Daily Catholic Mass Readings for June 18, 2017
Psalm 147
1Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!2The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel.3He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.4He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.5Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.6The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.7Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp.8He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.9He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.10His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man;11the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.12Extol the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion,13for he strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you.14He grants peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.15He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.16He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes.17He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast?18He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.19He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel.20He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws. Praise the LORD.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10.16-17
Gospel: John 6.51-59
51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Sermon
The readings today invite us to reflect on the profound mystery of the Eucharist, a sacrament that lies at the heart of our faith. In the Second Reading from 1 Corinthians, St. Paul reminds us that the bread we break and the cup we bless are not mere symbols but a true communion with the Body and Blood of Christ. This sacred meal unites us, though many, into one body, drawing us into the very life of Christ. In the Gospel, Jesus deepens this mystery, declaring Himself the living bread come down from heaven. He teaches that to have eternal life, we must eat His flesh and drink His blood, a teaching that puzzled His hearers but reveals the intimate union He desires with us.
The context of these readings is rooted in the early Christian community's understanding of the Eucharist as a source of unity and life. For the Corinthians, St. Paul emphasizes that the Eucharist is not just an individual act but a communal celebration that binds believers together. In John's Gospel, Jesus' discourse on the Bread of Life occurs after the miracle of the loaves, where He fed the multitude physically, now revealing that He is the true bread that satisfies the deepest hungers of the soul. Both readings highlight the Eucharist as a gift that transcends the physical, offering spiritual nourishment and eternal life.
As we apply these readings to our daily lives, we are reminded that the Eucharist is not just a ritual but a call to live as the Body of Christ in the world. Receiving Communion should transform us, enabling us to see Christ in one another and to serve Him in the poorest and most vulnerable. The moral lesson is clear: the Eucharist is a gift of unity and life, calling us to live in communion with God and with each other. May we approach the altar with reverence and gratitude, allowing the power of the Eucharist to shape our hearts and our actions, that we may truly be the Body of Christ for the world.