faith and consequences
"He who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has life eternal and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is real food and My blood real drink. The man who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him." —John 6:54-56
When we receive Holy Communion and when we celebrate this solemn feast of Corpus Christi, we are making a great act of faith. (St. Thomas Aquinas maintained that faith in the body and blood of Jesus is the greatest act of faith.) Today we publicly profess our faith that:
- what appears mere bread and wine is really the body and blood of Jesus, because He said so,
- the Bible as given and interpreted by the Church is true and authoritative,
- the Church is "the pillar and bulwark of truth" (1 Tm 3:15), including the awesome truth of the Eucharist,
- we are in a communion of blood brotherhood and sisterhood with all who receive Holy Communion worthily (see 1 Cor 10:17),
- we should view all other people as called to be in eucharistic communion with us, and
- Communion is therefore the essence and center of our lives.
To have faith in the revelation that we can and must receive the body and blood of God dramatically reconfigures our lives in every detail. On this feast of Corpus Christi, accept God's grace to make an act of eucharistic faith that is greater than ever before and most pleasing to the Lord.
Prayer: Father, make my whole life revolve around preparing for Mass, praying the Mass, or living the Mass.
Promise: "Not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord." —Dt 8:3
Praise: "O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine."
Rescript: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 12, 2004
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