“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.” Can you imagine the wheels turning in the minds of that first audience who heard the message that we just heard in today’s Gospel. His disciples, faithful Jews, were probably familiar with the manna and quail that God sent his people in the desert; we heard about that in today’s first reading. But wait, what? Did he just say what I think he said? “The bread that I will give is my flesh.” And then, just to make sure he was being clear, Jesus goes on to say: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” We have heard this remarkable declaration so often that our familiarity with it can lead us to gloss over what a bold statement this must have been to his original hearers; it is still to many to this day. Eat a man’s flesh, drink his blood? How can this man say this?
First, Jesus can say this and do this because he is no ordinary man. From an ordinary man, these words would seem crazy, indeed. But, as Peter confesses a few verses later in this same chapter from John’s Gospel – and as we today echo – we have come to believe and are convinced that Jesus is the Holy One of God. At every Mass, we profess that Jesus is the Son of God, the Word made flesh. He is the one through whom all things came into being and in whom all things exist. In him, the second person of the Holy Trinity dwelt among us. Through him, our human nature was redeemed, reconciled to the Father, and freed from the slavery of sin and death. He is the risen one who now stands before the throne of God, interceding on our behalf. And, he is the one who gives us his flesh and blood on the altar for us to partake and become one with him, and through him, one with each other, the Body of Christ.
But the words “flesh” and “blood” are vivid and it is understandable if we sometimes find ourselves a bit confused about what Jesus meant. We know that Jesus didn’t mean we should become cannibals or vampires. At the same time, we also know that he didn’t mean that the bread and wine that he offered at that Last Supper were just symbols meant to remind us of him in some vague way. Just as we have come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, we have come to believe, to know, that that same risen Christ is truly and substantially present in the consecrated bread and wine. The words “flesh” and “blood” speak to the fullness of who Christ is and the fullness of who it is we receive. The King of kings and Lord of lords, who humbled himself to take on human flesh, humbles himself to come to us in the simple gifts of bread and wine, becoming one with us. What a gift!
His crowning gift to us was to give himself in a sacred sign. In the bread and wine that become his body and blood at the Last Supper, he offers us a sacred and sacrificial meal, a sacramental gift that binds his Church together. Present in these sacred signs – both in his word and in the bread and wine – the Lord preserves and nourishes his Church through the ages. His followers become the living presence of God in the world, nourished by his own body and blood and drawn into communion with him and one another.
That’s what we celebrate today and every time we gather in the presence of the Lord, signified by the sanctuary lamps behind me, and hear his saving word and receive his nourishing Body and Blood. We become the Body of Christ, the community of believers.
St. Paul, in our second reading today, tells us clearly that the bread we break is “a participation in the body of Christ.” He tells us that the cup we share is “a participation in the blood of Christ.” Think of it: When we eat and drink the body and blood of Christ, we become one with God. We are then able to say with St. Paul, “I live now, not I, but Christ who lives in me.”
The Eucharist offers us these three gifts: the presence of God, the spiritual nourishment we need to grow spiritually, and the community of faith that supports us in all of our needs. How blessed we are.
As we celebrate this great Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, let us receive this sacrament with strong faith and deep gratitude. And, let us, the Body of Christ, make God present to everyone we meet every day of our lives.