The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
“Alive, yet hungry.” These were the words that the Lord had spoken to me in prayer when reflecting on the Body and Blood of Christ. As a little girl, I remember begging and pleading to my mom during Mass to let me taste the Eucharist. It was the most exciting part of the hour-long thing we did on Sundays. Looking back at my 6-year-old self, I am still able to use that memory to renew my hunger to receive Him.
This Sunday, our readings focus on the source and summit of our faith, the Eucharist! If you’ve ever wondered why God chooses bread and wine and transforms them into His Body and Blood, then you are not alone, my friend. As humans, we quite literally need food and drink to survive. Our lives depend on it. The thing is, we need to be nourished, both physically and spiritually, and the Body and Blood of Christ does just that. It feeds hungry souls. The Father, in all of His goodness and love, desires for us to be united fully with Him through Jesus’ true presence in the Eucharist.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” I have asked myself questions over the meaning of this verse many times before. What does He mean by no life within me? I mean, I am alive and breathing right now. However, while we may be physically living, we are all spiritually hungry. We all have a deep desire for communion, and when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, that union is life giving. He chooses us to be His dwelling place, so that we may go out into the world as living tabernacles to feed one another.
Dear friends, this Sunday, the Father calls us to be nourished. He longs to be the one who sustains us, and through Him we are granted eternal life. Whatever is broken, dead, or lost, He uses to transform through His Body and Blood. The Bread of Heaven is for us. Although we may be hungry, through Him we are brought to new life.