The Eucharistic Bond!

Friday, May 9, 2025

Acts 9:1-20; Jn 6:52-59

Today’s Gospel underlines the Eucharistic bond that we enter into by consuming the body and blood of Christ. 

While some misinterpreted the Eucharist as cannibalism, others frowned at the practice, calling it barbaric.

However, the words of Jesus mean real intimacy and fraternity. While the Eucharistic participation symbolizes our oneness with Jesus, we also understand that the Eucharistic Lord fills our being so that we radiate him in all we say and do. 

Moreover, Jesus’ invitation to take part in his body and blood is not altogether new or strange, as we find some ancient cultures preserving the practice of ‘Blood Covenant’ or ‘Blood Oath’ to swear loyalty and fidelity toward the other party. 

In some African and Asian cultures, drinking blood, particularly mixed with wine or milk, has been a practice used to seal covenants or alliances. This practice often symbolizes a strong bond of brotherhood or alliance between individuals or groups. 

For example, the Scythians would allow their blood to drip into a cup, mixed with wine, and shared by both parties. Similarly, the Mongols and Turkic tribes also practiced blood brotherhood as a means of forging alliances. 

Hence, the Eucharistic bond is more profound in that it calls for replicating the Eucharistic Lord in our day-to-day existential context. 

Only in the Eucharist does it happen that we become what we consume, and thus, we ‘remain in Jesus as he remains in us.’

Let us pray that we may appreciate the profound meaning of the Eucharist and live its call faithfully. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar