The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16 (JB)

A reading from the book of Deuteronomy

He gave you food which you and your ancestors did not know.

Moses said to the people: ‘Remember how the Lord your God led you for forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart – whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you, he made you feel hunger, he fed you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known, to make you understand that man does not live on bread alone but that man lives on everything that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

‘Do not then forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery: who guided you through this vast and dreadful wilderness, a land of fiery serpents, scorpions, thirst; who in this waterless place brought you water from the hardest rock; who in this wilderness fed you with manna that your fathers had not known.’

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16 (NRSV)

A reading from the book of Deuteronomy

Moses spoke to the people:

“Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you

these forty years in the wilderness,

in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart,

whether or not you would keep his commandments.

He humbled you by letting you hunger,

then by feeding you with manna,

with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted,

in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

“Do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery,

who led you through the great and terrible wilderness,

an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions.

He made water flow for you from flint rock,

and fed you in the wilderness with manna

that your ancestors did not know,

to humble you and to test you,

and in the end to do you good.”

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Ps 147:12-15, 19-20 (JB)

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

or

R. Alleluia.

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

Zion, praise your God!

He has strengthened the bars of your gates,

he has blessed the children within you. R.

He established peace on your borders,

he feeds you with finest wheat.

He sends out his word to the earth

and swiftly runs his command. R.

He makes his word known to Jacob,

to Israel his laws and decrees.

He has not dealt thus with other nations;

he has not taught them his decrees. R.

1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (JB)

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians

Though we are many, we form a single body because we share this one loaf.

The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (NRSV)

A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians

The cup of blessing that we bless,

is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?

The bread that we break,

is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?

Because there is one bread,

we who are many are one body,

for we all partake of the one bread.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

John 6:51-52 (JB)

Sequence

Sing forth, O Zion, sweetly sing

The praises of thy Shepherd-King,

In hymns and canticles divine;

Dare all thou canst, thou hast no song

Worthy his praises to prolong,

So far surpassing powers like thine.

Today no theme of common praise

Forms the sweet burden of thy lays –

The living, life-dispensing food –

That food which at the sacred board

Unto the brethren twelve our Lord

His parting legacy bestowed.

Then be the anthem clear and strong,

Thy fullest note, thy sweetest song,

The very music of the breast:

For now shines forth the day sublime

That brings remembrance of the time

When Jesus first his table blessed.

Within our new King’s banquet-hall

They meet to keep the festival

That closed the ancient paschal rite:

The old is by the new replaced;

The substance hath the shadow chased;

And rising day dispels the night.

Christ willed what he himself had done

Should be renewed while time should run,

In memory of his parting hour:

Thus, tutored in his school divine,

We consecrate the bread and wine;

And lo – a Host of saving power.

This faith to Christian men is given –

Bread is made flesh by words from heaven:

Into his blood the wine is turned:

What though it baffles nature’s powers

Of sense and sight? This faith of ours

Proves more than nature e’er discerned.

Concealed beneath the two-fold sign,

Meet symbols of the gifts divine,

There lie the mysteries adored:

The living body is our food;

Our drink the ever-precious blood;

In each, one undivided Lord.

Not he that eateth it divides

The sacred food, which whole abides

Unbroken still, nor knows decay;

Be one, or be a thousand fed,

They eat alike that living bread

Which, still received, ne’er wastes away.

The good, the guilty share therein,

With sure increase of grace or sin,

The ghostly life, or ghostly death:

Death to the guilty; to the good

Immortal life. See how one food

Man’s joy or woe accomplisheth.

We break the Sacrament, but bold

And firm thy faith shall keep its hold,

Deem not the whole doth more enfold

Than in the fractured part resides

Deem not that Christ doth broken lie,

‘Tis but the sign that meets the eye,

The hidden deep reality

In all its fullness still abides.

Behold the bread of angels, sent

For pilgrims in their banishment,

The bread for God’s true children meant,

That may not unto dogs be given:

Oft in the olden types foreshowed;

In Isaac on the altar bowed,

And in the ancient paschal food,

And in the manna sent from heaven.

Come then, good shepherd, bread divine,

Still show to us thy mercy sign;

Oh, feed us still, still keep us thine;

So may we see thy glories shine

In fields of immortality;

O thou, the wisest, mightiest, best,

Our present food, our future rest,

Come, make us each thy chosen guest,

Co-heirs of thine, and comrades blest

With saints whose dwelling is with thee.

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the living bread from heaven, says the Lord;

whoever eats this bread will live for ever.

Alleluia!

John 6:51-52 (NRSV)

The optional sequence (Lauda Sion) is intended to be sung; otherwise it is better omitted. The shorter version (Ecce Panis) begins at the asterisk.

Praise, O Zion, Christ our glory; To the Shepherd let us sing,

Tell to all the world the story; Laud with all our might the King.

Bread of life and source of living! Lacking, still our praises ring.

This our special theme for singing, Christ the Lamb for us was slain.

At the paschal meal he taught us, To the twelve he made it plain:

Flesh as food for us was giving, Therefore let your faith not wane.

On this day of Christian feasting, With full voices we delight:

Instituting our salvation, In the sacred meal that night,

Christ the ancient law fulfilling, Fills all people with new sight.

To obey the call Jesus, Gathered we as chosen band.

Bread and wine Christ is transforming, Flesh and Blood are now at hand.

From his words and actions learning, Love we share at his command.

Gathered at this solemn table, Darkness now has taken flight.

In the bread and wine partaking, Christ is for each one the light,

Then as food to us disciples, Gives our souls a new delight.

To all people Christ is giving, Truth in word and sacrament.

By the sacrifice redeeming, All into one covenant.

One in Jesus’ name assembling: Faith and love our testament.

To our minds these signs disclosing, To our senses must unfold:

Bread is broken, Blood outpouring; Christ the myst’ry, awe untold!

Flesh and Blood to sight revealing: This the story to be told.

Undivided is his body, Yet Christ gives himself to all.

Word made flesh with us abiding, For without him we must fall.

Christ the Pasch we are consuming, One in spirit is our call.

Good and evil are all sharing, Seeds of destiny are sown.

To new life our Saviour guides us; Death prevails when on our own.

Life immortal, for those seeking, Is fulfilled in Christ alone.

When the sacred bread is broken, All receive the Christ as one.

By his love Christ is transforming, Though so many we are one;

All the scattered are united, All the lonely welcomed home.

* Come, behold, the bread of angels, This our strength on pilgrims’ way.

For the children God is giving, Manna for our bread each day.

Now the sign of Isaac telling: Christ has conquered on this day.

Hear our prayers, O kindly Shepherd, Be for us true living bread.

Grant us peace in all our doings, To our resting place be led,

Forth with all the saints now dwelling, We the body, you the Head.

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the living bread from heaven, says the Lord;

whoever eats this bread will live for ever.

Alleluia!

John 6:51-58 (JB)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

Jesus said to the Jews:

‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.

Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;

and the bread that I shall give

is my flesh, for the life of the world.’

Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man

and drink his blood,

you will not have life in you.

Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood

has eternal life,

and I shall raise him up on the last day.

For my flesh is real food

and my blood is real drink.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood

lives in me

and I live in him.

As I, who am sent by the living Father,

myself draw life from the Father,

so whoever eats me will draw life from me.

This is the bread come down from heaven;

not like the bread our ancestors ate:

they are dead,

but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

John 6:51-58 (NRSV)

A reading from the holy gospel according to John

Jesus said to the crowds:

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

Whoever eats of this bread will live forever;

and the bread that I will give for the life of the world

is my flesh.”

The people then disputed among themselves, saying,

“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

So Jesus said to them,

“Very truly, I tell you,

unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you have no life in you.

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life,

and I will raise them up on the last day;

for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me,

and I in them.

“Just as the living Father sent me,

and I live because of the Father,

so whoever eats me will live because of me.

This is the bread that came down from heaven,

not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died.

But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.