June 11, 2023

Sister Mary Jane Vigil, OSB shares a reflection on the scripture readings: Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58

In preparing for this sharing, I was reminded of the times when we lived on Chelton Road. Many of us volunteered at the Soup Kitchen where the poor and homeless came and still continue to come to the new Soup Kitchen. They come not only for food but also seeking a place of comfort and consolation.

The first word in the reading from Deuteronomy for this feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is “Remember.” Moses reminds the people of how they were kept alive from day to day by God who sent them manna from heaven.

In the Gospel, Jesus says that He is the new bread from heaven that will keep them alive forever.

In 1 Corinthians, Saint Paul tells us how this happens: it is when we eat the living Body of Christ at Mass that we become His Body.

But we don’t live on bread alone. We can exist on bread, but we need more than bread to be properly nourished. At the Eucharist, bread and wine become the sacramental body and blood of Christ. When we receive Him, then we become the Mystical Body of Christ by eating and drinking of his body and blood.

In the Gospel of St. John we hear Jesus say this, “Whoever eats this bread will live forever and the bread that I give is my flesh for the life of the world.” This is the assurance Jesus gave to satisfy the fears and daily hungers of his disciples. Jesus also taught them and us the prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This prayer will be answered because by his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus became the living bread from heaven and gave himself, body, and blood as Eucharistic food for his first followers and our continuing sustenance and support.

Also, the bread we are given takes the form of a living word that feeds our spirit. To live by the bread that comes from God requires a serious willingness to grow and change and be transformed by God’s word and all its challenges.

For our part we must remain continually open to be surprised and sometimes even stunned by the demands of God’s word in our lives, in our world. Eucharist is at once a togetherness meal and a thanksgiving prayer, a memorial, a holy sacrifice. Our Holy Communion, as St. Thomas Aquinas has said, is “a pledge of future glory.” We must be aware that the sacred food Jesus offers also provides the challenge of faith and the challenge to proclaim with the person in Mark’s Gospel, “I believe Lord, help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)