During the Last Supper, Jesus opens wide his sacred heart: “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15).
The biblical original, epithymia epethymesa literally is rendered, ” I have desired to desire.” The love Jesus pours out for his own is beyond imagining and Jesus designs to demonstrate his love as a counter to the rising tide of human malice.
- Judas had already accepted the silver to betray
- Peter inching toward his public triple denial
- All of them soon to scurry into the darkness
Jesus’ Eucharist is God’s response to human treachery.
“Desiring to desire”, Jesus dares to pursue his own, not with threats nor with condemnations, but with the most remarkable offer of perfect charity: His Body broken and shared for us, His Blood poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. God offers himself to us as our Rescuer from all malice and as Food for our journey.
The Eucharist perpetuates His real, living presence.