Jesus, Bread Come Down from Heaven
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
“I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.”Ps. 116
This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. Do we believe these words? Whoever believes them, along with so many other words of Jesus, no longer fears death, for they know that Christ gives them eternal Life.
CHRIST BECOMES NOURISHMENT, to show us his passion of love for us. He became poor to enrich us, born in Bethlehem (house of bread) in a manger, where food is placed for the cattle; thus, it is already taught to us that He would become our nourishment, bread of life, to be flesh of our flesh, one with us, in such an eloquent and meaningful way.
He wants us to enter into that loving communion, for He wants to dwell in you, in your soul, and be the Life of your soul, for without Him we have no life, and the soul is dead.
Whoever feeds on me will live because of me. He wants us to have his life in us, and thus live for Him and by Him. This means that we will let Him act in us, that we will let ourselves be guided by Him, that we will trust in Him and do His will, which must be united to the reception of His body in the Eucharist. Being one with Christ, so that Christ continues to act, heal, and save, serving, acting, and speaking through us.
“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”1 Corinthians 10:16-17
“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.”1 Corinthians 11:27-29
He speaks clearly to us so that we do not commit sacrileges or take it lightly. He wants us to recognize Him in that bread of eternal life, and no one should receive it without faith, without discerning that it is the Lord giving Himself as nourishment out of love for us.
You are immensely loved by Him; we learn to receive His passion of love in every Eucharist, to respond to Him with love. That is why it would be desirable to come to receive Him, if possible daily, as Jesus taught us to ask in the Our Father, for our daily bread, the bread of the soul is even more important than that of the body, for it gives eternal life in communion with Him.
“You, Lord, gave us the bread from heaven. Which contains in itself all delight.”Psalms 78:25
Weekly Readings
Sunday: Ex 24:3-8/Ps 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18 (13)/Heb 9:11-15/Mk 14:12-16, 22-26
Monday: 2 Pt 1:2-7/Ps 91:1-2, 14-15b, 15c-16/Mk 12:1-12
Tuesday: 2 Pt 3:12-15a, 17-18/Ps 90:2, 3-4, 10, 14 and 16/Mk 12:13-17
Wednesday: 2 Tm 1:1-3, 6-12/Ps 123:1b-2ab, 2cdef/Mk 12:18-27
Thursday: 2 Tm 2:8-15/Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14/Mk 12:28-34
Friday: Hos 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9/Ps 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 (3)/Eph 3:8-12, 14-19/Jn 19:31-37
Saturday: 2 Tm 4:1-8/1 Sm 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd/Lk 2:41-51
Next Sunday: Gn 3:9-15/Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 (7bc)/2 Cor 4:13—5:1/Mk 3:20-35
Observances for the Week
Sunday: The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Monday: St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs
Wednesday: St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr
Thursday: St. Norbert, Bishop
Friday: The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Saturday: The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Next Sunday: 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time
