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From: 1 Corinthians 11:17-26, 33

Abuses
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[17] But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because
when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.
[18] For, in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear
that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it, [19] for
there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine
among you may be recognized. [20] When you meet together, it is not the
Lord's supper that you eat. [21] For in eating, each one goes ahead
with his own meal, and one is hungry and another is drunk. [22] What!
Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the
church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to
you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

The Institution of the Eucharist and its Worthy Reception

[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.

[33] So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one
another.

Commentary:

17-22. Here St Paul discusses a much more serious abuse. These
Christians used to combine the celebration of the Eucharist with a meal
in common. In principle, this meal was intended to be a sign of charity
and solidarity among those present: hence the fact that it was
sometimes called an agape or fraternal banquet; these meals also
provided an opportunity to help those most in need. However, certain
abuses had arisen: instead of a meal in which all shared equally, they
had been eating in groups, each group eating the food they had brought,
which meant that some ate and drank too much, while others did not have
enough or had nothing at all. The net effect was that this meal--giving
rise as it did to discontent and discord--was in sharp contrast with
the Eucharist the source of charity and unity. Very early on in the
Church the Eucharist was separated from these meals, which then became
simple fraternal meals with no liturgical significance.

23-26. These verses clearly bear witness to the early Christians' faith
in the eucharistic mystery. St Paul is writing around the year 57--only
twenty-seven years since the institution of the Eucharist--, reminding
the Corinthians of what they had been taught some years earlier ("c."
the year 51). The words "received" and "delivered" are technical terms
used to indicate that a teaching is part of apostolic Tradition; cf.
also 1 Cor 15:3. These two passages highlight the importance of that
apostolic Tradition. The words "I received from the Lord" are a
technical expression which means "I received through that Tradition
which goes back to the Lord himself."

There are three other New Testament accounts of the institution of the
Eucharist (Mt 26:26-29; Mk 14:22-25; Lk 22:16-20). This account, which
is most like St Luke's, is the earliest of the four.

The text contains the fundamental elements of Christian faith in the
mystery of the Eucharist: 1) the institution of this sacrament by Jesus
Christ and his real presence in it; 2) the institution of the Christian
priesthood; 3) the Eucharist is the sacrifice of the New Testament (cf.
notes on Mt 26:26-29; Mk 14:22-25; Lk 22: 16-20; 1 Cor 10: 14-22).

"Do this in remembrance of me": in instituting the Eucharist, our Lord
charged that it be re-enacted until the end of time (cf. Lk 22:19),
thereby instituting the priesthood. The Council of Trent teaches that
Jesus Christ our Lord, at the Last Supper, "offered his body and blood
under the species of bread and wine to God the Father and he gave his
body and blood under the same species to the apostles to receive,
making them priests of the New Testament at that time. [...] He ordered
the apostles and their successors in the priesthood to offer this
sacrament when he said, "Do this in remembrance of me", as the Catholic
Church has always understood and taught" ("De SS. Missae Sacrificio",
chap. 1; cf. can. 2). And so, Pope John Paul II teaches, the Eucharist
is "the principal and central reason-of-being of the sacrament of the
priesthood, which effectively came into being at the moment of the
institution of the Eucharist, and together with it" ("Letter to All
Bishops", 24 February 1980).

The word "remembrance" is charged with the meaning of a Hebrew word
which was used to convey the essence of the feast of the Passover--
commemoration of the exodus from Egypt. For the Israelites the passover
rite not only reminded them of a bygone event: they were conscious of
making that event present, reviving it, in order to participate in it,
in some way, generation after generation (cf. Ex 12:26-27; Deut 6:20-
25). So, when our Lord commands his Apostles to "do this in remembrance
of me", it is not a matter of merely recalling his supper but of
renewing his own passover sacrifice of Calvary, which already, at the
Last Supper, was present in an anticipated way.

33-34. These precise instructions show how desirous the Apostle is to
surround the mystery of the Eucharist with due adoration, respect and
reverence, which are a logical consequence of the sublimity of this
sacrament. The Church is tireless in making this point: "when
celebrating the Sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord, the full
magnitude of the divine mystery must be respected, as must the full
meaning of this sacramental sign in which Christ is really present and
is received, the soul is filled with grace and the pledge of future
glory is given (cf. Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 47).

"This is the source of the duty to carry out rigorously the
liturgical rules and everything that is a manifestation of community
worship offered to God himself, all the more so because in this
sacramental sign he entrusts himself to us with limitless trust, as if
not taking into consideration our human weakness, our unworthiness, the
force of habit, or even the possibility of insult. Every member of the
Church, especially bishops and priests, must be vigilant in seeing that
this Sacrament of love shall be at the center of the life of the people
of God, so that through all the manifestations of worship due to it
Christ shall be given back 'love for love' and truly become 'the life
of our souls' (cf. Jn 6:51-57; 14:6; Gal 2:20)" (John Paul II,
"Redemptor Hominis", 20).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Luke 7:1-10

The Centurion's Faith

[1] After He (Jesus) had ended all His sayings in the hearing of the
people He entered Capernaum. [2] Now a centurion had a slave who was
dear to him, who was sick and at the point of death. [3] When he heard
of Jesus, he sent to Him elders of the Jews, asking Him to come and
heal his slave. [4] And when they came to Jesus, they besought Him
earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have You do this for him, [5] for he
loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue." [6] And Jesus went
with them. When He was not far from the house, the centurion sent
friends to Him, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am
not worthy to have You come under my roof; [7] therefore I did not
presume to come to You. But say the word, and let my servant be
healed. [8] For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me:
and I say to one, `Go,' and he goes; and to another, `Come,' and he
comes; and to my slave, `Do this,' and he does it." [9] When Jesus
heard this He marvelled at him, and turned and said to the multitude
that followed Him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such
faith." [10] And when those who had been sent returned to the house,
they found the slave well.

Commentary:

1-10. "They besought Him earnestly" (verse 4). Here is an example of
the effectiveness of the prayer of petition, which induces Almighty God
to work a miracle. In this connection St. Bernard explains what we
should ask God for: "As I see it, the petitions of the heart consists
in three things [...]. The first two have to do with the present, that
is, with things for the body and for the soul; the third is the
blessedness of eternal life. Do not be surprised that He says that we
should ask God for things for the body: all things come from Him,
physical as well as spiritual things [...]. However, we should pray
more often and more fervently for things our souls need, that is, for
God's grace and for virtues" ("Fifth Lenten Sermon", 8f). To obtain His
grace--of whatever kind--God Himself expects us to ask Him assiduously,
confidently, humbly and persistently.

What stands out here is the centurion's humility: he did not belong to
the chosen people, he was a pagan; but he makes his request through
friends, with deep humility. Humility is the route to faith, whether
to receive faith for the first time or to revive it. Speaking of his
own conversion experience, St. Augustine says that because he was not
humble, he could not understand how Jesus, who was such a humble
person, could be God, nor how God could teach anyone by lowering
Himself to the point of taking on our human condition. This was
precisely why the Word, eternal Truth, became man--to demolish our
pride, to encourage our love, to subdue all things and thereby be able
to raise us up (cf. "Confessions", VII, 18, 24).

6-7. Such is the faith and humility of the centurion that the Church,
in its eucharistic liturgy, gives us his very words to express our own
sentiments just before receiving Holy Communion; we too should strive
to have this interior disposition when Jesus enters our roof, our
soul.