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Sunday, June 25, 2000

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Solemnity of the
Body and Blood of Christ


Exodus 24:3-8
Hebrews 9:11-15
Psalm 116
Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

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"He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 'Take this,' He said, 'this is My body.' " —Mark 14:22

At the Passover meal, Jesus took bread and said: "This is My body." Then He took a cup of wine and said: "This is My blood, the blood of the covenant" (Mk 14:24). Jesus means this literally.  Despite losing many of His disciples because of this (Jn 6:60, 66), Jesus insisted that His flesh was real food and His blood real drink (Jn 6:55).

Do you believe that Jesus gives us His body and blood in Holy Communion? The Lord does not want you to "straddle the issue" (see 1 Kgs 18:21), be lukewarm (Rv 3:16), or persist in doubt (see Jn 20:27). If you believe in the eucharistic Jesus, you will try to go to Mass and receive His body and blood daily or as often as possible. In eucharistic love, you will make visits to church to be in the intimate presence of Jesus, the Blessed Sacrament. If you decide to live the "mystery of faith" in the body and blood of Jesus, you will center your life on Jesus, the Eucharist.

In this Great Jubilee, by grace decide once and for all to live and die for the eucharistic Jesus.

Prayer:  "Sweet Sacrament, we Thee adore. O, make us love Thee more and more."

Promise:  "How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for me? The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the Lord." —Ps 116:12-13

Praise:  "O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine."

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, December 16, 1999


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 18, 1999