The Church celebrates the centrality of the sacrament of Holy Eucharist today. We commemorate the beginning of the new covenant written in the blood of Christ.

In the first reading from the book of Exodus, we hear about the promises the Israelites made to God when Moses offered the blood of young bulls as peace offerings. This was in keeping with the old covenant.

Today’s second reading from the letter to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus offered his own blood for the salvation of the world. Jesus “who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanses our consciences from dead works to worship the living God” (Heb 9: 14). The new covenant is rooted in the personal and free choice Jesus made to enter into an eternally committed relationship with us for the love of God. This is what we celebrate each time we gather for Eucharist.

In the gospel we enter the story of Jesus’s last supper with his chosen disciples once again. We cannot pray with this event often enough as it is so vital to our faith. This is when the body and blood of Christ were blessed, broken and shared in the gifts of bread and wine with the faithful followers. This is when they became the body and blood of the Lord.

As we celebrate Eucharist we too take the body and blood of Christ, in the form of simple bread and wine and partake in Christ’s sacrifice, becoming part of his sacrifice. We share in His gift of salvation for the world. As He did with the disciples, let us sing hymns of praise for God’s fidelity to the new and everlasting covenant.

(Photos are of painted stencil-work in the Relic Chapel of our Clyde, Missouri, monastery.)

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