Last Supper Ritual 6/18/06
by Fr.Gus Carter

In the Gospel today Jesus takes the role of host at the gathering of his disciples for the Passover. The host has the duty of explaining the Passover ritual. Instead Jesus gives a new meaning to the ritual meal. He places a new symbolic interpretation upon the bread and wine. The bread becomes Jesus' very person whose body in Mark has already been anointed for death and burial. Thus, in consuming Jesus' body the disciples share in his death. This is the ultimate saving event in the life of Jesus. The Passover meal each year for the Jewish people allowed them to commemorate and to experience in the meal past saving deeds of God. They are reminded of God's promises of final salvation in the future. In partaking of the bread, the body of Jesus, the disciples unite with him in table fellowship. He is preparing them for his death.

In the miracle of the loaves and fishes Jesus revealed his divine power to overabundantly satisfy and unite his disciples and a large crowd with himself The disciples had distributed the bread they received from Jesus. In the Eucharist Jesus has not only left a new way to be with him but also enabled his followers to feed, satisfy and unite other people with him and his saving death.

All the disciples drank from Jesus' cup of wine. Jesus previously had said that his disciples would drink from the cup from which he drinks. This meant sharing in his suffering and death before they enter into "glory" with him. By designating the cup of wine as "my blood of the covenant," Jesus was recalling what we have just read in first reading today. During their forty years in the desert God made a covenant with the Jewish people. By mutual agreement God would watch over and protect the people of Israel. The obligation of the Hebrews was to obey God's Law, especially as expressed in the Ten Commandments. At the Last Supper Jesus was establishing the "New Covenant" promised by the prophets of Israel. When we partake of this cup, we are sacramentally and profoundly united into the new and ultimate covenantal relationship God has established with his people through the salvific death of Jesus.

That Jesus blood will "be shed for many," emphasizes the nature of Jesus death as a covenantal sacrifice for the atonement of sins. The saying, "for many," was a Hebrew way of saying, "for all." Jesus' selfless offering of his life liberates all who seek God's forgiveness. At the end of the meal Jesus promised that the day will come when we will drink with him a new wine that will be the wine of divine love that will make us joyful forever.

We are commanded to communicate in the body and blood of Jesus Christ at Mass. Through the Eucharist the saving effects of his death and resurrection will not only unite us with Christ, they will cause us to be nourished by and be nourishment for others. The Mass is both a sacrifice and a ritual meal. Jesus during his life often dined with all manner of people. This is interpreted that Almighty God offers salvation to all. Eating together is a universal sign of people sharing life. Jesus came upon earth to enable us to share in divine life. We are called to share this life with one another as a sign of God's love for all people. Instead of stressing our differences, we should search for ways that bind us together. As there are many ways of following Jesus, so there are different ways of showing that we are God's people. As St. Paul said, "There is one body, but many parts." We should see individuals' varying opinions, not as threats to our belief, but as possibilities to enrich our own faith. The plan of God intends that we be gifts to each other. Let us look for ways that we can help one another rather than search for differences that separate us.