The Table of Plenty:
The Body and Blood of Christ 2025
June 22, 2025
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Genesis 14:18-20; Psalm 110; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 9:11-17
As the day was coming to an end, Jesus told the disciples to feed the crowd who was with them all day. Realizing they did not have enough food to go around, they urged Jesus to send them home. They did not think they could be hospitable. Jesus told them they had enough resources to nourish everyone. They most likely thought they did not have enough food to feed themselves. Jesus intervenes with a blessing. Whatever the miracle was, sufficient food was available to satisfy everyone and to have plenty of food left.
With the surplus food we produce, it is unconscionable that we have people who live with food scarcity. We have all the resources to feed ourselves well and to care for those who are food insecure. In a society with food regulations and legal liability, we know we have far too much food waste. Some companies are thrifty in dealing with appropriate portions and others donate food at day’s end so that others may eat without violating health mandates. Still, we waste too much food, and we charge too much.
We ought to take the words of Jesus to heart. We have enough resources to resolve our own problems and to satisfy everyone’s hunger. The Eucharist is about sharing what we have with the community so that everyone is nourished. It is no surprise that the Eucharistic meal has a social dimension. St. Paul admonished the Corinthians for having two meals – a spiritual one and a gourmet meal. He has adamant that there was meal that was to be shared and those who were invited were any persons who called upon the name of the Lord. It cannot be any other way. We cannot partake of the Eucharist and leave others without nourishment and sustenance.
The Eucharist must be the meal that reconnects. The Eucharist is about community and sharing one’s resources with others. In a land of plenty, we have the resources to balance the scarcity that exists, and we can be creative in finding new ways to solving long-standing problems. Today, we contend with mental wellness issues, free will of persons to make their own choices, those who prey upon the goodwill of others to support them, and those who are beset by hard times. The Eucharist is there so we can discern together how to care for those in need. These are not individual decisions made by generous, caring people. These are opportunities to come together in prayer, at the table of plenty, and figure out how we can take care of those who need special attention, more stringent guidance, and thoughtful education.
The Eucharist is all about caring so that all who come to table are satisfied. At this table, we are the Body and Blood of Christ for the world. We are the ones who are blessed who are to pass along those blessings to others. We never eat as individuals. We eat at a table that reconnects. We share the One Christ and become satisfied.
Scripture for Daily Mass
Monday: (Genesis 12) Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you."
Tuesday: (Jeremiah 1) “Ah, Lord GOD!” I said, “I know not how to speak; I am too young.” But the LORD answered me, Say not, “I am too young.” To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
Wednesday: (Genesis 15) He then said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.” “O Lord GOD,” he asked,
“how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
Thursday: (Genesis 16) Abram's wife Sarai had borne him no children. She had, however, an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram: "The LORD has kept me from bearing children. Have intercourse, then, with my maid; perhaps I shall have sons through her."
Friday (Ezekiel 34) I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark.
Saturday (Genesis 18) The LORD appeared to Abraham by the Terebinth of Mamre, as Abraham sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, he saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them.
Gospel:
Monday: (Matthew 7) Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?
Tuesday: (Luke 1) Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
Wednesday (Matthew 7) Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
Thursday (Matthew 7) Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?'
Friday (Luke 15) 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance."
Saturday (Matthew 8) "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."
He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.
Saints of the Week
June 22: Paulinus of Nola, bishop (353-431) was a prominent lawyer who married a Spaniard and was baptized. Their infant son died while in Spain. He became a priest and was sent to Nola, near Naples, where he lived a semi-monastic life and helped the poor and pilgrims.
June 22: John Fisher, bishop and martyr (1469-1535) taught theology at Cambridge University and became the University Chancellor and bishop of Rochester. Fisher defended the queen against Henry VIII who wanted the marriage annulled. Fisher refused to sign the Act of Succession. When the Pope made Fisher a cardinal, the angry king beheaded him.
June 22: Thomas More, martyr (1478-1535) was a gifted lawyer, Member of Parliament, scholar, and public official. He was reluctant to serve Cardinal Woolsey at court and he resigned after he opposed the king’s Act of Succession, which would allow him to divorce his wife. He was imprisoned and eventually beheaded.
June 24: Nativity of John the Baptist (first century) was celebrated on June 24th to remind us that he was six months older than Jesus, according to Luke. This day also serves to remind us that, as Christ is the light of the world, John must decrease just as the daylight diminishes. John’s birth is told by Luke. He was the son of the mature Elizabeth and the dumbstruck Zechariah. When John was named, Zechariah’s tongue was loosened and he sang the great Benedictus.
June 27: Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and doctor (376-444), presided over the Council of Ephesus that fought Nestorian the heresy. Cyril claimed, contrary to Nestorius, that since the divine and human in Jesus were so closely united that it was appropriate to refer to Mary was the mother of God. Because he condemned Nestorius, the church went through a schism that lasted until Cyril's death. Cyril's power, wealth, and theological expertise influenced many as he defended the church against opposing philosophies.
June 28: Irenaeus, bishop and martyr (130-200) was sent to Lyons as a missionary to combat the persecution the church faced in Lyons. He was born in Asia Minor and became a disciple of Polycarp who was a disciple of the Apostle John. Irenaeus asserted that the creation was not sinful by nature but merely distorted by sin. As God created us, God redeemed us. Therefore, our fallen nature can only be saved by Christ who took on our form in the Incarnation. Irenaeus refutation of heresies laid the foundations of Christian theology.
This Week in Jesuit History
- June 22, 1611. The first arrival of the Jesuit fathers in Canada, sent there at the request of Henry IV of France.
- June 23, 1967. Saint Louis University's Board of Trustees gathered at Fordyce House for the first meeting of the expanded Board of Trustees. SLU was the first Catholic university to establish a Board of Trustees with a majority of lay members.
- June 24, 1537. Ignatius, Francis Xavier, and five of the companions were ordained priests in Venice, Italy.
- June 25, 1782. The Jesuits in White Russia were permitted by the Empress Catherine to elect a General. They chose Fr. Czerniewicz. He took the title of Vicar General, with the powers of the General.
- June 26, 1614. By a ruse of the Calvinists, the book, "Defensio Fidei" by Francis Suarez was condemned by the French Parliament. In addition, in England James I ordered the book to be publicly burned.
- June 27, 1978. Bernard Lisson, a mechanic, and Gregor Richert, a parish priest, were shot to death at St Rupert's Mission, Sinoia, Zimbabwe.
- June 28, 1591. Fr. Leonard Lessius's teaching on grace and predestination caused a great deal of excitement and agitation against the Society in Louvain and Douai. The Papal Nuncio and Pope Gregory XIV both declared that his teaching was perfectly orthodox.
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