THE SOURCE & SUMMIT OF THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST
Preaching Series - Week 1 Study Guide
At the bottom of this page, you can download a pdf of this study guide and/or watch the video of the homily...
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: 2 Kings 4:42-44 Ephesians 4:1-6 John 6:1-15
From the Epistle:
...preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
From the Gospel:
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted ."So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."
From the 2nd Vatican Council:
In the human nature united to Himself the Son of God, by overcoming death through His own death and resurrection, redeemed man and re-molded him into a new creation. By communicating His Spirit, Christ made His brothers and sisters, called together from all nations, mystically the components of His own Body.
In that Body the life of Christ is poured into the believers who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ who suffered and was glorified. Through Baptism we are formed in the likeness of Christ: "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body". In this sacred rite a oneness with Christ's death and resurrection is both symbolized and brought about: "For we were buried with Him by means of Baptism into death"; and if "we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall be so in the likeness of His resurrection also". Really partaking of the body of the Lord in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another. "Because the bread is one, we though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread". In this way all of us are made members of His Body, "but severally members one of another".
Lumen Gentium 7
The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church… Nevertheless the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font [source] from which all her power flows. For the aim and object of apostolic works is that all who are made sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord's supper.
The liturgy in its turn moves the faithful, filled with "the paschal sacraments," to be "one in holiness"; it prays that "they may hold fast in their lives to what they have grasped by their faiCth"; the renewal in the Eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the faithful into the compelling love of Christ and sets them on fire. From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are directed as toward their end, is achieved in the most efficacious possible way.
Sacrosanctum Concilium 9-10
From the Homily:
After Paul reminds the Gentile Christians in Ephesus of their pagan origins in Ephesians 2 (You were once strangers to the Covenant… without God and without hope…) and the new life that is theirs in Christ (You are no longer strangers, no longer aliens, you are fellow citizens with the saints in the household of God), he calls them despite their diversity, to preserve unity. His repetition of the number ONE reminds us that oneness or unity is a defining “Mark of the Church” (One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic).
The Feeding of the 5000 was very important in the imagination and memory of the 1st Century Church. It is the only story outside the Passion Narrative that appears in all 4 Gospels.
In all 4 Gospels, but especially in John, it is intended to recall the Eucharist. How do we know this? 1) Generally, whenever Jesus feeds people, it should make us think of the Eucharist. 2) In John’s Gospel, it takes place at Passover (remember that John does not include the institution narrative in his recounting of the Last Supper. By locating this at Passover, John connects his Eucharistic teaching to the Passover just as the Institution story does in the other Gospels). 3) “Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, and distributes…” This is liturgical language, 4) The Greek text tells us it is Eucharistic. Jesus “gives thanks” for the bread. The Greak verb here is “eucharisteo,” the very word the Church uses to name our communal celebration of the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection.
This sets up our reflection on Church and Eucharist which we will draw from the text of St. Paul and St. John in the coming 4 Sundays.
Reflection Questions:
1. Paul calls the Christians in Ephesus to “preserve unity,” stressing that oneness is an important quality of the Christian community. How would you apply that to the very diverse universal Church today? How about to the Church in the United States? How about within our own parish community?
2. The Church understands the Eucharist as a powerful sign of our unity. How do we make our celebration of the Eucharist conform to this ideal?
3. How do you understand the Eucharist as the “source and summit” of your life as a Christian man or woman? How do you connect your Sunday or daily celebration of the Eucharist to your life outside the Church?
4. One of the key themes of John’s Gospel is God’s super-abundant grace given us through the life and ministry of Jesus. As a Sacrament, the Eucharist is a source of that Grace. How do you experience the Grace of God when you are gathered with our community for the Eucharist? How do you experience this grace outside of the Mass?
Further Reading:
Fr. Bart recommends that, in preparation for this rest of this sermon series, that you read, in one sitting, the entirety of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians and the entirety of John 6.
O’Malley, Timothy P. Becoming Eucharistic People: The Hope and Promise of Parish Life. McGrath Institute for Church Life. University of Notre Dame Press, South Bend, IN, 2022 (This book is part of an excellent series called Engaging Catholicism.)
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: 2 Kings 4:42-44 Ephesians 4:1-6 John 6:1-15
From the Epistle:
...preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
From the Gospel:
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted ."So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."
From the 2nd Vatican Council:
In the human nature united to Himself the Son of God, by overcoming death through His own death and resurrection, redeemed man and re-molded him into a new creation. By communicating His Spirit, Christ made His brothers and sisters, called together from all nations, mystically the components of His own Body.
In that Body the life of Christ is poured into the believers who, through the sacraments, are united in a hidden and real way to Christ who suffered and was glorified. Through Baptism we are formed in the likeness of Christ: "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body". In this sacred rite a oneness with Christ's death and resurrection is both symbolized and brought about: "For we were buried with Him by means of Baptism into death"; and if "we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall be so in the likeness of His resurrection also". Really partaking of the body of the Lord in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another. "Because the bread is one, we though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread". In this way all of us are made members of His Body, "but severally members one of another".
Lumen Gentium 7
The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church… Nevertheless the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font [source] from which all her power flows. For the aim and object of apostolic works is that all who are made sons of God by faith and baptism should come together to praise God in the midst of His Church, to take part in the sacrifice, and to eat the Lord's supper.
The liturgy in its turn moves the faithful, filled with "the paschal sacraments," to be "one in holiness"; it prays that "they may hold fast in their lives to what they have grasped by their faiCth"; the renewal in the Eucharist of the covenant between the Lord and man draws the faithful into the compelling love of Christ and sets them on fire. From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are directed as toward their end, is achieved in the most efficacious possible way.
Sacrosanctum Concilium 9-10
From the Homily:
After Paul reminds the Gentile Christians in Ephesus of their pagan origins in Ephesians 2 (You were once strangers to the Covenant… without God and without hope…) and the new life that is theirs in Christ (You are no longer strangers, no longer aliens, you are fellow citizens with the saints in the household of God), he calls them despite their diversity, to preserve unity. His repetition of the number ONE reminds us that oneness or unity is a defining “Mark of the Church” (One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic).
The Feeding of the 5000 was very important in the imagination and memory of the 1st Century Church. It is the only story outside the Passion Narrative that appears in all 4 Gospels.
In all 4 Gospels, but especially in John, it is intended to recall the Eucharist. How do we know this? 1) Generally, whenever Jesus feeds people, it should make us think of the Eucharist. 2) In John’s Gospel, it takes place at Passover (remember that John does not include the institution narrative in his recounting of the Last Supper. By locating this at Passover, John connects his Eucharistic teaching to the Passover just as the Institution story does in the other Gospels). 3) “Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, and distributes…” This is liturgical language, 4) The Greek text tells us it is Eucharistic. Jesus “gives thanks” for the bread. The Greak verb here is “eucharisteo,” the very word the Church uses to name our communal celebration of the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection.
This sets up our reflection on Church and Eucharist which we will draw from the text of St. Paul and St. John in the coming 4 Sundays.
Reflection Questions:
1. Paul calls the Christians in Ephesus to “preserve unity,” stressing that oneness is an important quality of the Christian community. How would you apply that to the very diverse universal Church today? How about to the Church in the United States? How about within our own parish community?
2. The Church understands the Eucharist as a powerful sign of our unity. How do we make our celebration of the Eucharist conform to this ideal?
3. How do you understand the Eucharist as the “source and summit” of your life as a Christian man or woman? How do you connect your Sunday or daily celebration of the Eucharist to your life outside the Church?
4. One of the key themes of John’s Gospel is God’s super-abundant grace given us through the life and ministry of Jesus. As a Sacrament, the Eucharist is a source of that Grace. How do you experience the Grace of God when you are gathered with our community for the Eucharist? How do you experience this grace outside of the Mass?
Further Reading:
Fr. Bart recommends that, in preparation for this rest of this sermon series, that you read, in one sitting, the entirety of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians and the entirety of John 6.
O’Malley, Timothy P. Becoming Eucharistic People: The Hope and Promise of Parish Life. McGrath Institute for Church Life. University of Notre Dame Press, South Bend, IN, 2022 (This book is part of an excellent series called Engaging Catholicism.)
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