associated with high spirituality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Corinthians 11:21-26<\/strong> This extract from Paul\u2019s first letter to the Corinthians tells us that things were not going well in the Christian community in Corinth. Paul had to address a number of areas that needed straightening out and in chapter 11, from which this reading comes, Paul expressed serious disappointment that abuses were taking place at the celebration of the Lord\u2019s Supper. When Christians gathered for the Eucharistic meal, usually at night when everyone could get away from work, they came to the house of the host or hostess and they participated in the memorial meal in a spirit of unity or communion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It turns out that the Corinthian community, amounting to about 40 or so people, were divided into social groups. This would have been a natural thing in a Greco-Roman city where the richer classes never mixed with the poor folk. We learn from Paul\u2019s letter that the rich arrived early for the Lord\u2019s Supper and by the time the workers arrived some of the rich people were already a few sheets to the wind. Paul is saying that taking part in the Lord\u2019s Supper when drunk is really making a mockery of the Eucharistic meal. He also added that some of the poor members of the community did not get enough to eat at the community meal while others ate to excess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus urged his followers to remember him when they gathered in unity to eat a meal<\/strong> Luke 9:11-17<\/strong> The gospel reading is Luke\u2019s version of the feeding of the crowd that came to hear A situation arose when the day drew on and the people needed to take time out to eat. The disciples urged Jesus to send the people away but when Jesus suggested the disciples themselves should provide food for everyone all that could be found were five loaves and two fish. Luke tells us they were near the town of Bethsaida which is Aramaic for \u2018house of fishing,\u2019 so it is not surprising that there were some fish to be had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We notice that Luke is using a typical exaggeration to estimate the size of the crowd. It would be hard to imagine how five thousand people could gather near Bethsaida. Five thousand would account for the total population of the surrounding region leaving no one left at home or in the workplace. Moreover, Jesus could not possibly have made himself heard in the open-air speaking to a crowd of five thousand. In truth, the number does not matter, and we could safely say there were \u2018lots\u2019 of people there. The point, of course, is that Jesus provides spiritual food for everybody, numbers beyond counting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In typical Jewish fashion Jesus blessed the food and gave it to the disciples to distribute. He very probably used a traditional Jewish grace which went: \u2018Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the world, who brings forth bread from the earth\u2019. How the crowd were fed we will never know in detail. One thing is certain, Luke does not say there suddenly appeared a mountain of bread and fish. All he says is there was enough food to go around and there were even 12 baskets of leftover scraps. Nobody ever asks where the baskets came from! We see here that the disciples are unable to resolve the problem of providing for the people until Jesus is asked to step in and show the way. With Jesus they were able to achieve what they could not do on their own. Jesus took the limited resources and gave them back to the people in such a way that all were fed. And that is the point \u2013 everybody was fed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Communion means being one with Christ and one with those around us Notice he does not say that he is also the fish of life. The point is that bread in Aramaic (lakhma) is also a generic word for food, i.e., nourishment, sustenance. Jesus is the critical nourishment for our spiritual life and on today\u2019s feast we focus particularly on the spiritual nourishment we get from partaking in the Eucharist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is worth keeping in mind that Paul also insisted that sharing in Eucharist means being one with Christ and one with the community around us. Eucharist is not solely a \u2018Jesus and me\u2019 experience; it is a communion with Jesus Christ and with each other. Paul told the Corinthians that they were making a mockery of the body and blood of Christ when they were ignoring or being unmindful of their fellow Christians. John says, \u2018those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen\u2019 (1 John 4:20). The sign of peace at our celebration is an excellent prelude to our communion \u2013 one way of fostering community awareness and filling our community gathering with welcoming hospitality, forgiveness and peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ~~~<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. ~~~<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Paddy: Uh-oh! I just did an illegal U-turn. by Laurie Woods<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s readings present key texts that highlight the importance of the Eucharistic meal that Jesusestablished as a memorial of the gift of himself. Our communion with Christ present in the Eucharist is food for our spiritual growth and should also serve as the basis of our union with one another. Genesis 14:18-20 The first of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":27864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[38,45,26,44,24,55,8,32,50,41,25,51,34,54,47,31,42,39,48,46,52,40,37,35,28,43,53,36,27,33,29],"class_list":["post-27863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter","tag-ancient-wisdom","tag-contemplative-prayer","tag-enlightenment","tag-guided-meditation","tag-inner-peace","tag-introspection","tag-lectio-divina","tag-lectio-divina-for-beginners","tag-life-transformation","tag-meditation-guide","tag-meditation-mastery","tag-meditation-tips","tag-mindfulness","tag-mindfulness-meditation","tag-mindfulness-practices","tag-mindfulness-techniques","tag-personal-development","tag-reflect-and-transform","tag-reflective-living","tag-sacred-reading","tag-self-discovery","tag-self-help","tag-soulful-journey","tag-soulful-living","tag-spiritual-awakening","tag-spiritual-growth","tag-spiritual-guide","tag-spiritual-insights","tag-spiritual-practice","tag-spiritual-reflection","tag-transformative-journey"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/fish-bread-3b8dbx.jpg",973,697,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/fish-bread-3b8dbx-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/fish-bread-3b8dbx-300x215.jpg",300,215,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/fish-bread-3b8dbx-768x550.jpg",768,550,true],"large":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/fish-bread-3b8dbx.jpg",973,697,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/fish-bread-3b8dbx.jpg",973,697,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/fish-bread-3b8dbx.jpg",973,697,false],"menu-24x24":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/fish-bread-3b8dbx-24x17.jpg",24,17,true],"menu-36x36":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/fish-bread-3b8dbx-36x26.jpg",36,26,true],"menu-48x48":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/fish-bread-3b8dbx-48x34.jpg",48,34,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Laurie Woods","author_link":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/?author=18"},"uagb_comment_info":1,"uagb_excerpt":"Today\u2019s readings present key texts that highlight the importance of the Eucharistic meal that Jesusestablished as a memorial of the gift of himself. Our communion with Christ present in the Eucharist is food for our spiritual growth and should also serve as the basis of our union with one another. Genesis 14:18-20 The first of…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27865,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27863\/revisions\/27865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
wine offered by the Jebusite king Melchizedek to the patriarch Abraham. The latter had heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, along with his people and possessions, and he headed north with a force of 318 men to rescue the unfortunate captives. Abraham won victory over the opposing kings and returned with Lot and his people to Salem, the Canaanite city that was later named Jerusalem when David established it as his capital. The Canaanite priest Melchizedek (Heb. my king is uprightness) greeted Abraham and gave him the blessing of his god El-Elyon. The point of the story may well be the legitimation of Jerusalem as a holy city going back as far as the time of Abraham.
Melchizedek\u2019s blessing was accompanied by the gift of bread and wine which were symbols of the
sharing that took place among friends at a meal. The bread and wine here stood for hospitality and a close relationship between two significant figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Psalm 109\/110<\/strong> The responsorial psalm is one of the royal psalms in which the king is appointed
and then invited to sit at the right hand of God, i.e., on the right-hand side of the Temple in Jerusalem (facing east). The psalm acknowledges that the king is appointed by God and rules his people in God\u2019s name. It also reiterates the tradition that the king of Israel is a son of God and is begotten, as it were, by God on the day of his coronation, as spelt out in Psalm 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As well as condemning this lack of true unity in the community Paul reminded the Corinthians of the
sacredness of the Lord\u2019s Supper and in our reading for today we find him repeating the words of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. In effect, he is reiterating the Christian tradition regarding Jesus\u2019 institution of the Eucharist as a memorial meal. We can see that when this letter was written, around 52 A.D., the account of Christ\u2019s action and words at the Last Supper had already become a liturgical formula. It is clear that Jesus was conscious of not having any offspring to continue his memory. A Jewish man of Jesus\u2019 time would aspire to have his name carried on by his children but having no children Jesus could only hope that his legacy would be carried on by his disciples. He urged his followers to remember him, his mission and his teachings when they gathered in unity to eat a meal. This memorial meal was always referred to in the earliest Christian communities as the Lord\u2019s Supper. Paul is saying that when we \u2018eat the bread and drink the cup\u2019 we not only remember Christ\u2019s death, but we rejoice in the fact that it was an act of self-sacrifice for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus speak. Luke opens his account by saying that Jesus welcomed the people \u2013 another familiar statement of Luke who emphasises the importance of hospitality in his gospel. He draws attention to Jesus\u2019 way of welcoming people and making them feel at home in his presence. It was not Jesus\u2019 intention to address the people since he was trying to have a rest with his companions, but when people came he did not turn them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Luke\u2019s message is that we will all be fed with the spiritual nourishment that is necessary for life if we allow Christ to take us along. \u2018I am the bread of life,\u2019 he said, \u2018you who come to me shall not hunger.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Albert Einstein<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike: That\u2019s OK. The police car behind you did the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n