This Sunday’s feast is like a repetition of what we celebrate every Sunday: the Eucharist, in which we do what Jesus ordered us to do in memory of him. The feast was established to reaffirm the faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and to encourage the faithful to be in communion with Jesus by receiving his body and blood.
The language sounds crude and blunt, but it is no more than a repetition of the words that Jesus used in the Last Supper, when he said: “Take; this is my body”; and “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Mk 14:22-24).
In the Gospel of St. John, speaks openly and clearly about the need to make him our food and our drink: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (Jn 6:53).
His body broken on the cross and his blood spilt all over are the sacrifice of the New Covenant, sealed with his blood. By his death and resurrection, Jesus established a new order in the relationship with God. To enter that order, we must become one with Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. And he shows us the way to be one with him. Paul put it clearly: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor 10:16).
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