CHRISTMAS DURING THE EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL. Since the 4 the Sunday of Advent’s bulletin is the Christmas bulletin, I’ll reflect on both the Mysteries of the Incarnation and the Eucharist. As you may know, we are halfway through the US Bishops’ three-year National Eucharistic Revival; a series of
articles about it may be found on our Parish website. It is intended to help Catholics and others better understand, celebrate and receive the great Gift of Eucharist. So, ‘Christmas’ – which comes from the words ‘Christ’s Mass’ or the holy Mass offered to celebrate His Nativity or Birth, is the perfect ‘starting point’ to reflect on these two interwoven and inseparable Mysteries.
Technically, the Eucharist was instituted at the Last Supper, but the stage was set for Christ’s ability to be truly present in the Eucharist when He was conceived in the Virgin’s womb nine months before Christmas. What had been
prefigured in many ways: the Manna or bread from heaven which fed the Israelites on their desert journey; the Sacrificial Lambs, whose blood safeguarded their home from the Passover Angel of Death; and the Ark of the Covenant which housed the Ten Commandments and a jar of Manna; was now seen in human flesh and blood
in the newborn King. [We call the Blessed Virgin the ‘New Ark of the Covenant’ since she bore God’s Word-made Flesh and the ‘Bread of Life’ in her womb.]
The prophesy: “… Bethlehem-Ephrathah … from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.” [Cf. Micah 5:1b] gives another Eucharistic clue. Bethlehem means ’House of Bread,’ and the Child’s Mother “laid him in a manger” because “there was no room for them in the inn.” [Cf. Luke 2:7] A manger is an animal’s feeding trough, and the word Luke uses for ‘inn’ is akin to the word he uses to describe the ‘Upper Room’: the site of the Last Supper and institution of the Eucharist.
As we will soon celebrate on the Epiphany, the Magi came to adore the Christ Child ‘on bended knee’ or by prostrating themselves before Him, offering to Him their precious gifts. Is this not what we do at every holy Mass: kneel before the Eucharistic Lord, after offering our costly gifts for use in His service? Are we not directed to genuflect before the Blessed Sacrament when we enter and leave Christ’s Real Presence?
Should we also be willing, as were the Shepherds and the Magi, to travel whatever distance is necessary to find and be with the Child and His Mother? That’s one reason every Catholic Church has a Tabernacle in which our Eucharistic Lord dwells, and an image of His Mother. No wonder at most Sunday and festive Masses we sing the same chant the Angels first sang on that first Christmas: “Glory to God in the highest….” That makes every holy Mass another little Christmas.
While some question the cost of sacred vessels, vestments, worship sites, and other liturgical necessities, we are consistent with the first Christmas. Everyone presumably brought their best: sheep or cattle, ox or ass, straw or hay; or gold, frankincense or myrrh; there was even a borrowed cave that foreshadowed the borrowed tomb in which our Lord’s Body would be buried! The Spanish ‘The Rose Tree Carol’ makes an interesting contrast of how Jesus went “…from the virgin womb to the virgin tomb.” In our own time, Sacraments use what is ‘earthly’ and ‘ordinary’ and to be vehicles of the ‘heavenly’ and ‘extraordinary!’ While the ‘Little Drummer Boy’ is just a legend, it, too, bears out our need to bring our very best as a gift to the Lord.
Throughout the course of His earthly life, Jesus continued to reveal, by word and action, sign and symbol, the future mystery of the Eucharist. He miraculously fed thousands with a few loaves; He explained how His Flesh and Blood are True Food and True Drink; Saint John the Baptist declared Him ”the Lamb of God” [John 1:29], who takes away the sins of the world, which we will hear in a few weeks, on the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – B. At the Last Supper, He instituted the Eucharist as His parting and greatest Gift.
As a New Year’s resolution, do more to better understand, more actively celebrate, and more worthily receive the great Gift of Eucharist. Give our Eucharistic Lord a central place in your mind and heart, home and schedule. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2024.
With God’s love and my prayers,
Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS