Sunday, June 23: Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
 
As a Church throughout the world this day, we celebrate the gift of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, the great Sacrament of the real presence. In each and every Communion, we receive the real presence of Christ as food for our journey. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our worship and all Christian life. It is our center, our strength and our hope. It is the foreshadowing of the great banquet of eternal life yet to come.
 
Through this unifying and life-giving sacrament, we, the people of God, are formed into the Body of Christ. As Jesus emptied himself out for us, we are sent forth to empty ourselves in the service of God and our sisters and brothers. For us, the Mass is never ended for the Eucharist is our mission. Through the Spirit, we are called to use our gifts to build up the Kingdom of God. As we hear in the Gospel proclaimed this day, “Give them some food yourselves.” The Eucharist is our empowerment to live in Christ, for Christ and through Christ. We feed those around us with the life and love Jesus gives us in giving us his body and blood.
 
In the miracle of the loaves and fishes, Jesus feeds the multitude with the simple gifts they have at the time. That simple gift of a few loaves and two fish, given to Jesus became the source of a feast for the multitude. Our gifts, when given to the Lord in faith, still feed the multitudes today with gifts of mercy, life, love, forgiveness, wisdom and grace. Those gifts, when entrusted and offered to God in the Eucharist, change hearts and lives every day.
 
Celebrating each and every Eucharist with devotion, we are sent forth as ambassadors of God’s power and presence in our world. We not only receive Eucharist, we become Eucharist, the Body of Christ present wherever we are. May we celebrate each and every Communion with the joy of our first, and the urgency of our last. It is our life and our mission.