“I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever.” (Gospel Verse John 6:51)
Happy Feast of Corpus Christi!
This Feast is a chance to participate and meditate on what it means to feed on the Word of God—Jesus, the Son of God.
So we do not just sit around thinking about what it means to participate in the Eucharist, we also physically receive it into our very bodies.
It is not an either/or scenario—it is a both/and.
That means it is important not only to join in at Communion and in parish processions and festivities, but it is also important to pray and spend time contemplating the mystery of Christ, dwelling with us.
In fact, one of the ways in which we are told to encounter the mystery of Christ’s presence in our day and age, up close and personal—is to love others: “Whatever you did for the least of my brothers [and sisters], you did for me” (paraphrase of Matthew 25:40).
That means that we are promised this: we can be transformed by our encounter with Christ through these physical “meetings;” that is, in the Word of God, through Holy Communion, and also by receiving Him in the Poor, the imprisoned and the “least” of our brethren.
It is not either/or. It is both/and!
God is not stingy with any of his gifts, but rather generous and thorough and overflowing with abundant blessings, if we only ask . . .in order to receive all that is offered.
Through and with Christ, it is both/and, and it is all/everything.