Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
The Word of God addressed to us on the Solemnity of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ reveals a great mystery (from Greek myo - "close your mouth"; mysterion - "a hidden thing, secret"). A mystery so common and universal that it inspires admiration and brings blessing. But is it the participation of all present at Mass, Adoration and procession of Corpus Christi?
“Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” (Jn 6:51-58)
Moses addresses the people of Israel: Remember all the ways your Lord God has led you ... [Do not forget] your Lord God, who led you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery (cf. Deut 8,2-3.14b-16). The Words of God are to remind and encourage a new reflection on the mystery of the sacramental Presence of God among his people.
The True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The Lord's body and blood is not just a symbol or something only spiritual. The Lord himself indicates this: My body is real food and My blood is real drink (cf. Jn 6:55). The awareness of the Lord's real Presence should lead to admiration for God's incomprehensible love. Since Jesus stayed with us in this sacrament, God is tangible! You can touch God - "taste" (cf Ps 34:9)! Moreover, God can and should be consumed to have his Life (cf. Jn 6:54).
In today's Gospel, Jesus repeatedly testifies to the consequences of eating his Body and Blood: Whoever eats this bread will live (...). My body for the life of the world (...). Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day (...). Whoever eats this bread will live forever. Jesus also sensitizes to the consequences of not feeding by His Body and Blood: If you do not eat the Body of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you (...). This is the bread that came down from heaven, it is not like the one that your ancestors ate and died. These indications seem to be consistent with the research of modern psychology, which assumes that biological needs, including food intake, are fundamental to man, and spiritual needs are set in the background. Jesus argues: "If you do not eat my Body and drink Blood, you will miss something that is necessary for life. Without it there is no Life." The Living Father has sent a Son who lives through the Father and wants you to eat His Body and live in Him!
Eucharistic grace is given to all baptized and believers completely free and in full abundance. The Lord says in John's Gospel: The bread that I will give is my body (cf. 6:51). And the psalmist adds: (...) he gives you generous wheat (Ps 147:14). The difficulty is that man cannot respond properly to this free grace of God. He must constantly fight for something, gain hard work or want to exploit other goods. If he already receives something, he sees the gift as remuneration or a form of bribery. And Jesus gives himself all, all his Deity and Humanity free. "Gives and wants you to take"!
In the face of this "great mystery of our faith" it is worth asking:
What is the state of my faith in the true Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord? Does my soul experience the Eucharistic hunger (cf. Am 8:11)?
Do I have a desire for eternal life? Do I truly believe that eating flesh and blood of the Lord I will gloriously raise from the death? Can I accept the grace of God or do I still just make an effort to strive for perfection?
PRAY! Kneel in prayer meditation on a fragment from the work of St. Thomas Aquinas:
The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods [...]. For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God."[…] That the memory of such great blessing may prevail among us forever, in the form of bread and wine he left for his faithful his body for food and blood to drink.
LIVE THE WORD!
Make sure you get to the church early enough before Mass. Preparation for the Eucharist is the basis for a conscious reception of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Remain today in thanksgiving after receiving Jesus and find a moment for personal Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (in silence)!
Until Tomorrow
Fr. george