Corpus Christi Sunday - June 11th, 2023 (Click Here for Readings)

When Jesus said, I am the bread of life. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever (John 6:51), which side would we have taken among the quarreling Jews who said, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat"?

Jesus did not soften his words. He made no attempt to appease his unbelievers or accommodate their lack of faith. He did not give in or say that he was only speaking of his body in a figurative way. He said it the way it was, with force, over and over again . . . eight times in this reading.

He horrified his listeners. The drinking of blood was forbidden to them because they believed that blood was the lifeforce over which only God had power.

The ones who didn't believe or took Jesus metaphorically went back to their own ways. They were disciples up to this point, but this new command to eat his flesh and drink his blood was just too strange for them to accept. 

In the words of Benedictine Monk Calmet, "They were not able to raise their hearts to a more elevated and spiritual way of understanding Christ's words." 

And as St. John Chrysostom said, "If they were blamed for making foolish and blasphemous statements like "How can he give us his flesh to eat," are those who refuse to believe in his real presence in the Eucharist today any less blamable?" *

When Our Belief is Challenged . . . 

Have we, as believers, ever been challenged by those who refuse to believe? So that we can stand up stronger when opposed, here are a few helpful responses from St. Ambrose . . .  

If we believe the water was changed into wine at the marriage feast of Cana; if we believe that the bread in the hands of Christ and his apostles was not diminished by being broken and divided among five thousand, why cannot we believe the miracle of the Eucharist on the authority of Christ's word.

If the word of Elias could call down fire from heaven, shall not the word of Christ be able to change the outward elements? Was the order of nature followed when Jesus was born of a Virgin? Then why is that order to be looked for here?
 
How much more powerful is the virtue of the divine blessing than nature? If the blessing of men (as with Moses changing a rod into a serpent) was powerful enough to change nature, what can we not say of the divine consecration, where the very words of the Lord operate? 

And if Jesus, during his public ministry, performed so many miracles, was it not to induce us to believe without doubting the truths that surpass our reason? 

The Honor and Joy of Being a Eucharistic Minister

To serve the Holy Eucharist to fellow Catholics is an honor and privilege indeed. And when we’re joyous about it, we can transfer our feelings of joy to the recipients and give them the inspiration they need to go forward from Mass and take on the day with renewed faith.

As a eucharistic minister, imagine Jesus saying to you face to face, I want you to tell this person to encounter me; to affirm my sacramental presence in what they’re receiving.
  
When we do this with eye contact, it conveys to the recipient that we are in this together.
It becomes a mutual encounter of feeding each other with joy.

So for us who have the privilege of serving in this exalted ministry, let us always show our gratefulness by performing our role with joy and dignity.

* A 2019 Pew Research Center survey showed that only 31 percent of Catholics believed in transubstantiation and 69 percent did not.

For more reflections on the Sunday readings, Go Here