A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (22:14-20)
When the hour came, [Jesus] took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, ‘Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
RESPONSORY
Know that in this bread is the body of Christ which hung upon the cross, and in this cup, the blood of Christ which flowed from his side. Take, therefore, and eat his body; take and drink his blood, -- and you will become members of his body.
Eat this sacred food, so that your bond of unity with Christ may never be broken. Drink this sacred blood, the price he paid for you, so that you may never lose heart because of your sinfulness. – and you will become members of his body.
From his Meditations on the Gospel by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (+1704)
Let us remember that the Passover, the sacred victim of the ancient alliance out of which was to flow the blood of the deliverance, was, as were many other victims of the ancient alliance, not only to be sacrificed, but also to be eaten, and that Jesus Christ wished to give Himself this character of a victim by giving us for life this same body, which was to be offered only once for us at His death. For this reason He said: I have desired with desire to eat this Pasch with you before I suffer. (Luke xxii. 15) When Our Lord made this statement, He did not refer to the legal Passover which would end, and which He had often celebrated and eaten with His disciples.
Rather, when He said: I have desired with desire to eat this Pasch with you, He referred to the Passover of the new alliance, just as though He had said: I have desired to be your Pasch Myself, to be the lamb immolated for you, the victim of your deliverance, and for the same reason that I have desired to be a victim veritably immolated, I have also desired to be a victim veritably eaten. He accomplished this by these words: Take, eat, this is My Body given for you. (Matt. xxvi. 26; Luke xxii. 19) It is the Pasch out of which must flow the blood of Your deliverance. You will come out of Egypt, and you will be free as soon as this blood is shed for you. All that will remain for you to do will be to eat, in imitation of the ancient tribe, the victim from which it came. This is what you will accomplish through the reception of the Eucharist, which I will leave you when I die, to be eternally celebrated after My death. To eat the flesh of the Paschal lamb was, to the Israelites, a sacred pledge that it had been immolated for them. The eating of the victim was a way of uniting with it, and it was in this way that they participated in peace or thanksgiving sacrifices-if he offered a lamb before the Lord (Lev. iii. 7)—as it is stated in the law. Also, St. Paul says: behold Israel according to the flesh: are not they, that eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the altar? But the things which the heathens sacrifice they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. (I Cor. x. 18-21) If, then, Jesus is our Victim, if He is our Pasch, He must have these two characters: one, to be immolated for us on the cross; the other, to be eaten at the holy table as the Victim of our salvation. And this is what He desired, so ardently, to accomplish with His disciples. Both characters were to be realized in His Person. As He was to be immolated in His own body, and in its proper substance, He had to be eaten this way: Take, eat: this is My body given for you, as truly eaten, as truly given; it is present at the table where He is eaten, as at the cross where He will be delivered to death, and where He will offer it, drained of blood, for love of you.
Musical Selection
I am the Word that spoke and light was made
I am the seed that died to be re-born
I am the bread that comes from heaven above
I am the vine that fills your cup with joy
Take and eat, take and eat
This is my body given up for you
Take and drink, take and drink
This is my blood given up for you
I am the way that leads the exile home
I am the truth that sets the captive free
I am the life that raises up the dead
I am your peace, true peace my gift to you
I am the Lamb that takes away your sin
I am the gate that guards you night and day
You are my flock you know the shepherd's voice
You are my own, your ransom is my blood
Collect
The bread you give, O God,
is Christ’s flesh for the life of the world;
the cup of his blood
is your covenant for our salvation.
Grant that we who worship Christ in this holy mystery
may reverence him in the needy of this world
by lives poured out for the sake of that kingdom
where he lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.Amen.(Body and Blood of Christ; ICEL 1998)