St James Catholic Church

This weekend we come together to receive the Body and Blood of Christ conscious of the fact that Jesus gave us this sacrament to sustain and nourish us as we continue to carry out his mission.  He is the living bread come down from heaven, the bread that is the flesh he gave for the life of the world, the bread that leads us to eternal life.  So we give thanks to God for the unique and priceless gift of the Eucharist, to which, we are invited.

In the third chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus repeatedly uses the word “believe” as the key to eternal life.  Now in the sixth chapter, Jesus essentially substitutes an action for a belief.  “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”  Orienting one’s mind toward God is essential, but now Jesus calls the people to do something, to eat the flesh of our Lord. Just as what we ordinarily eat and drink becomes part of us, giving life and energy to our physical selves, the Body and Blood we eat and drink become part of us, giving life and energy to our whole selves, for they are true food and true drink.

Unfortunately, shortly after Jesus announced this special gift, many asked, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”  And many stopped believing in him.  Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, “Are you too going to leave?”  Peter answers, “Where can we go?  You have the words of everlasting life.”

Today, also, many have stopped believing that the Eucharist is the presence of Christ, body, blood, soul and divinity.  This certainly shows why so few Catholics celebrate (maybe 25%) the Mass on every weekend.  And so this solemnity is a good reminder to all of us of the tremendous gift of self, love, and sacrifice, that Christ gave us in his Eucharistic presence.  This bread and wine has become the real presence of Christ in our midst changed into his Body and Blood.  That’s why we have a tabernacle.  Consecrated bread left over from the Mass (Transubstantiation) is reserved in this sacred container for adoration as well as taking communion to those who could not be here.  Aware that familiarity can breed contempt, because we receive the Lord so frequently, we lose consciousness of the tremendous love poured out in this sacrament.  We renew our awareness and devotion for this tremendous gift as we pray “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

Love, Peace, Joy,

Fr. Bob