Amen,
amen I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, you will not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood with have eternal life, and I
will raise that person on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in [them].
This
is the bread that came down from heaven . . .
. .
. whoever eats this bread will live forever.
–
John 6: 47-59
When we receive the Blessed
Sacrament we take on Christ – Body and Blood –as Jesus initiated at the Last
Supper – in the presence of his friends, the Apostles.
John tells us that Jesus’
flesh is true food and his blood true drink.
If we eat His flesh and drink His blood - Jesus will be in us and - we
in him - for he is food for life eternal.
We do this in memory of Jesus, as he directed us to do at that table, so
many years ago, at each and every Mass.
As we take Christ within us
– we also take Christ upon us. We become
Christ to the world through our actions and our speech. Partaking of the Eucharist is partaking in a
great responsibility: - continuing Jesus’ work here on earth. Fulfilling the two great commandments - Loving
God and loving all our brothers and sisters: spreading the Good News of
salvation to the world
We are called as Jesus’ disciples
to continue to speak His words of Life and Truth – spreading the Good News to
everyone we meet.
Jesus is the Bread of Life
that leads us to a new life – a Life Eternal with God in heaven. We disciples, live in joyful hope that through the Passion
of our Lord – his death and rising to new life – we too will rise – to share in
that joyful life eternal.
In Luke’s Gospel we witness
the Lord’s sacrifice for our sins and his conquering death – that brings us to
life everlasting. Luke begins the story with
the Last Supper - when Jesus gives us the Eucharist – His Body and Blood - on
which to feed – It is real food and real
drink - that feeds us on our journey to God’s promise of Life Eternal in
heaven.
We find the Holy Spirit
working in many ways in our lives; bringing us ever closer to God’s promise of
his the heavenly kingdom. A few years
ago I came across this Eucharistic story – a story of life, and hope - a story
of our life in Christ Jesus.
A
Native American Story
An
elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life.
He
said to them, "A fight is going on inside me...it is a terrible fight and
it is between two wolves.
One
wolf represents fear, anger, envy, ego, sorrow, guilt, regret, self-pity, doubt,
greed, arrogance, lies, false pride, superiority, and resentment.
The
other wolf stands for joy, peace, serenity, faith, hope, sharing, kindness,
empathy, friendship, generosity, truth, humility, compassion and love.
This
same fight is going on inside all of us; inside every person."
The
children thought about this for a while and then one child asked, “Grandfather,
"Which wolf will win?"
The
old Cherokee simply replied . . .
"The
one you feed."
Peace,
Deacon Don Ron
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