Today we reflect on what it means to eat the Flesh of Jesus and drink his Blood. We reflect on what it means to be a “Eucharistic People.” The Lord says in the gospel that unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have any life in you. He adds on that My Flesh is True Food and my Blood is True Drink.
United to Jesus
There is a well-known song in the US American Catholic Church that is inspired by the gospel text we have today that says “The Body of Christ. The Blood of the Lord. Eating your body, Drinking your blood, We become what we receive! Amen! Amen.”
In the song we learn that when we eat the Body of Christ and drink His Blood, the Lord unites us to himself, transforming our lives into His own life. We become His Body and His Blood. When we consume Christ, we consume Love, Forgiveness, Encouragement, Sacrifice, Unity, Divinity, Hope, Service, Kindness, and Resurrection. When our lives are united to the life of Christ, we become like Christ for others who “consume” us. Hopefully we too become what we received and have the same “taste” as Christ!
You Become What You Eat
In Africa we say, when you eat a lot of chicken, you will become chicken too. When you eat a lot of vegetables, part of you is going to become vegetables. Or to put it in “Americanese” if you consume too much soda like Coke, part of you will become Coke!
The biggest desire of Christ is that we become like him and take on his identity for the benefit of others. When Christ lives in us, we become a people of Hope, of Service, of Unity, of Sacrifice, of the Resurrection! The desire of Christ is that we are transformed by his relationship with us so that we become His love, his encouragement, his hands, his love, his kindness, his sacrifice, his embrace, his smile, unity, his service, his sacrifice, his hope. These are the markers of Christ’s identity and we who consume him need to acquire a similar identity. I am sure we have encountered through life people whose lives embodied Christ in this sort of way.
Bringing Jesus to Others
Today we can ask ourselves: When people “consume” us, do they get spiritually nourished or are they left starving? We can ask ourselves: What “taste” do other people get when they “consume” us? Is it a taste of kindness, humility, hope, unity, sacrifice, love, encouragement?
May we pray that our individual lives and our families will be transformed into truly becoming Eucharistic. Eating His Body, and Drinking His Blood, may we truly become what we receive!
- Father Fred's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
- To join the Rosary and Mass Livestream, visit the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday – Friday. Consider inviting others to join too! (*If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, simply select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
