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Vocation Meditation -
Corpus Christi 2010
Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured. The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place".
But Jesus said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish-unless we are to go and buy food for all these people." For there were about five thousand men.
And Jesus said to his disciples, "Make the people sit down in groups of about fifty each." They did so and made them all sit down.
And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
When the people sat down and ate the loaves and fish that were blessed and given by Jesus, they were all filled.
The Holy Father Pope Benedict's message on today's Solemnity of Corpus Christi makes us reflect on the Person of Christ, the Bread of life who unceasingly fills the world's hunger for love:
"Corpus Domini (the Body of the Lord) is a manifestation of God, proof that God is love. "In a unique and peculiar way, this feast speaks to us of divine love, what is and what it does." "It tells us for example that it is regenerated in the giving of oneself to another, that in giving we receive, it is never lacking, it never runs out. As the hymn of St Thomas Aquinas in 'Lauda Sion' intones: 'nec sumptus consumitur' which means, 'not even being consumed is it used up'."
"Love, transforms all things, and therefore it is understood that at the very heart of today's feast of Corpus Domini there is the mystery of transubstantiation, the sign of Christ --Caritas that transforms the world. Looking at Him and adoring Him we say: yes love exists, and because it exists, things can change for the better and we can hope."
"It is the hope that comes from the Christ's love that gives us the strength to live and to face difficulties. This is why we sing as we carry the Blessed Sacrament in procession, we sing and we praise God who revealed himself to us by hiding himself in the symbol of broken bread. We all need this bread, because the path to freedom, justice and peace is long and tiring." (Angelus address, June 14, 2009)
Vocation Challenge:
'They all ate and were filled'.
Do I seek the Bread of Life in the Eucharist, as an encounter that fills my life, my vocation?
Dear God,
You are the Bread that I seek, the food for my journey that fills me up. As I pray and discern each day how I could best answer your call, allow me to discover in my vocation the deeper meaning of becoming like bread for others: to be blessed by You and broken for the life of the world. Amen.