The Eucharist: Divine Mercy enfleshed
In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Eucharist becomes all the more significant. In this special Year of Mercy, the Eucharistic presence of Jesus highlights more the fact that this Sacrament of love is really “a gift from God, a spiritual union binding us,” first and foremost to that eternal sacrificial love of Christ (Misericordiae Vultus, 22).
In his Bull of Indiction heralding the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Misericordiae Vultus, Pope Francis further explained that “while he [Jesus] was instituting the Eucharist as an everlasting memorial of himself and his paschal sacrifice, he symbolically placed this supreme act of revelation in the light of his mercy. Within the very same context of mercy, Jesus endured his passion and death, conscious of the great mystery of love that he would consummate on the Cross” (no. 7)
For Christ, consummate love meant “doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38). Christ’s consummate love led him to teach “in the synagogues” (Matt 4:23), “beside the sea” (Mark 4:1), “in their cities” (Matt 11:1) and “in the temple” (John 7:14). The list of Jesus’ miracles is absolutely impressive.
The curing of the nobleman’s son (John 4:46-47); the great haul of fishes (Luke 5:1-11); the casting out of an unclean spirit (Mark 1:23-28); the curing of Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever (Mark 1:30-31), the healing of a leper (Mark 1:40-45); the healing of the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:5-13); the raising of the widow’s son from the dead (Luke 7:1118); the stilling of the storm (Matthew 8:23-27); the curing of the two demoniacs (Matthew 8:28-34); the curing of the paralytic (Matt 9:1-8); the raising of the ruler’s daughter from the dead (Matt 9:1826); the curing of a woman with an issue of blood (Luke 8:4348); the opening of the eyes of two blind men (Matt 9:2731); the loosening of the tongue of a man who could not speak (Matt 9:32-33); the healing of an invalid man at the pool called Bethesda (John 5:1-9); the restoration of a withered hand (Matt 12:10-13); the curing of a demonpossessed man (Matt 12:22); the feeding of at least five thousand people (Matt 14:1521); the healing of a woman of Canaan (Matt 15:22-28); the curing of a deaf and mute man (Mark 7:31-37); the feeding of at least four thousand people (Matt 15:32-39); the opening of the eyes of a blind man (Mark 8:2226); the curing of a boy who was plagued by a demon (Matt 17:1421); the opening of the eyes of a man born blind (John 9:138); the curing of a woman who had been afflicted 18 years (Luke 13:10-17); the curing of a man of dropsy (Luke 14:1-4); the cleansing of 10 lepers (Luke 17:1119); the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:146); the opening of the eyes of two blind men (Matt 20:30-34); causing the fig tree to wither (Matt 21:18-22); restoring the ear of the high priest’s servant (Luke 22:50-51); Jesus’ raising from the dead (Luke 24:5-6) and the second great haul of fishes (John 21:1-14).
This unending list of miracles is calling you and me to do the same with our neighbour in distress. As Pope Francis said in his weekly Angelus address on 7th June 2015, “Christ, who nourishes us under the consecrated species of bread and wine, is the same Christ, whom we meet during the course of everyday life: He is in the poor person who holds out his hand [in supplication]; He is the suffering person who implores [our] help; He is in the brother or sister who asks us to be there and awaits our welcome; He is in the child who knows nothing about Jesus, about salvation, who does not have the faith; He is in every human being, even the smallest and most defenceless.”
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap Paola