Walking with Jesus: The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

For Sunday, June 11, 2023

Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14-16; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58

Despite all our devices to help us remember, we still forget. I have three calendars: one on my phone and another on my computer, and a desk calendar. I check these calendars many times a day, but things do slip through the cracks: Either I have listed an event in only one calendar or I forget the event entirely. When this happens I worry about offending someone. Or is my forgetfulness happening too frequently?

Today’s feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi, is a tremendous reminder of how present God is in my life and the lives of all. Have I forgotten God? Have I failed to give praise and glory to God for being with me daily, blessing me? Do I appreciate His deep and total love? I'm saying this because remembering is what defines Christians as people of faith. Scripture reminds us that God is always with us. Jesus constantly jogs our memory of God’s forgiveness, mercy and reconciliation.  We are invited to respond to God's graciousness in worship and gratitude. As a result, we are called to recommit and make places in our hearts and at our tables for others, especially those who are hurting. God constantly asks us for our unconditional trust in Him as He continues to pour out His unconditional love, mercy and forgiveness on all of His creation.

Moses “hits the nail on the head” with the Israelites. They are on the east side of the Jordan river, within sight of the Promised Land. Moses fears that the abundance of rich and fruitful land here will make their hearts complacent. Their 40-year sojourn has been hard. It’s so difficult to trust in the “unseen” God when your stomach is growling from hunger or when throats — both human and animal — are parched for lack of water. God has never abandoned them, but they have abandoned God. Now they are about to enter this Promised Land “flowing with milk and honey” to signify its abundance. They have become a people bonded to God in a covenant relationship. He has provided a daily source of manna while simultaneously challenging them to trust. They are given enough nourishment each morning to sustain them through the day’s wandering in the lifeless desert. This food is unknown to their ancestors who did not have the advantage of receiving such a miracle to increase their faith. It's a reminder to us that we have the Eucharist which, like that manna, is available to us daily. Have we forgotten the daily need that we have for the Lord?

Moses reminds them: “Do not forget the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery; who guided you through the vast and terrible desert with its seraph serpents and scorpions, its parched and waterless ground; who  brought forth water for you from the flinty rock and fed you in the desert with manna, a food unknown to your fathers.” [Deuteronomy 8:14-16] God is saying to each of us: “Do not forget all I have done for you — My love and kindness — My gifts and presence.”

Paul reaffirms the millennia-old tradition that the cup we bless and receive is really the Blood of Christ, and the bread broken and passed out is truly the Body of Christ. His questions can be rephrased: Does not drinking from the eucharistic cup produce communion with Christ’s life and consuming the eucharistic bread incorporate us into fellowship with Christ? The Eucharist is more than just me and God, or my relationship with Jesus. It has communal implications, connecting us with Jesus and each other: We are His hands, His feet, His mouth, His Ears, His touch of love to all.

In the Gospel, Jesus explains all of this to the people who have been following Him for months, even years. Some respond two verses later: “This saying is hard; who can accept it? ... And He said, For this reason I have told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted them by my Father. As a result of this, many (of) His disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him.” [John 6:60, 65-66]

In the sixth chapter of John's Gospel, entitled The Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus has been building up to a climactic affirmation: He proclaims Himself as the living bread that has come down from heaven. This bread is HIS BODY that He will give for the life of the world, as forgiveness of our sins and His presence eucharistically. Jesus boldly proclaims that whoever eats this bread and drinks His blood will live forever. This is a requirement for having eternal life, and He promises that all who do this will be raised up on the last day. So what does all this mean?

I reflect on:

We hear things like: I’m a Catholic but I don’t go to mass … I follow Christ, but forget this Eucharist business: Todays’ feast is calling each of us to look at the Eucharist in light of what Jesus Himself said. His words are to the point; very succinct. Mass is not just a memory of Calvary or calling to mind something long past. It is making that even present ... NOW ... in all its power and grace. Christ gives us His very body which He gave on the cross, the very blood which He “poured out for many for the forgiveness of our sins.” [Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1365] So why do we go to Mass? Jesus commanded our presence there, saying, “Take and eat, this is My body; take and drink, this is My Blood.” Then He said, “Do this in memory of Me.”  [Luke 22:19] “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” [John 14:15]

Sacred Space 2023 states:

“In the Eucharist we deepen our relationship with Jesus, not mechanically but by becoming more and more like Him over the years. We meet God in this mysterious and dramatic way: God gives Himself to us, and we try to shape our lives into a loving gift for God. In heaven there will be no Eucharist as we know it, because our bonding with God will then be complete.”