Rosary: The Institution of the Eucharist
The Fifth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary
The Fifth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary: The Institution of the Eucharist
Feast Day: Thursday of Holy Week
Matthew 26:17 On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do You want us to make the preparations for You to eat the Passover?” 18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.
20 When it was evening, He took His place with the Twelve; 21 and while they were eating, He said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray Me.” 22 And they became greatly distressed and began to say to Him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” 25 Judas, who betrayed Him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”
26 While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it He broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My Body.” 27 Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My Blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom.” 30 When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
This fifth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary highlights the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. It is here that Our Lord transforms the Old Covenant and the Passover into the New Covenant and Divine Liturgy/Mass. In the Old Covenant, the Passover lamb had to be eaten by all in the house to be a part of the Covenant. This is the same in the New Covenant, except Jesus is the Passover Lamb of God in this Covenant. This is why “Easter” is called “Pasch” in countries that speak something other than English and German. The Old Covenant is no more, as it has been transformed into the New. Baptism replaces circumcision as the entrance rite into the Covenant. The Eucharist replaces the lamb as the participation and meal of the Covenant.
We must remember that the Last Supper and the Crucifixion are one long, singular event. They are not separate. This is the sacrifice of Calvary, the Passover Lamb of God, that is offered in the Last Supper. When Our Lord drinks the wine on the Cross as His last act, that is Him drinking the 4th and final cup to conclude the Passover ritual and meal of the Last Supper. We do not re-create and re-sacrifice Jesus during Mass. Rather, we actually and truly participate in the actual Last Supper and Calvary. When you are at Mass, you are present in the Upper Room for the Last Supper and you are standing on Golgotha at the Crucifixion. You are truly participating in them. Never forget that.
Mark 14:22 While they were eating, He took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it He broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is My Body.” 23 Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks He gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. 24 He said to them, “This is My Blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”
Notice how carefully the Gospel writers are to detail out the specifics of the Last Supper. They all have the same order to the institution of the Eucharist. Our Lord first takes the bread, then blesses it, then He breaks it, and then gives His Body to the Apostles. This same four step process is mirrored in the three Synoptic Gospels and in the letter of 1 Corinthians. If you pay attention to Mass, you will see the priest do the same thing. He will take the bread, bless it, break it, and the give it. The priest is in persona Christi at this moment, and Our Lord Himself is present at each Mass to give you His Body.
Luke 22:14 When the hour came, He took His place at the table, and the Apostles with Him. 15 He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.” 17 Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks He said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes.” 19 Then He took a loaf of bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My Body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My Blood. 21 But see, the one who betrays Me is with Me, and his hand is on the table. 22 For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined, but woe to that one by whom He is betrayed!” 23 Then they began to ask one another which one of them it could be who would do this.
A covenant is different from a contract. A contract is an agreement between to parties to exchange some goods and services with each other. It is transactional in nature. A covenant, on the other hand, is relational. A covenant is an exchange of persons with each other. A covenant is how a person becomes a member of a family. This is why marriage is a sacrament and a covenant. The spouses give themselves to each other and create a new family. In the New Covenant, we become part of the family of the Trinity. We actually become children of the Father.
This is why in Baptism, we are baptized in the Name (singular) of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. We take on the family name of the Holy Trinity. We become part of their family and we carry around this Name with us just as we carry our own family name with us. Covenants require a ritual to become enrolled in the covenant. In the Old Covenant, that ritual was circumcision, and in the New Covenant it is Baptism. There is also a meal that must be shared to consummate the covenant and this meal must be repeated at regular intervals to remain in effect. In the Old Covenant, that meal was the Passover with the lamb. In the New Covenant, that meal is the Mass/Divine Liturgy while we receive and eat the Paschal Lamb of God, who is Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. This is why the Eucharist must actually be Our Lord’s Body and Blood. If we only symbolically receive the Lamb of God, then we are only symbolically in the New Covenant rather than actually in the Covenant.
John 6:47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the Bread of Life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the Bread that comes down from Heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living Bread that came down from Heaven. Whoever eats of this Bread will live forever; and the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My Flesh.”
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His Flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat My Flesh and drink My Blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for My Flesh is true food and My Blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat My Flesh and drink My Blood abide in Me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the Bread that came down from Heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this Bread will live forever.”
Throughout this teaching from John 6, Jesus is questioned multiple times about His teaching here on the Eucharist. Each time He is questioned about it, Our Lord gets even MORE literal in His responses. He then explicitly says that He will give us His Body to eat and His Blood to drink. He even says if you do not receive it, you have no life within you. He is not kidding around here. Our Lord is being deadly and eternally serious. He hammers this point home by saying that the Bread He will give for the life of the world is His Flesh. The Eucharist is not a symbol. It is real. Jesus is not joking.
God Himself came down from Heaven so that He could give Himself to those who believe. He offers Himself to us and holds nothing back. He gives us His Body to feed on and His Blood to drink from, so that we can be in the New Covenant with Him. This is how He is reconciling us to the Father, through the Holy Ghost.
1 Corinthians 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My Body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also, 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.
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the Bread or drinks the Cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the Body and Blood of the Lord. 28 Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the Bread and drink of the Cup. 29 For all who eat and drink without discerning the Body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. 30 For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
John 13:21 After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray Me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom He was speaking. 23 One of His disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to Him; 24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom He was speaking. 25 So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked Him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when He had dipped the piece of bread, He gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. 27 After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” 28 Now no one at the table knew why He said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival”; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.
Notice something very important here. Judas stayed through the consecration of the Eucharist, as we can see in the other Gospel accounts of the Last Supper. The “bread” mentioned here in John 13 is not bread, but instead is the Eucharist. Jesus dipped His Body (bread) into the dish with the Blood (wine), and then gave it to Judas Iscariot. This moment was when Satan enters into Judas. Judas received the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin, and doing so opened him up to full possession from Satan. This is why St. Paul in 1 Corinthians warns so sternly about receiving the Eucharist with mortal sin on your soul. Damnation is right around the corner if you receive the Eucharist while in a state of mortal sin.
Notice as well that Our Lord does not protect Himself from the abuse, sacrilege and blasphemy of Judas. He is the same with us today. He is Present with us in the Eucharist but does not try to protect Himself from us. He offers Himself freely. So how do we receive Him. Do we receive Him worthily as the other Apostles, or do we receive Him like Judas?
Links to the other Mysteries of the Rosary
JOYFUL MYSTERIES
Fifth Joyful Mystery - The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (coming soon)
SORROWFUL MYSTERIES
GLORIOUS MYSTERIES
First Glorious Mystery - The Resurrection (coming soon)
Second Glorious Mystery - The Ascension of Christ (coming soon)
Third Glorious Mystery - The Descent of the Holy Ghost (coming soon)
LUMINOUS MYSTERIES
Second Luminous Mystery - The Wedding at Cana (coming soon)
Third Luminous Mystery - The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God (coming soon)
Fourth Luminous Mystery - The Transfiguration (coming soon)
Fifth Luminous Mystery - The Institution of the Eucharist