Weekly Reflection 6/23/19

REFLECTION

THE MOST HOLY BODY & BLOOD OF CHRIST

June 22-23, 2019

“Do this in memory of me.”

As Catholic Christians, we come together every week to reenact Jesus’ Last Supper before he went to suffer and die in order to obtain our salvation. We listen as we hear the priest repeat Jesus’ words, “This is my body; this is my blood.” We do this in memory of our savior, and in doing so, we receive the very body and blood of Jesus into our earthly bodies.

Jesus must have known that it would be difficult for people to understand how bread and wine could become his body and blood. So, he worked other wonders with bread and wine during his time on earth to help us to see his power over them.

At the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus changed water into wine. If he can change water into wine, it stands to reason that he can change wine into his blood. In today’s gospel, we hear that Jesus fed over five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fish. And when all was said and done, there was more leftover than what he started with! If Jesus has that kind of power over bread; surely, he can change bread into his body.

And so, we believe. We believe that when the priest repeats the words that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine are transformed into the very body and blood of Jesus. Jesus’ love for us is so great that he desires to become part of us and for us to be one with him.

Over the past few weeks, our parish has been blessed to witness our second graders receiving their first Holy Communion. The children are filled with excitement and wonder as they approach the altar to receive Jesus into their hands, their hearts, and their lives in a special, intimate way for the very first time.

As we celebrate today the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, let us be filled with the same excitement and wonder as filled us the first time we approached the altar to receive Jesus’s body and blood. Let us marvel at the power of God who transforms bread and wine into his very self. Let us carry Jesus forth with us into our world to bring his healing, merciful, compassionate presence to everyone with whom we come in contact.

                                                                                                                                                                                   -Kathleen Foehrkolb