The Holy Myrrh-bearer and Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene; Return of the Relics of the Priest-Martyr Phocas
1 Corinthians 10:12-22; Matthew 16:20-24
Read 1 Corinthians 10:12-22
Today, St. Paul gives some beautiful insights into the meaning of the Holy Eucharist. He emphasizes that we who receive the Eucharist are united to Christ by partaking of His Holy Body and Precious Blood. In other words, we become partakers of the Divine Nature of God, who is Love, every time we receive Holy Communion. He advocates for the real presence of Christ in the Holy Sacrament for if it was merely a symbol why would the Lord be provoked to jealousy when the Corinthians ate food offered to idols.
St. John Chrysostom comments on the ‘one bread’ pointing out that it also makes manifest the spiritual reality of the oneness of the Church: “the body of Christ is not many bodies, but one body. For just as the bread, which consists of many grains, is made one to the point that the separate grains are no longer visible, even though they are still there, so we are joined to each other and to Christ.” (NPNF 1 12:140). If this is the case, then not only are we united to God through Christ Jesus but also to each other. The many individual grains of wheat retain their presence in the bread but are so united that they become difficult to distinguish. By partaking of the Body we become part of the Body, one united to another. Our unity of love, one to another, should be made manifest in such a way that it reflects the oneness of the Eucharistic Bread. This is how the Early Church lived and so should we strive to follow their example.