Although they are separated by more than a thousand years, the incidents in today’s first reading and the Gospel have many striking similarities. They both recount a gathering of the faithful during a time of struggle hearing the assurance of God’s continuing presence and care for his people. In both incidents, there is a sacrifice and the expression of a covenant. And, although these two incidents are separated from us by thousands of years, what we are doing here at this sacred moment shares these same characteristics: a gathering of the faithful hearing the assurance of God’s continuing presence and care for his people, and offering sacrifice as the expression of a covenant.
We all know the story of the Exodus, when the people of ancient Israel fled Egypt after years of slavery and, led by God’s pillar of fire by night and column of smoke by day, traveled back to the Promised Land. In today’s first reading, we hear about the moment when they were at Mt. Sinai. There, they heard God speak to them through Moses, his spokesperson, and offered a sacrifice as a sign that they had accepted the covenant that God wanted to establish with them. In today’s Gospel, we hear about Jesus and his disciples celebrating the Passover which recalled the moment when God had freed Israel from the Egyptians. But now, they were suffering under the grip of the Roman Empire and sought protection from God through the coming of a new leader like Moses. They had come to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice according to the dictates of the Law. At their Passover meal, they were assured of God’s presence and care through the words of Jesus who offered a new covenant and the promise of the fullness of the kingdom of God.
We gather here, some two thousand years later, struggling in so many ways as people living in a very strident and divided world and perhaps even in our own lives. We gather here around the Table of Sacrifice and hear, once again, the reassuring accounts of God’s continuing presence and care for us, his people, down through the ages. In a few moments, we will hear as I, privileged to speak the same words our Lord spoke at the Last Supper, offer the new and eternal covenant and we will pray together for the coming of God’s kingdom in the Lord’s Prayer.
We are so blessed to know that God is truly present among us. God is not a distant God but one who is intimately involved in our daily lives. And, he makes his presence and care known in surprising ways. To the ancient Israelites, he showed his care through the pillar of fire and column of smoke, through manna in the desert and water from a rock.
On this, the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, we are given the opportunity to reflect on God’s real presence under the appearances of bread and wine that, when consecrated, truly become the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
It is God present in the flesh, just as real as God was present in the flesh when Jesus walked the roads of Galilee, offered himself for us at the Last Supper and on the cross in Jerusalem, and rose from the tomb. How privileged we are to be assured of God’s continuing presence and care for us.
Beginning with Abraham, God has made a covenant with us, promising that he will be our God and calling us to be his people. He established a covenant with his chosen people Israel at Mt. Sinai. And, he established a new and eternal covenant through his Son, Jesus. And, just as God gave Abraham circumcision and the people Israel the Ten Commandments as the signs of their covenants, God has given us the Body and Blood of his own Son as the sign of this covenant; we are grateful to receive this in Holy Communion which makes us the Body of Christ.
Every time we gather around our Lord’s Table, we hear of God’s presence in our lives, we participate in the once-and-for-all sacrifice that our Lord, Jesus offered at the Last Supper and on the cross, and we recommit ourselves to the covenant that God has established for us. Let us always be grateful for God’s continuing presence in our midst, most clearly shown through the Body and Blood of Christ. And, let us remain faithful to its promise of making us the Body of Christ here on earth until the time when our Lord returns to bring us to the heavenly banquet in the eternal kingdom.