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Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Year B, June 18, 2006

First reading, Exodus 24:3-8

The Historical Background: This year's readings for this feast emphasize the theme of blood. Ancient peoples sealed covenants with the blood of ritually sacrificed animals.

When Moses recited "all the words and ordinances of the Lord," he was stating the Covenant that God wanted to make with Israel. It came down to this: "I will be your God, you will be my people, and this is how you'll behave as you live out this covenant."

Proclaiming It: Note that both the first and second paragraphs end with the people's hearty assent to the covenant. Emphasize those with your voice in your reading. And in the last paragraph, emphasize "covenant" again.

Second Reading, Hebrews 9:11-15

The Theological Background: Among the earliest Christians were some Jews who, rather promptly after accepting Jesus, were kicked out of synagogue. The Letter to the Hebrews was written for their benefit, to help them cope with the loss of things Jewish like priesthood, tabernacle, sanctuary and ritual sacrifices. The letter's strategy is to convince the reader that Jesus and our relationship with him take the place of, and are superior to, the older Jewish institutions.

In the first ten verses of chapter 9 the letter details the worship space and priestly rituals of the old covenant. Then, in the verses of our selection, it contrasts Christ's role as unique priest in the heavenly temple of the new covenant. Every sentence bespeaks a difference between what Jesus has established and what had gone before.

Proclaiming It: So to do justice to this passage in your proclamation, use strong contrast in your voice to show how our covenant in Christ contrasts with the old covenant. The sentences are complex and call for careful rehearsal. You might try reading this aloud to a friend or family member. Don't let your hearer read the passage; they should hear it from you first. Then ask him or her what they heard. Their incomprehension should spur you to try again, slower, with more contrast and expression.

Here are specific contrasts in this reading:

A Homily Starter, based on today's second reading:

The Letter to the Hebrews is about being stripped of the things that made you comfortable, and finding how Christ takes their place. The argument in today's verses is, to be frank, tortuous. But we accept it as inspired. Maybe that means we have to be very creative in figuring out how to let Christ take the place of the now absent comforts in our life as a church.

Segue to the Eucharistic meal: Jesus could have made any ritual the sacrament of communion with him. He could have said "In memory of me, tie blue ribbons around your heads, hold hands in a circle, and chant my name. Then I'll be truly present in your midst, body and blood, soul and divinity." Had he said so, we would believe it, and do it, and it would work. It would only seem strange to the first generation, just as Jesus' presence in the ritual meal seemed strange to the first generation who tried to comprehend it (remembered in John 6:41-69).

So why did he choose the meal as the sacramental sign of his union with us? Well, when you're stripped of anything to eat, you begin to miss it pretty quickly. Physical hunger, with its debilitating effects when it's prolonged, is a most vivid sign of what it's like not to have God in your life and to be excommunicated from the community of believers. When you're really hungry, that's the only thing you can think of. Just as the meal is the perfect relief from hunger, union with Jesus and the community of believers is the perfect relief of our spiritual ills. And the Eucharistic meal is the perfect sign of that satisfaction. (This is the reason that fasting before communion is, or could be again, part of the ritual action.)
Several other commentaries on these passages. All are thoughtful, all quite readable, from the scholarly to the popular.
Links may be incomplete more than a few weeks before the "due date."
Columns by Father Roger Karban covering these readings, from 1997, from 2000, and from 2003.

Thanks to The Evangelist, newspaper of the Diocese of Albany, New York, USA, for syndicating and archiving the columns by Father Karban, a priest of the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois, USA.

Weekly column of Father Francis X. Cleary, S.J., courtesy of the Saint Louis Review.
The Text This Week; links to homilies, art works, movies and other resources on the week's scripture themes Saint Louis University's excellent new site for liturgy
Most welcome here are Reginald Fuller's commentaries.
(Caveat lector as of May 27, 2006. Lector's Notes' author is speculating about the exact URL of SLU's June 18 offering, since it's not yet posted. If you get a 404 Not Found, try here).

The Lectionary selections in the frame at the left, if any, are there for your convenience. The publishers of the page in that frame have no connection, except for membership in the one Body of Christ, with the publisher of this page. Likewise the publishers of the pages on the links above.

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Last modified: Sat May 27 16:29:13 CDT 2006