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The Eucharist – The Cornerstone of LentPosted: 02.27.09 The season of Lent is already upon us. We have before us the grace of a 40-day period to prepare for the celebration of the paschal mystery. We do so by examining our lives more closely to see how we can grow in a deeper relationship with the Lord and to understand better the purpose of our lives. Prayer, penance, fasting and positive works of charity are all means to help us during this sacred time. Perhaps one of the most popular and efficacious practices during the Lenten season is that of a more frequent celebration of the Eucharist. This more intense celebration of Mass certainly leads us to the center of the paschal mystery. Indeed, every other practice of Lent should bring us to a more profound respect for the primary place of the Eucharist in our lives and that of the Church. The Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent presents us with the Lord’s 40 days of being in the desert after his baptism by John and before the beginning of his public ministry. During this time of his fasting and prayer, Christ is tempted by the devil in a threefold manner. Ultimately, these temptations are a summary of the ones Christ will face all during his ministry. They all come down to the temptation to repudiate his mission, which would be the same as a repudiation of the sacrifice he came to give us in the Eucharist. The Gospels tell us that because Jesus is fasting, he is naturally hungry. The devil takes advantage of this to approach him with the temptation to change stones into bread. On a superficial level, this temptation is one for Christ to give up his fast and satisfy his hunger. More significantly, it is one for Christ to flaunt his divinity in a display of absolute power rather than absolute love. It is the temptation to abandon his mission of complete self-giving which will lead to the cross. The response of the Lord to this temptation is clearly eucharistic. Quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, Jesus repudiates the devil, “One does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4). This is a foreshadowing of his later words in the Gospel: “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that comes down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:48-51). It is interesting to note that before Jesus utters these words he does the opposite of what he refuses to do when tempted by the devil: He multiplies bread to feed the crowd. This multiplication of loaves is not a manifestation of his power, but a manifestation of his absolute love for us. This is the same love that will lead to his changing bread into his very flesh and blood at the Last Supper before his crucifixion. He will not change stones into bread in display of power, but he will change bread into himself in a display of love manifested on the cross! His rejection of the temptation again foreshadows his later words quoting Psalm 118:22, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Mt 21:42). The second temptation also concerns a repudiation of the essence of the Eucharist in a display of power. The devil takes Christ to the parapet of the temple and tempts him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone’” (Mt 4:6). This temptation foreshadows the later one of Christ posed by those passing by the cross: “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Mt 27:39). It would be easy for Christ to throw himself down from the temple and easy for him to come down from the cross. Such would make clear his divine power as the Son of God and his ability to do anything. It would make things easier for him, but it would not fulfill his mission of love. By giving in to this temptation, the Lord would repute the ultimate divine power of love by which he would give himself completely on the cross as the “grain of wheat that dies and brings forth much fruit” (cf. Jn 12:24). The final temptation of Christ is another one for him to repudiate his mission and the Eucharist. The devil takes him to the top of the mountain and displays the kingdoms of the world to him. He tempts Christ to pay homage to him in exchange for these kingdoms. Of course, the devil knows they are already the Lord’s kingdoms, but he wants a display of power by which Christ will demonstrate that. In such a display, Christ would prove that he is a God of power and not of love. Christ does not give in. He refuses to repudiate the power of love and dismisses the devil reminding him that only God is worthy of worship. This temptation foreshadows the conclusion of the Gospel when Jesus goes to the top of the mountain after his resurrection and before his ascension. Here he announces to his disciples, “All power in heaven and earth has been given me. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:18-20). This is the ultimate power of love, which is manifest in Jesus’ presence among us in the Eucharist. The Holy Father’s Lenten message this year is on the subject of fasting. It is titled from the words of the account of Christ’s temptation: He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and afterwards he was hungry (Mt 4:2). In his message, Pope Benedict XVI exhorts us to use the practice of fasting during this holy season as a beneficial means to grow in the spiritual life. He also reflects upon the fact that fasting today is very much misunderstood and sometimes taken up for the wrong reasons. More frequent celebration of the Eucharist during Lent can certainly be considered a form of fasting. Here we eat the true bread of life, Christ himself, and experience more completely the power of his self-sacrificing love which he gives us in this great sacrament. The Lord never succumbed to the temptation not to drink of the cup that was before him (cf. Mt 26:42). He loved us to the end (cf. Jn 13:3), and revealed the fullness of God’s love at the Last Supper where he was “fully aware that the father had put everything into his power” (Jn 13:3). The gift of the Eucharist is truly the cornerstone of the season of Lent. In it we experience the true power of God’s love. May this sacrament of sacraments sustain us in our temptations and nourish us on our journey to the Lord.
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