The night before He died, the Lord instituted the way He would remain with us forever. He could have remained with us in awesome majesty, in fire and cloud, as He did with the Israelites (Ex 19:16ff; 40:34-38). Instead, Jesus set aside His majesty and humbled Himself (Phil 2:6-8). He decided to remain with us in His Eucharistic Body and Blood.
Jesus' Last Supper took place on the eve of the Jewish feast of Passover. The first Passover brought freedom from physical slavery and from the tyranny of Pharaoh (Ex 12:39ff). The New Passover (1 Cor 5:7), the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, brings freedom from slavery to sin and from the tyranny of Satan and his kingdom of darkness. We are freed from sin and free to love God and to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters in Christ (1 Jn 3:16).
To help us understand this, Jesus gave us an example. He washed the feet of His beloved disciples (Jn 13:5). Washing feet was the duty of a slave. Though Jesus was free, His amazing love for us led Him to make Himself a slave (Phil 2:7). In Baptism, Jesus has set us free (Jn 8:36). Though we are free, in imitation of Jesus we freely decide to make ourselves the servants and even slaves of the Lord and of others.
Do you want Jesus to set you free? Then receive the Body and Blood of Jesus often at Mass, even daily if at all possible. Receive His freeing, healing love. Then go forth to love and serve the Lord and His beloved people.
| PRAYER: | "Sweet Sacrament, we Thee adore. O make us love Thee more and more." |
| PROMISE: | "This is My body, Which is for you." –1 Cor 11:24 |
| PRAISE: | Praise Jesus, Who gives Himself to us as daily Bread. Lord, I bow down before You. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College