Walking with Jesus: Feast of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus A

For Sunday, June 7, 2026

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


We have been coming to the Eucharist for a small time (First Communions, Holy Thursday’s acceptance into the Church Eucharist) or for a longer and much longer time. I’m sure there have been times in our lives when we received, and were so much in step with Jesus and the Church, that something very special “happened” — we definitely felt close to God and that we were loved and cared for. Yet at other times it seemed like a time of nothingness, boredom, perhaps a waste of time — exactly what Satan desires for us. God isn’t important … He doesn’t care. This has never been true.

Today we hear from John, where Jesus is addressing the Jewish crowds. He is in Galilee and, as usual, a large crowd is following. Some are curious, wanting to see this person who is so considerate and compassionate to people who are hurting. Accounts of His healing are all around — it seems that no illness, disease or accident is beyond His healing touch. Imagine what that looks like: crying, overjoyed people who have been carrying their illnesses for a very long time. Their healing is exactly that: They are healed — not temporarily but permanently — to live lives they have imagined but never experienced. I’m sure “spies” have been sent by the religious leaders, perhaps even Roman authorities, to catch Jesus defying Rome and the Temple rulers. They just can’t find in Jesus one they can love. Anger and hatred are rampant in their lives … He is disturbing the status quo … Rome will get mad. Today Jesus will give a key explanation of the Eucharist, coming after the people have listened to Him. They are hungry, having no food nor the capability to acquire any. So Jesus proceeds with a miracle: the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. This miracle story is the only miracle story found in all four Gospels, actually appearing twice in Mark and Matthew and once in Luke and John. The Catholic Study Bible notes:  

“The story here symbolizes the food that is really available through Jesus. It connotes a new exodus and has eucharistic overtones.”

The Lord — our Lord and God — comes to each of us in the simple gifts of bread and wine, becoming one with us. Jesus says it right in the Gospel:

“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.” [John 6:51]

The language Jesus uses is plain: His flesh is food and His blood is drink. He says it four times in verses 53 through 56. While it's a common way to characterize a human being, when applied to Jesus it is a proclamation of faith in the incarnation and also in the victim who was sacrificed — first on the cross and then as food and drink. Its meaning? The flesh and blood of Jesus have become the source of life for those who partake of it. Eternal life comes not simply from believing in Jesus but from feeding on Him. Those who participate in this meal already possess eternal life. Now Jesus can say this and do this because He is no ordinary man. If these words came from an ordinary man they would seem crazy. Peter confirms this later in the chapter: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that You are the Holy One of God.” [John 6:68-69]

The people hear Jesus but do not understand. It seems this person is saying He is God, but only God can say these things. How can a person eat a man’s flesh and drink his blood? How can anyone even say this? We hear this today and say it’s the boldest statement we’ve ever heard. Yes — it is! 

So I reflect on:

• I am invited to the Eucharist. How do I give all of myself to family, friends, and strangers I encounter ... as Jesus asked me to do?
• The presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is life for the world. How can I be God’s life and light in my world and the big world?

Sacred Space 2026 states:

“The people listening to Jesus did not understand the words, ‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven.’ Then He said, ‘unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.’ Jesus was not speaking literally but metaphorically. With metaphor the qualities of one thing, bread and wine, are figuratively carried over to another, flesh and blood. We received the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist as food for the soul and as a reminder that Jesus shed His blood so that we might abide in Him.”