Corpus Christi Sunday
Reading I: Genesis 14:18-20 II: 1Cor 11:23-26

¹¹ When the crowds learned it, they followed him; and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing.
¹² Now the day began to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him, "Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place."
¹³ But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish--unless we are to go and buy food for all these people."
¹⁴ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, "Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each."
¹⁵ And they did so, and made them all sit down.
¹⁶ And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
¹⁷ And all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

• The feeding of five thousand is the only miracle recorded by all four gospels (Jn 6:1-15; Mt 14:13-21; Mk 6:32-44; Lk 9:11-17). This signifies the importance of this miracle, which foreshadows the Eucharist. The story begins with the return of the Twelve after their mission (9:10-11). Jesus wants to spend some private time with his disciples. But this is interrupted by the crowd. How does Jesus respond to this interruption?
• (v.11) He welcomes them, speaks to them about God's kingdom, and heals them. This is a concrete sign of his love.
• (v.13) "Why do you not give them something to eat yourselves? "The disciples are asked to participate in the caring and "feeding" of his people. It is fish and bread here. It may also be companionship, love, respect, forgiveness, etc. Yet the disciples cannot take care of the crowd alone. Jesus' presence is vital.
• (v.16) The wording here--took, blessed, broke, gave--draws our attention to the Last Supper and the Eucharist. The early Church celebrated the Eucharist by fusing the Passover liturgical prayers with a communal meal, the "agape" or love feast. However, in Corinth, it had gotten out of hand and the rich brought their own food and did not share it with those who had less. The meal, which should result in a closeness of Christians, became a means of division (1Cor 11:17-34).
• This feast is a duplication of the feast of the Eucharist celebrated on Holy Thursday, but without the sorrowful associations. In 1247 it was celebrated for the first time in Liege, Belgium, but was only extended to the whole Church in 1264 by Pope Urban IV. It took until 1317 to become genuinely popular. The Office and Mass for the feast are believed to have been composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, but his authorship has never been fully proved. The Corpus Christi procession seems to have appeared in Cologne in 1279, but only became popular in the whole of Europe a hundred years later.

Becoming one in Christ. Our participation in the Eucharistic Banquet signifies not only our oneness with Jesus Christ, but also our oneness with the guests at that banquet, our fellow parishioners, brothers and sisters, spiritual families.

1. Do I thirst for anything? What is it? What will satisfy my thirst?
2. What divides me from Christ, from others?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community