Jesus and Me
Opening Prayer: Lord, you offer us your nourishment and affection in your gift of the Eucharist. Help us to become a Eucharistic people. Amen
Leader: Our formation discussions follow Sister Cheryl Clemons’ talks during Associates and Sisters Day, “From Incarnation to Eucharist,” and “Living a Eucharistic Life.” The power of the Eucharist requires a strong relationship with Jesus. Session 3 focuses on Jesus and me.
The word “Eucharist” is derived from the Greek word for Thanksgiving. The Gospel of Luke has the most references to Jesus eating with others, and often these meals were significant because of who he chose to eat with – tax collectors and sinners, pharisees, the bickering Martha and Mary, disciples who don’t recognize him on the road to Emmaus, and his apostles, both right before his death and after his resurrection.
Reader 1: “Jesus gives himself to us in the Eucharist as spiritual nourishment because he loves us. By eating the Body and drinking the Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, we become united to the person of Christ through his humanity. ‘Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him’ (John 6:56). In being united to the humanity of Christ, we are at the same time united to his divinity. Our mortal and corruptible natures are transformed by being joined to the source of life.”
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website
Reader 2: He came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”
Luke 19:1-10
Leader: Consider these questions among your group.
- Why do you think it was important to Jesus to share a meal with such dissimilar people?
- Have you ever sought to share a meal with people who were quite different from you? Why or why not?
Leader: Our society tells us that to be worthy of acclaim, we must achieve great things. But most of us will never be considered so important. We may feel very small in the world. Perhaps your life feels too little to be valuable to God? But we know what Jesus can do with just a little.
Reader 3: As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, “Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.” They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.” Now the men there numbered about five thousand. … Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.
Luke 9:12-17
Reader 4: As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” … Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Luke 24: 28-35
Leader: Consider these questions among your group.
- How do you overcome those moments when you feel “too little” to be valuable to God?
- What might the Eucharist say to you about the part that feels too little?
Reader 3: “We choose love by taking small steps of love every time there is an opportunity. A smile, a handshake, a word of encouragement, a phone call, a card, a visit – all these are little steps toward love. Each step is like a candle burning in the night. It does not take the darkness away, but it guides us through the darkness. When we look back after many small steps of love, we will discover that we have made a long and beautiful journey.”
Henri Nouwen, “Bread for the Journey”
Reader 4: “Compare the life you have now to the life God is offering you going forward. … The bible tells us, over and over again, that God is working on us. The lessons and stories of scripture are about God creating something new. Growing something. Developing something. Crafting something. The message of the Bible is that we’re all a work in progress.”
Rob Leveridge, pastor and musician
Leader: Consider this question among your group
- What can I do in my family or parish to bring out the message of the Eucharist to others?
Closing prayer: Jesus calls us to love others as he loves us. Help us to be people who hold the Christ light for those struggling in the darkness. Amen.