have you anything to eat? 1st week of Easter Thursday 2

As I said in this morning’s mass Jesus revealed his resurrection often times in the context of the meal.  When he appeared to his disciples he would ask if they have anything to eat and he would eat with them.  As I said this is to prove to them that he is not a ghost, indi murto ang nakita nila kay ang murto wala nagakaon.  Jesus however ate and there he really resurrected, he really has a body that was risen from the dead.

This morning I also pointed out that the disciples would often recognize that it is really Jesus who was with them when he sat to eat with them.  They recognized him, they recognize that it is really Jesus in their midst when he eats with them.  So you see Jesus does not only reveal himself in the meal but he is easily recognized when he is in the meal with his disciple.  Masami ginapahayag ni Jesus ang iya kaugalingon paagi sa pagkaon, kag makilala sia sa gilayon nga sia gid man si Jesus paagi sa pagkaon.

Amo ina kon ngaa siling ko kaina nga importante para sa aton ang Eucharist.  The Eucharist is a meal and a sacrifice.  The mass is the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and it is celebrated in a meal in the pattern of the last supper, which was the last meal of Jesus before he died on the cross.  So the mass is a meal.  Just as he revealed his resurrection to his apostles in a meal so also in the Eucharist Jesus chooses to reveal himself to us as the resurrected Lord.  And just as the disciples easily recognized that it is indeed the Lord whenever he sat for a meal with them, so also in the mass we come to recognize that Jesus is with us, he is in our midst.

So the meal is central to us catholics – the mass is central, the Euchasrist is important for us.  In fact it defines us.  We are catholics because we believe in the Eucharist – we believe in the mass, we go to mass.  Amo na sa tuod-tuod lang kabudlay magsermon sa lubong sang tawo nga wala nagasimba.  Wala nagasiling nga imposible pero mabudlay kay ang misa para sa aton basic – ang hayag nga senyales nga ini nga tawo is really a practicing catholic, unless of course proven otherwise.

So for example whenever I go to a wake, the first thing that people seem to report to me about the person who died is, “nakasimba pa ni sia Padre sang Domingo, baw pala simba gid ni nga tawo.”  Before we talked about his being a good father, a faithful husband and a dedicated worker, people seem to define us first by our participation in the Eucharist, kon nagasimba kita, kon palasimba kita.  I am not saying that going to mass is enough in order to be a catholic.  No it is not enough.  Probably what I want to say is, if you don’t go to mass which is very basic and very elementary, it seems that I cannot put myself to believe that you can be anything better. 

I don’t know.  What I am saying is not a dogmatic belief or something – but there seems to be a connection between what we eat and who we are, that our meal defines us – that the mass defines a Catholic.

In the gospel today  Jesus reveals himself first and foremost in the meal – the Eucharistic meal.  And we recognize Jesus first and foremost in the meal, in the Eucharistic meal.  Without the Eucharistic meal, therefore, it is difficult, if not impossible, to recognize Jesus further in our other human activities and relations.  It is difficult, if not impossible, to recognize Jesus further in our other human activities and relations without first the Eucharistic Meal. Think about this.