As we continue our reflection on the Eucharist, I would like to focus on the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist. This side of it can get lost on us. At first blush, the Mass can seem like it is just a meal, or that it is just a repetition of the Last Supper. But where the Last Supper gives us the form of the expression, Calvary gives us the content of what we are expressing. In other words, if we lose sight of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the Cross at Calvary during the Mass, seeing the Mass only as a meal, then we are ripping the heart out of the entire Eucharistic Liturgy itself.

In the Gospel this weekend Jesus makes many references to consuming His flesh and blood. Maybe the most startling is when He says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” Sacrifice is implied here, as one can only eat another animal after it dies or is killed. We eat a steak at a restaurant because it has been slaughtered and prepared to be eaten. In fact, sacrifice is implicit almost every time we eat, as something has been broken or sacrificed, whether it be vegetables, grain, or meat, so that we can eat and receive the nourishment that we need. In these words, Jesus is already hinting at His own sacrifice for us on the Cross, so that we might be able receive the Bread of Life in the Eucharist.

Some of you may have noticed a very familiar image to us Louisianans on the back of my chasuble. I am referring to the image of the mother pelican feeding her young by plucking her breast, which is also the image of our state flag. Did you know that this is a very ancient Christian symbol for the Eucharist? As the mother pelican is feeding her young with her own blood by plucking her breast, Jesus feeds us with His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. As a proof of this, in the Eucharistic hymn Adoro te Devote, composed by St. Thomas Aquinas for Corpus Christi, we hear the words Pie pellicane Jesu Domine, which translates into English as “Lord Jesus, pelican of mercy.” A hymn composed in the 13th century refers to Jesus as the “pelican of mercy.”

Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us on the Cross, giving us the sacraments of salvation, most eminently the Eucharist. In holy communion, we receive our Lord, becoming one with Him in a very intimate exchange. This is only made possible because the Mass is a sacrificial meal. What was started in the Cenacle at the Last Supper finds its completion at Calvary. And just to be sure, Jesus is not sacrificed again at each Mass, but His one sacrifice on the Cross at Calvary is made present to us again. His death on the Cross was so salvific, that we make its power felt again at every Mass. Its grace is made available through time, and will continue until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. At every Mass we enter into the mystery of the Cross because “by his wounds we are healed.”
 
Reflection by Fr. Braud