Today, as we celebrate the solemnity of the most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we are invited to reflect on the profound mystery of the Eucharist, its deep significance, and the transformative power it holds for both our personal lives and our shared journey of faith. In the first reading from Genesis, we encounter Melchizedek, the king of Salem, who offers bread and wine to Abraham; this moment foreshadows the Eucharist, where bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. Melchizedek’s act of blessing signifies that God is intimately involved in our earthly journey, nourishing us not only physically but also spiritually. Today’s Psalm echoes this with a proclamation of God’s eternal priesthood. Jesus, like Melchizedek, fulfills this priestly role by offering himself as the ultimate Sacrifice. His presence in the Eucharist is a testament to God’s enduring covenant with us- a covenant that invites us into deeper communion with Him and one another. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we witness the last supper, where Jesus establishes the Eucharist as a profound act of remembrance. “Do this in remembrance of me”, He tells us, urging us not only to recall the events of that night but to live them out in our daily lives. The Eucharist is a living memory, a perpetual offering that brings us into the heart of Christ’s love and sacrifice.

Luke wrote his Gospel some forty years after the death of Jesus. As with every page in it, he took care to narrate the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves as it had happened, but in such a way as to help Christians understand that the miracle is repeated each time they celebrate the Eucharist. This miracle occurs shortly after the return of the twelve Apostles from their first mission (Luke 9: 1-10). It serves as a transition from Jesus’ Galilean ministry toward His journey to Jerusalem. The event is one of the few miracles recorded in all four Gospels, (Mat 14: 13-21, Mark 6: 30-44, John 6: 1-14) highlighting its central importance. Luke starts by saying that “Jesus welcomed the crowd, and talked to them about the kingdom of God and cured those who were in need of healing” Luke 9:11. Despite wanting rest Jesus welcomes the crowd portraying His compassionate shepherding. The disciples express practical concern: food and shelter. Like Mathew and Mark, Luke too tells us how Jesus invited his apostles to provide food for the crowd on their own: “give them something to eat yourselves”. The apostles expressed their inability to do so, this reveals a contrast: Jesus’ divine provision VS the Disciples’ human limitation.

The five loaves and two fish symbolize scarcity and human limitations yet are the starting point for a miracle. Structured gathering; not chaotic, but orderly echoes Mosses organizing Israel in the desert (ex 18:21). Also foreshadows the early Church as a gathered, nourished community. Finally, Luke wanted all Christian to see that Jesus multiplied the loaves not only out of concern for the hungry crowd but also to help his apostles accept Eucharist which He would institute one year later at the last supper. In fact, strong Eucharistic Language: bless- break and give, is used later at the last supper. Jesus acts as the mediator, offering the food as a gift from God, multiplying it in the act of giving. 

Jesus could have created out of nothing the food for the crowed, yet he chooses to make use of five loaves and two fish which a boy had brought along for his own meal. Similarly in the celebration of the Eucharist, Jesus accepts the bread and wine, the gift of the community, and makes use of them to prepare his own body and blood, his gift in return to the community. We admire Jesus’ concern for the hungry crowd listening to his teachings; and his love in giving himself to all men at the last supper. Luke wants us to bear in mind that Jesus displays the same love and concern for us at each celebration of the eucharist. Jesus welcomes the Christian community Sunday after Sunday, as kindly as he welcomed the crowed. We might absent ourselves or might reach later to the service, but Jesus is never absent; He precedes us all and welcomes us with open arms. Amen.