Consider this… MY Body, MY Blood, don’t be unbelieving, but believe!
Over the next several weeks we will be taking a break from Mark’s Gospel to hear the ‘Bread of Life Discourse’ from the Gospel of John. John chapter 6 encompasses the heart of our Eucharistic theology. Over the next several weeks we will be invited to go deeper in our understanding of what the Eucharist really means for each of us. This week the stage begins to be set with the multiplication of loaves and fish. This miracle of the feeding of the 5000 lays the ground work for our understanding of the Eucharist. Jesus desires to feed us, and he is able to so with so little, by giving thanks to his Father who provides through Jesus for the people’s needs. Jesus is able to not only satisfy the hunger of the people, but there is an abundance of leftovers. This foreshadows what is coming further in Chapter 6.
When we consider the Eucharist in our lives, do we realize what it is that we are celebrating and consuming. As Catholics, we believe in the REAL presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Through the gift of transubstantiation, Jesus becomes physically present in the gifts of bread and wine that become HIS Body and Blood. Transubstantiation means across time and substance. When Jesus at the last supper told his disciples to ‘take and eat, this is my Body’, and ‘take and drink, this is my blood’, that action is perpetually celebrated through the ministry of the priest at mass. When the priest prays those words at mass, it is really Jesus standing there saying those words to each of us. Listen to the language of the Eucharistic prayer. During those two parts, the English moves into the first person. This is MY Body. This is MY Blood. Do this in memory of ME. Jesus is the one speaking in those moments through the priest, to each of us. Jesus wants to feed us, to satisfy our every need with his very self!
The coming weeks will go deeper into John chapter 6. This is an invitation to all of us to ask ourselves if we are satisfied by Jesus’ Body and Blood. Does it nourish us, sustain us and energize us to do the work of a disciple in the world? For those who believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, it is the source and summit of our entire lives. When we recognize Jesus in the Eucharist, the sacrifice offered and given to us, it should transform our lives.
What do you believe? These coming weeks are an opportunity for all of us to get to the heart of our faith, by believing in the Real Presence of Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist. Belief will transform your life and satisfy you for all eternity. Don’t be unbelieving… but BELIEVE!
Keep Smiling 😊
Fr. Bryan