In the Body and Blood of Christ we find His presence, His life, given to each one of us.
He gives Himself to us: He becomes our companion on the journey, enters into our stories, visits our loneliness, giving us once again meaning, enthusiasm, and courage to place our trust in Him. The Word offered in the readings of the Mass reaffirms this trust.
He accompanies us: As He did with His people in their journey from slavery to freedom: “remember the whole journey that the Lord your God has made you travel these forty years in the desert… who made you cross that vast and terrible desert… who brought forth water for you from a flinty rock… who fed you in the desert with manna unknown to your fathers.” In the desert of life, fidelity to the faithful Companion who listens and accompanies is strengthened: He is the God of life.
He nourishes us: In the desert, God feeds His people with manna. He challenges our faith: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?”
Jesus in the Gospel reaffirms our faith: “I am the living bread… whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him, and I will raise him up… My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.” He assures us that He dwells in us, that we will live forever.
In many countries, the people take part in the procession with the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance. From there, blessings are given to people, to towns, to all humanity. We are challenged: each day we are offered the opportunity to eat and drink Him, and He asks us to let Him bless, accompany, and express through our lives that it is He who gives Himself, blesses, and accompanies through us.
With Jesus Christ, it will be possible to bear witness by striving to build fraternal communities, from that love that dwells in Eucharistic communion, because “though we are many, we form one body by sharing the same bread.” Shall we commit ourselves?
- Do we truly feel that close, friendly, and loving presence in our lives?
- Is the Eucharist for me a necessity that gives me life and strength day by day?
Sister María Teresa Gonzaléz Barrios
ROSA SANTAEUGENIA PROVINCE
