Bread for the Journey: Missionary Commentary for June 6, 2023 - Corpus Christi

USCCB link to the Sunday Readings

Where are we going? 

In the story Alice in Wonderland, Alice follows a rabbit down a hole and after some bizarre adventures she asks, “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” The Cheshire Cat responds: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” Alice, desperate to leave the strange and disturbing “wonderland” retorts, “I don't much care where.” To which the Cheshire Cat wisely responds, “Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.”

In many ways, we do not know precisely where we are going. We know we are on a journey. We believe our journey is a path into love, salvation, and justice for all of God’s people. In the words of Bishop Ken Untener, found in his famous “Romero” prayer, “it helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime is only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.”

Yet, with boldness and confidence we journey onwards. Why? Because we believe that Jesus is the path, the way, the pattern. And not only is he the way, but he is also the means. He is our bread for the journey. Because Jesus has given us his life, his body and blood, his soul and divinity, we can live in him and for him so, in the words of St. Paul, “it is Christ living in me.” Jesus is our bread of life – as missionary-disciples who are members of a missionary community. Jesus sends us forth, both personally and as a community in mission, so that with him, in him, and through him, we can be bread for the life of the world. 
 

Notes on the Sunday Readings

First Reading
Moses reminds his people that God himself freed them from slavery, led them into and through the desert, and fed them as they journeyed to the promise land. 

Psalm
The psalm proclaims the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel – security, peace, and the gift of his life-giving word. 

Second Reading
St. Paul summarizes our belief in the Eucharist; through the bread broken and the cup shared, we participate in the body and blood of Jesus. We are one with him and one another. 

Sequence
This beautiful hymn, written by St. Thomas Aquinas around 1264, sings the glory of the Church, “Jesus still the same abides, still unbroken does remain.” 

Gospel
We learn from Jesus himself about the Eucharist. He is the living bread that came down from heaven. He is our bread for the journey. He gives us his flesh and blood through the “true food” of bread and wine. When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we have his life within us. He is our life. We will live forever because Jesus himself will raise us “on the last day.” For Jesus gives his flesh, and we give our lives with and through him, for the life of the world. 

 

Bonus Link:
Prophets of a Future Not Our Own 
(the prayer reflection by Bishop Ken Untener and its history)

Please pray for the missions. 
God bless you in all the ways you Go Forth…


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