LECTIONARY READINGS
First reading: Genesis 14:18-20
Responsorial Psalm: 109(110):1-4
Second reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel: Luke 9:11-17
Link to readings
The passage set down as First Reading for today’s liturgy, Gen 14:18-20, is not the most obvious text from the Old Testament for the purpose. The New Testament does not associate the Christian Eucharist with the bread and wine brought by Melchisedek, the Canaanite King of Jerusalem to Abraham. The association first appears in the early Church Father Clement of Alexandria and eventually found its way into the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer 1). In its original setting (Genesis 14) the passage represents a remarkable moment of openness to non-Israelite religion. At least in this openness to the other there is a genuine aura of “hospitality” attending the exchange between the two patriarchs that is not at all alien to the later sense of the Eucharist – though traditional Christian interpretation has focused more upon the sacrificial and sacerdotal aspects of the episode.
EUCHARISTIC MEANING
The Second Reading consists of a somewhat truncated version of St Paul’s account of the Eucharistic tradition, 1 Cor 11:23-26. The Corinthians have been celebrating the Eucharist “unworthily” (v. 27) – that is, in a way that, instead of celebrating the unity they have in Christ Jesus, simply serves to reveal division and social inequality. The problem did not so much arise from the Eucharistic ritual in itself but from the way they behaved in the communal meal (agape) that was the context of its celebration. In particular, their not waiting for everyone to arrive before beginning to eat and drink not only deprived those such as servants and slaves who were not masters of their own time of food. It humiliated them as well, making them feel their lowly and second-class status. Such behaviour so cuts across the meaning of the Eucharist that, in effect, the Corinthians are not celebrating it at all.
Paul’s recalls the Eucharistic tradition to recapture its true meaning. Essentially, the Eucharist makes present in the community the sacrificial love of Jesus, enacted on Calvary but foreshadowed at the Supper on the night before he died. To eat the bread and drink the cup “in memory of him” is “to proclaim his death” in that sense: not just as a historical event but a loving sacrifice of life for the benefit of others – that they might be free (from sin) and enter into the “new covenant” sealed with his blood. It is unthinkable to celebrate the Eucharist without being caught up in the “rhythm” of this sacrificial love. The social justice implications of the Eucharist emerge in this way from Paul’s account.
In the time of the Church – that is, the time between the ascension of Jesus and his return at the end of time – the Eucharist is meant to be the way in which the post-Easter community continues to experience and celebrate the hospitality of God, a pledge and foretaste of the banquet of the final Kingdom (Luke 22:15, 18).
THEME OF HOSPITALITY
The same theme of hospitality is central to the Gospel: Luke’s account of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (9:11-17). (The significance of this tradition in the early Church is clear from the fact that it occurs no less than six times across the full range of the gospels: twice in both Matthew and Mark; once in Luke and John). The twelve apostles, in genuine concern for the well-being of the crowd, make a practical suggestion. It’s time to send the people home so that they can find food and lodging for the night. Jesus throws back at them a stark challenge: “Give them something to eat yourselves”. In other words, “You provide them with the hospitality they need”. They are aghast at the suggestion. In human terms hospitality on such a scale is impossible. But Jesus is going to make them ministers of the hospitality of God.
The people are made to sit down in groups – a clear signal that they are about to be fed. Then, invoking heaven (to show the divine source), blessing and breaking the loaves and fishes (the language has clear echoes of the Eucharistic narrative), he miraculously makes it possible for the Twelve to feed the entire crowd – not merely adequately but so abundantly that, even after all had eaten, each the distributors had a basket full of broken pieces left over. God is never niggardly in hospitality; on the contrary, overflowing abundance is its sign and mark.
FORESHADOWING THE EUCHARIST
It is significant that in the provision of the loaves and fish Jesus himself does not deal directly with the crowd. He leaves the distribution left entirely to the disciples. Jesus is apprenticing them to be ministers of the hospitality of God when, after his ascension, he is physically removed from the scene. The episode, then, clearly foreshadows the Christian Eucharist – the rite in which the Church will experience and celebrate God’s hospitality until the time of his return.