Flesh + Blood = Life.
This is what Jesus tells the people, anyway, and they aren’t
too happy about the equation. In this
week’s continuation of the Bread of Life discourse, Jesus is still trying to
move the crowds beyond the tangible – eating flesh – to the intangible,
where Jesus’ sacrifice for us allows us, through Eucharist, to enter into
shared life, to live in relationship with God in the here and now, to know
God’s depth and to live in and from that depth.
Wow. Each time we receive Holy
Communion, each time we take Jesus into ourselves, we enter into that lived
presence, and deepen our awareness of it.
Every single time. This is truly
shared life: we share our lifeblood with
God, while Jesus shares his body and blood with us, so that together, we live
in the sharing of both the brokenness and the grace of existence.
The Book of Proverbs invites us, Come, eat of my food, drink of the wine I have mixed. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord,
says this week’s Psalm. Be filled with the Spirit and, with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, sing
and play to the Lord in your hearts, Saint Paul exhorts the Ephesians. Aren’t these all beautiful reasons to
come to Mass? But the most important one
of all is that it is at Mass, first and foremost, that we receive the gift that
is Jesus and celebrate all that we share – with God and with one another. Eucharist feeds us in ways we can only begin
to imagine.
Flesh + Blood = Life.
This reflection is based on notes from Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
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