"At His Feet: Devoted Love"
"An Intercessor's Eucharistic Appetite"
On the evening
before he was to die, Jesus gathered with his Apostles in the large, upper room
of a house in the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover meal. There, he
said, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with
you before I suffer" (Luke 22:15). This particular celebration of the
Passover meal will be like no other; for, it is his "Last Supper". At this
ritual meal Jesus, by his sovereign
authority as Son of God, will transform the Passover remembrance of the
Exodus event of the Old Testament into "The Lord's Supper": "See, I am doing
something new!" (Is. 43:19) As Jesus blesses ordinary bread and wine, he gives
them "the eternal value of his redemptive death" for the world that will occur on the following day ("Good
Friday") (Dictionary of Biblical Theology, p. 147). For now on, whenever
the Eucharist is celebrated, hidden within the food of bread and wine is the
richness of his sacrificial death as Victim for our sins. Do I have a deep,
spiritual hunger for a "hidden life" of prayer with the Victim Lamb?
The "eager desire" of Jesus expressed
in this passage refers to several realities: His insatiable longing to
fulfill his "Paschal purpose" in the world for the "life of the world". He will
accomplish this by the voluntary offering of his life in obedience to the
Father. One might say that hidden within every holy communion is the obedient,
sacrificial, Love of Jesus for the Father. Do I have such a driven hunger to
please the Father in everything? We also note the words, "with you".
Jesus has a "Eucharistic yearning": 1)to be with us; 2)to offer for us;
3)and to unite us to his offering to the Father. In the Eucharist, we are joined
with Jesus on the altar of the cross, and are united to his intercession
for the salvation of the world. St. Paul reminds us:
"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in
the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in
the body of Christ?"
(1 Co. 10:16)
The word, participate, means 'to take part in; to share in'.
Part of the greeting prayer of Palm Sunday reads:
"Being made by his grace partakers of the cross, we may have a
share also in his Resurrection and in his life"
(Roman Missal, p. 132).
The Lamb, the Bridegroom, desires to share his life and
offering most intimately with his Bride, the Church--to the extent that we
become one offering with him--united with his perfect offering to the Father!
As he blesses ordinary bread and wine, Jesus
gives them new meaning. He changes them; He proclaims:
"This is my body, which will be given for you, do this in memory
of me…And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the New
Covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you"
(Luke 22:19B,20).
Intercessors need to hear these words, "for you", as
spoken personally and intimately to us by Jesus. Only by internalizing these
words in the depths of our hearts can we then in turn say to the world, "for
you"--as a desire to pray and offer our lives in union with the Lamb for
the world.
This "true
food"(The Eucharistic Body) and "true drink"(The Eucharistic Blood) of the
Eucharistic Body and Blood of the True Lamb unite intercessors in an intimate
communion with Jesus and should awaken a fervent "Eucharistic appetite", and
cultivate a rich "paschal perspective" within one's heart:
"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him"
(John 6:56)
In this mutual
indwelling Jesus unites us to himself and to his offering for the "life of the
world".
St. Ignatius,
the bishop of Antioch (bishop and martyr) is one of the great, passionate
lovers of Jesus in the early Church. St. Ignatius suffered martyrdom during the
time of the Roman persecutions. On his
way to Rome to be martyred, he wrote several letters to various Churches. In
one letter he writes: "My desire is to belong to God"; "Do not talk about Jesus
Christ as long as you love this world"; "There is no yearning in me for any
earthly thing"; "I no longer take pleasure in perishable food or in the
delights of the world"; "I want only God's bread, which is the flesh of Jesus
Christ, formed of the seed of David, and for drink I crave his blood,
which is love that cannot perish" (LH, vol. IV, p. 1491). Such a "voracious
spiritual thirst" can only come from a deep communion with the Lamb. Do I have
such a "paschal palate"? St. Ignatius believed that the immense, sacrificial
Love of Jesus endures forever. Ignatius had the heart of an intercessor. From
his fiery, intense union with Jesus, Ignatius "offered". He had truly become a
branch on the Vine, planted firmly in the love of Jesus (LH. Vol. III, p.
1074), and his death bore tremendous fruit for the Church.
Questions:
1) Do I have a rich Eucharistic spirituality in my life?
2) What is my current perspective (image) of the world today?
Scriptures:
Any scripture in the text; John 6:51B; John 6:53; John
6:55-56; John 6:57B; 1Co. 10:16-17; 1 Co. 11:23-25
