RBWords

     These words from the Book of Exodus should sound familiar to us Catholics!  The priest celebrating the Eucharist speaks these words as part of the consecration of the cup of wine.  They are taken from words spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper, but the allusion is more ancient. 

     To the Hebrews blood was the equivalent of the life of a living human or other animal.  It played a part in many aspects of worship because of its meaning.  When Moses splashed blood on the altar and then sprinkles it on the people, the symbolism was that of a shared life - a covenant.  When Jesus took wine and made it the equivalent of his blood for us to consume, he created a new covenant of shared life.  In the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, there is also the element of atonement for sin.  Both "covenant" and "atonement" were represented in separate temple rituals. 

     It is difficult for us today to understand some of this because it seems a bit gross, but anyone who has ever suffered from a blood disorder learns just how important that "fluid of life" is!  Anyone who has received a blood donation knows that someone else has "given life."  Strangely enough, the kind of "frequent communion" that Catholics experience today is relatively recent in church history, dating to the beginning of the 20th century!  Before that, people did not "go to communion" often even though they went to Mass.  In our day, we are encouraged to seek this sacrament of "life" often and worthily.  It is Christ's life given for us - the blood of the covenant.  AMEN