If we were asked what gospel passage is read during Christmas Mass, we would answer: a reading about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
If we were asked what gospel reading is proclaimed on Easter Sunday, we would immediately reply: one about the resurrection of Jesus.
If someone were to ask us what gospel is read this Sunday, The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we would most likely respond: a reading recalling what Jesus did at the Last Supper, how he changed bread and wine into his very Body and Blood.
However, that is not the case. This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 9:11b-17) is about Jesus miraculously feeding a crowd of thousands with only the five loaves and two fish given to him by his Apostles.
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We hear how Jesus took the bread and fish, said a blessing over them, broke them, and then gave the food to his disciples to distribute to the crowd. At the end of the meal, there was more bread and fish left over than there had been at the start.
Jesus’ actions of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving parallel his actions at the Last Supper. As St. Paul tells us in our Second Reading (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), “the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you’… In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood.’”
These actions also correspond to what happens at every Mass. Bread and wine are presented and placed upon the altar. They are blessed during the Eucharistic Prayer as the priest calls upon the Spirit to transform them into the Body and Blood of Christ. During the “Lamb of God,” the “bread” is broken, and then the ministers distribute this life-giving food as we come forward to receive Holy Communion.
During Mass, we behold a miracle far greater than that witnessed by the thousands who were fed with five loaves and two fish. We witness a miracle that began 2,000 years ago at the Last Supper and has continued to our day. Bread and wine are still taken, blessed, broken, and given. In receiving them, we become a Holy Communion with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose Body and Blood we are privileged to share.
“Therefore, O Lord…grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ” (Eucharistic Prayer III).
This Sunday’s Solemnity reminds us of the wondrous miracle that happens before our eyes at every Mass.
© 2025 Rev. Thomas Iwanowski