Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (A)

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (A)

Jn 6:51-58

I have a question for all of you, and you may think I am crazy.

Does anyone of you want to die? If yes, please raise your hand.

Everyone wants to live, even live a long life. That is why we take medication or go to the hospital when we get sick. When we come to see doctors, we listen to them attentively, and we follow and do almost everything they tell us to do. And by the way, I had no problem with my health until I met my doctor. But after I met him.

Yes, we do whatever the doctor tells us to do—for example, taking three pills daily, exercising 40 minutes daily, and eating healthy food. So why do we have to do all of these? It is because we want to live long. We want to live long, don't we? Some people may live over 80 years old; others may reach more than 100 years old. One hundred years is still short; 200 years is still short; 1000 years is not enough.

A lot of times, we focus so much on temporal life rather than everlasting life. That is why we sometimes take for granted the most important in our Christian life, the everlasting life. Many times, do not care much about spiritual medication. We forget to seek a doctor of our souls when we have a spiritual crisis. And we may forget that we have the most powerful physician, the divine physician of all.

Jesus Christ is the most powerful doctor. He is not only the doctor who heals our souls but who gives divine medicine to us. We call this medicinethe Eucharist, the heavenly medicine. The divine medicine that Jesus gives is his Body and Blood, which enables us to live not 100 years but forever; "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Here is the interesting thing: when doctors give us medications, he would say, "You will be fine, and you will properly live if you take medications regularly.” So, do doctors have any power to do anything directly to our bodies? No, the powers now lie in the medicines that we have taken. Whether it is effective or not, relying on medications and our bodies.

Now consider the words of our divine doctor Jesus Christ. Throughout the Bible, when God speaks, some things truly happen. In the book of Genesis, God spoke, and things came into being. "Then God said, 'let there be light,'; and there was light." The words that Jesus spoke are "spirit and life." Therefore, when Jesus speaks, something happens because he has the power to do so. Does God have any power over the Eucharist we have received? Yes, absolutely, yes. Our God is a faithful God who always keeps his word;therefore, if he promises something, he will make it happens. So, if Jesus said we will live forever if we eat his Body and drink his Blood, he will make it happen.

I was very surprised to hear that more than 70% of American Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence, the Eucharist. They are not our parishioners.

This is the most wonderful thing, dear Brothers, and sisters; When we receive the Eucharist, we do not simply receive bread and wine but…"the Body and Blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained in the Eucharist. This is the truth of all doctrines, teachings, and traditions in the Catholic Church.

Even priests have doubts about the Real Presence. In 1263 a German priest, Fr. Peter of Prague, made a pilgrimage to Rome. He stopped in Bolsena, Italy, to celebrate Mass at the Church of St. Christina. At the time he was having doubts about Jesus being truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.

In response to his doubt, when he recited the prayer of consecration as he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, blood started seeping from the consecrated host and onto the altar and corporal.

He did know what to do, he stops the mass and just he started crying.

Fr. Peter reported this miracle to Pope Urban IV, who at the time was nearby in Orvieto. The pope sent delegates to investigate and ordered that host and blood-stained corporal be brought to Orvieto. The relics were then placed in the Cathedral of Orvieto, where they remain today.

Miracles are happening every day in the whole Church whenever a priest celebrate mass, and when he read the words of consecration and make the signs of the cross over the bread and wine the Holy Spirit comes down from heaven and become his body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. that is a great miracle that we are about to see in the few moments.

In a few minutes, we will receive the most powerful and divine medicine in this very Altar that gives us life, an everlasting life that Jesus has promised: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him at the last day."God gives us the medicine of immortality through the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

But what should we do after receiving the most powerful and divine medicine Jesus Christ?

Be what you eat at this Altar, as Augustine said, we become what we receive. People often tell us that be careful what we eat here in the U.S. because you are what you ate.

Be another Christ in our hearts, be another Christ for others; to look at others/ through the eye of Christ, / show mercy/ and love to others through Christ's heart, / and to help others/ with the hand of Christ.

I know it is hard/ to do everything with as Jesus, / for I myself fail almost every day. / But that is what/ our Christian life is all about. / We try/ and try again/ every day. And the good news is that if we are fed by the Eucharist, Christ will fulfill us with his grace and love.

We have received Jesus Christ into our hearts, so be another Christ to others. May we become what we receive, and May God be shared.

Lastly, trusting in God's words that he will raise us on the last day if we eat his Body and drink his Blood because when God speaks, something happens.