The Last Supper
So, first, let's discuss what the Passover meal is about, and the importance of it. Passover is much more than the remembrance of the Angel of Death passing over the Israelites in Egypt when their doorways were covered by the blood of the lamb (Paschal Lamb, i.e., Jesus), but it was a feast of redemption. The Israelites were redeemed from slavery and given a Prophet and guide to the Holy Land, the Promised Land of Abraham, their genealogical ancestor. During the first Passover, Pesach, the Israelites offered a sacrifice to God in accordance with the instructions given to Moses and Aaron.
They had to offer a lamb up to God and the lamb's blood was to be painted onto the lintels and doorposts of the homes. And when the Angel of Death came down and saw the lambs blood on the Israelites homes the angel "passed-over" them and continued onward. After this the Pharaoh heeded Moses and let his people go, they left in such a rush that the people who had prepared the dough for bread took them without the leavening agents used to make it rise. They left with a flat bread, that either would resemble modern pita bread or crackers. From that point onward the Passover would be held in remembrance of their freedom to honor the God who had redeemed them. But as with any covenantal bond established there is always a sacrifice, the Paschal Lamb.
The Passover meal, although its contents may vary with the tradition, had some meat that was kosher, but also unleavened bread and wine. During the 40 years in the desert when the Israelites wandered about, they had a glimpse of the future Eucharist, called Manna. The manna is the food that God gave them on a daily occurrence (does "Give us this day our daily bread" sound familiar? If not click here.). The manna sustained them throughout their 40 years in the desert, it is even stored in the Ark of the Covenant. Not the Indian Jones version where it melts people's faces, but the actual one, where the unworthy were struck by lightning upon touching it. In the Ark of the Covenant was a jar of the Manna, the tablets of the Decalogue, and the staff of Aaron the first high priest.
During the Bread of Life Discourse in John 6:22-71 Jesus explains that the Bread of Life came not from Moses but from God, and then explains that He, Jesus Christ, is the true bread that came down from Heaven and gives life. For their ancestors ate of the manna and still died, but he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have life everlasting (John 6:48-58).
During the Last Supper the Paschal Lamb (Jesus Christ) was the lamb to be offered up on the Cross, and in remembrance of the coming sacrifice He also established the Blessed Sacrament called the Holy Eucharist. He, being God, consecrated the bread and wine, calling each in turn His Body and His Blood. Unlike the majority of Protestantism, we as Catholics do not believe that Jesus was talking purely symbolically, He was being literal. The Bread truly is substantially His Body, which is given up for us. The Wine truly is His Blood which is the Blood of the New Covenant which is poured out for many (John 6:51-66, Luke 22: 19-20).
He took the bread of the Passover which prefigured the Manna of the Desert, and elevated it be His Body and Blood. In Catholicism this is called Transubstantiation. The substance (the thing that makes bread, bread, or a dog, a dog, etc.) was changed from bread to His Body while retaining the accidents (the physical appearance: color, mass, size, etc.) of the bread. And the Wine transubstantiated from the wine to His Blood. This separation is important as it demonstrated the act of a sacrifice. The body and blood separated in totality is something that has died. When that something is offered up to God, it then is a sacrifice.
The fruit of the Mystery of the Institution of the Eucharist is: Eucharistic Adoration. We adore the Eucharist because Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. He is present in the terms of transubstantiation, and in the term Real Presence. The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is that He is truly and substantially present in it, Body, Blood, and Soul, as He is truly Risen, Body, Blood, and Soul. In every tabernacle around the world where the Eucharist is, there too is Jesus. Jesus is God, and God is to be adored, therefore we adore Jesus in the Eucharist.
The Scriptural Rosary is:- The Fifth Luminous Mystery Institution of the Eucharist
- Pater Noster ...
- Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the pasch, was at hand. Luke 22:1
- Ave Maria …
- And he sent Peter and John, saying: Go, and prepare for us the pasch, that we may eat. Luke 22:8
- Ave Maria …
- And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. Luke 22:14
- Ave Maria …
- And he said to them: With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you before I suffer. Luke 22:15
- Ave Maria …
- For I say to you, that from this time I will not eat it, till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Luke 22:16
- Ave Maria …
- And taking bread, he gave thanks, and brake; and gave to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you. Luke 22:19
- Ave Maria …
- In like manner the chalice also, after he had supped, saying: This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you. Luke 22:20
- Ave Maria …
- Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. John 6:54
- Ave Maria …
- He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. John 6:55
- Ave Maria …
- This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live forever. John 6:59
- Ave Maria …
- O My Jesus ...
- Gloria Patri ...
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