I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever. (John 6:51-53)
A word from Fr. Chris
The feast of Corpus Christi as it’s popularly called celebrates the Body and Blood of Jesus which He, Christ, gave the church as a divine and gratuitous gift of Himself as food for our salvation. This rich and precious food is called the Holy Eucharist or Holy Communion. It is also referred to as the Bread of Angels or the Bread of life. It is called the Viaticum when taken to a person in danger of death. Christ himself referred to it of himself as, the bread that came down from heaven.
Before the institution of the Holy Eucharist, Christ had worked a miracle of feeding a multitude with five loaves and two fish, (Matthew 14:15-21, Luke 9: 16). This miracle sounded the loudest of his miracles and so attracted the crowd that they began to look for him everywhere. Jesus said to them, “You are looking for me because you ate the bread and had all that you wanted, instead work for the food that lasts for eternal life.” From there he stepped forward to prepare their mind for this food which, according to him, if they ate it they would never die. They said to him, “Please give us this food always”. Jesus replied, “This food would be my body for the life of the world”. Those who misunderstood him left and went away.
Jesus categorically then said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven whoever eats this bread will live forever. My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I in him, and I will raise him on the last day.” He even made it mandatory that, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will not have life in you” (John 6: 52-53). This is our faith and doctrine in the Eucharistic Lord.
Today’s liturgy would want us, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to reflect deeply on the communion we receive most times at Mass that it is the person of Jesus Christ; That we receive: His body, blood, soul and divinity under the appearances of bread and wine. We are to receive him without any grave sin in our soul. If there is any, we have to go to confession to be forgiven so as to gain the grace that accompanies a worthy reception of this sacrament. We are to go for it with proper decorum and respect worthy of him whom we receive. We are to worship, adore and reverence Him as He reposes in all tabernacles of the world.
Fr. Chris Adinuba
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