Today we are sharing in the communion meal that Jesus asked us to share in.
Do you know that there are many similarities between the accounts of Jesus sharing communion and when he shared food with the hungry crowds?
In Matthew, Mark and Luke’s gospels Jesus is described doing four things before sharing the bread. They say he He took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it.
In their stories of Jesus’ feeding the crowds, the authors use the very same words. In Luke, for example, we read, “Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to set before the crowd” (Luke 9:16).
Let’s remember the feeding of the crowds meal now before we share in communion..
Play clip – Jesus feeds the crowd https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uupg0V-17NU
I wonder what you like most about that meal?
…The stories of Jesus feeding the hungry crowds can deepen our appreciation of how Jesus feeds us with communion..
when Jesus got off the boat the big crowd “ his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34).
..Mark’s words describe the tenderness and love that motivate Jesus’ to do this miracle.
It is with the same pity and the same purpose that Jesus feeds his people when we come to communion. Communion is a gift of merciful love. Every time we receive the bread and wine and remember the Lord in this special meal, Jesus acts as the Good Shepherd, gathering each of one of us..into his sheepfold..
Let’s eat the bread now, that reminds us of Jesus’ body and the tenderness and love of our good shepherd who gave his life for us his sheep.
And remember how Jesus gave his friends a job?
When Jesus saw the hungry crowds he said..
There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves” (Matt 14:16). With these words, Jesus gave his disciples the work of feeding the crowds. Jesus could have done this without their help. Nevertheless, Jesus’ wanted to involve them in his miraculous feeding. In the same way, Jesus wants to involve us in feeding his people .. and bringing them to the communion table.
Lets drink the wine now, that reminds us of Jesus life poured out for everyone. Let’s be strengthened for the work of caring for people.
Some ideas from Fr. Jonah Pollock, O.P., Associate Director, Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York
