The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)
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Today's Word
Dt 8:2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Cor 10:16-17; Jn 6:51-58 Read at USCCB
Real Talk
Jesus says it plainly: my flesh is true food, my blood is true drink. Not symbolically - truly. The people in the crowd quarrel: how can he give us his flesh to eat? Jesus doesn't walk it back. He repeats it: whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.
Paul frames what that means for the community: the cup we bless is participation in his Blood; the bread we break is participation in his Body. Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body.
Moses told the desert generation: don't forget that God fed you with manna when you had nothing. Not by bread alone. By the word that comes from the mouth of God. The Eucharist is that word - the Word made flesh, made bread, given for the life of the world.
Corpus Christi is the feast that says: this is real. The body you receive is the body he gave for the world. The remaining it produces is actual.
Your Challenge
Receive the Eucharist this week with attention. Not routine. Know what you are going to receive before you go. Stay for a full minute after Communion in the awareness of the mutual indwelling. Let it be real.
One Prayer
Lord, let the eating produce the remaining. You in me, I in you. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in you. Amen.
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