Ego sum panis vitae. As we have just been reminded in the previous post, these are the words found in today's Gospel Reading. They serve as a reminder that the Eucharistic Feast of Corpus Christi is nine days from now - don't forget to begin a Novena.
In preparation for this great feast of Corpus Christi, I would simply like to provide links to several essays on the subject of the Eucharist as it is found in the Scriptures. The essays range from focusing on Old Testament types to more focused exegesis on New Testament narratives and explicit proofs - it would be difficult to provide any kind of coherent summary here, so I will simply provide each link with a short description.
There are, maybe not so coincidentally, exactly nine essays linked below. Perhaps the reader will find some fruit in reading these essays one at a time during each of the following nine days.
Old Testament
The King Who Would Be Priest: The Son of David and the Holy Eucharist - demonstrates that the Catholic Church is the Kingdom of God come to earth, because the kingdom that Jesus inaugurated is a kingdom of priests, a Eucharistic Kingdom.
The Todah Sacrifice: From Shadow to Substance - examines the details of the Old Testament todah sacrifice in order to show why this sacrifice in particular so perfectly foreshadowed both the Sacrifice of Calvary and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The Return of the Kings: Some New Considerations on the Typological Relationship between Jesus and David - considers the gradual growth and spread of David's kingdom as it is reported in the Old Testament, and shows how this slow kingdom growth mirrors the Gospel accounts of Jesus and the spread of His kingdom. Of necessity this includes the Eucharistic allusions found in David's actions while bringing the Ark to Jerusalem.
New Testament
Known in the Breaking of the Bread: Emmaus and the Eucharist - A sacramental reading of the Lucan narrative of the Emmaus Road. Explores the Eucharistic symbolism behind the text.
Sacramentalism in St. John's Gospel - a sweeping overview of the entirety of St. John's Gospel, highlighting the many places where the Beloved Disciple alludes to the sacraments of the Catholic Church (especially the Eucharist), whether through words or narrative symbols.
The Once-for-All Sacrifice of Christ: Temporal and Terminated or Eternal and Perpetual? - discusses why the phrase in Hebrews "once for all" should be understood as denoting a perpetual sacrifice, not a temporal and terminated event.
Holy Infant, Bread of Heaven - a meditation on the Incarnation in light of the Eucharist, and vice versa.
The Wedding at Cana - examines the Eucharistic meaning of the Wedding at Cana, as well as the Marian meaning of the text, and the way the text foreshadows Our Lord's Passion.
Meditation on John 6: The Bread of Life - covers the entirety of St. John chapter 6, including the miracle of the multiplication of loaves, Our Lord walking on the water, and the "Bread of Life" discourse. Shows the typology embedded in the first two miracles that help us understand the discourse as a reference to the Most Holy Eucharist.
