MELCHIZEDEK…

Genesis 14:18-20 
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth;20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Luke 9:11-17

11 When the crowds learned it, they followed him; and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing.12 Now the day began to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place.”
13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish–unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.”14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each.”15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.
16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
17 And all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

MEDITATION

THE FIRST READING recount the occasion when Abraham the Father of all nations, received a visit from the priest Malchizedek, an inigmatic mystical figure who have no genealogy. Moreover this priest who “resemble the Son of God” (Heb 7:3) came to celebrate and offer up bread and wine for the victory Abraham has won over the four kings including his rescuing of Lot and retrieving their stolen goods.

Malchizedek the priest can rightly be said to be the second person of the Trinity, setting in motion the levitical priesthood and His eventual manifestation in the form of flesh in the womb of Mary after which He offered up His flesh and blood on at Calvary—prefiguring the Sacrife of Holy Mass!

THE SECOND READING: Having become aware of the misapprehentions and abuse of the Eucharist, Paul wrote to the Corinth community to do damage control. Paul unequivocally affirm that he received the teaching of the Eucharistic offering of bread and wine from Christ Jesus! Moreover this community evocation is an auspicious event whereby Christ in real time enters into the midts of the people through the cross that has won us victory over sin!

THE GOSPEL READING: When the Apostles unthinkingly suggested that the exhausted hungry crowed be dismissed so they can find food elsewhere, Jesus ordered the Apostles to feed the people! Herein we observe that Jesus prepared the Apostles for their calling to be a priestly people who shall be catechists and preachers after the order of Melchizedek, God most high who more importantly is tasked to feed the people giving them their daily bread!

The multiplication of the loaves and fish prefigure and prepare the apostles for the mystery of the Eucharistic offering, wherethrough the apostles not only feed the flock with the word, but they also inact the mysterious transformation of bread and wine into Christs flesh and blood.Jn 6:54 Whilst the properties or substance of bread and wine appear to be the same, its essence is mystically changed to being heavenly and incorruptable! Whenever we eat and drink of the cup of blessing we partake in the victory that Christ has won over sin and death at Calvary! Mt 26:26:28

LET US PRAY:Psalms 110:1-4 The LORD says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.”2 The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes!3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day you lead your host upon the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning like dew your youth will come to you. 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Commentary. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days