a year of prayer: 365 Rosaries

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."



53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." (John 6: 51, 53-58)

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi. On this day, we observe, in a special way, the miraculous gift of the Eucharist, the transubstantiation of ordinary bread and wine into the Divine flesh and blood of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our journey of faith is strengthened and sustained, and we are united with the Lord—not just metaphorically, but physically, deeply, personally. The Eucharist, this Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, is the “great secret”—the greatest reason of all to be alive, to be present, to be called, to be Catholic: Jesus present to us in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

Centuries ago, an early saint of the church, Justin Martyr, whose feast day we celebrated earlier this month, described how the first Christians received communion. Church tradition has not changed, we observe from his writing. The earliest Christians received our Lord in Eucharist the same way we do today: “They make of their hands a throne,” he wrote. “They make themselves ready to receive a king.” Our Eucharist, our communion with God, is just that: the acceptance of our King, the promise of eternal life—not just later in Heaven, but right now, filling our hearts and lives with the grace and virtue of our Savior!

We read today in Mass from the first Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians:

23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11: 23-26)

And if we read further, we learn more about the importance, the significance of our preparation for receiving our Lord and Savior into our bodies, into our lives.

27Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. (1 Corinthians 11: 27-29)


Before we receive the Holy Eucharist, we are called to repentance, to reflection, to the sacrament of Reconciliation. We pray aloud as a community, “Lord I am not worthy to receive you…” We are reminded that we are receiving a king- the Holiest of Holies—and our bodies, sinful vessels though they are, should be in the best spiritual shape possible! Saint Francis of Assisi, one of the holiest saints of the church, received the Eucharist only three times throughout his entire life. He received Christ into himself physically only when he believed himself to be fully prepared for the honor. The Eucharist was that sacred to him, as it should be to us. Despite the fact that we are unworthy to receive our Lord, Jesus gives Himself to us anyway. The God who became man for us, repeatedly—as often as we receive Him—becomes spiritual bread for us, nourishing our lives with His precious Body and Blood. When you look at the consecrated host—cradled in your hands like a throne—you gaze upon Christ. And when we say, “Amen” in receipt, we are proudly, publicly, welcoming the Word of God into our lives.

What an amazing, awesome gift we have been given in the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ! Just as the bread and wine is transformed into Divine Flesh and Blood, we, too, are transformed. By taking Christ into our bodies, by accepting the Word of God into our lives, we become more like Christ, we are made to live our lives in the manner He lived His, we are called to service, to love, to obedience, to faith, and to charity. We are called to see the world—and those in it—through the eyes of our Lord and Savior. And when we allow ourselves to do that, when we allow ourselves to relish the deep stillness of the Eucharistic presence in our lives—the world looks remarkably different.

From the homily of Pope Benedict on this solemnity last year:

“St John Mary Vianney liked to tell his parishioners: "Come to communion.... It is true that you are not worthy of it, but you need it." With the knowledge of being inadequate because of sin, but needful of nourishing ourselves with the love that the Lord offers us in the Eucharistic sacrament, let us renew this evening our faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We must not take this faith for granted! Today we run the risk of secularization creeping into the Church too. It can be translated into formal and empty Eucharistic worship, into celebrations lacking that heartfelt participation that is expressed in veneration and in respect for the liturgy. The temptation to reduce prayer to superficial, hasty moments, letting ourselves be overpowered by earthly activities and concerns, is always strong. When, in a little while, we recite the Our Father, the prayer par excellence, we will say: "Give us this day our daily bread", thinking of course of the bread of each day for us and for all peoples. But this request contains something deeper. The Greek word epioúsios, that we translate as "daily", could also allude to the "super-stantial" bread, the bread "of the world to come". Some Fathers of the Church saw this as a reference to the Eucharist, the bread of eternal life, the new world, that is already given to us in Holy Mass, so that from this moment the future world may begin within us. With the Eucharist, therefore, Heaven comes down to earth, the future of God enters the present and it is as though time were embraced by divine eternity.”



Prayer honoring the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus


I thank You, Jesus, my Divine Redeemer, for coming upon the earth for our sake, and for instituting the adorable Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in order to remain with us until the end of the world.


I thank You for hiding beneath the Eucharistic species Your infinite majesty and beauty, which Your Angels delight to behold, so that I might have courage to approach the throne of Your Mercy.


I thank You, most loving Jesus, for having made Your- self my food, and for uniting me to Yourself with so much love in this wonderful Sacrament that I may live in You.


I thank You, my Jesus, for giving Yourself to me in this Blessed Sacrament, and so enriching it with the treasures of Your love that You have no greater gift to give me.


I thank You not only for becoming my food but also for offering Yourself as a continual sacrifice to Your Eternal Father for my salvation.


I thank You, Divine Priest, for offering Yourself as a Sacrifice daily upon our altars in adoration and homage to the Most Blessed Trinity, and for making amends for our poor and miserable adorations.


I thank You for renewing in this daily Sacrifice the actual Sacrifice of the Cross offered on Calvary, in which You satisfy Divine justice for us poor sinners.


I thank You, dear Jesus, for having become the priceless Victim to merit for me the fullness of heavenly favors. Awaken in me such confidence in You that their fullness may descend ever more fruitfully upon my soul.


I thank You for offering Yourself in thanksgiving to God for all His benefits, spiritual and temporal, which He has bestowed upon me.


O Lord, You have given us this Sacred Banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of His Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.


You have given them bread from Heaven. Having all sweetness within.


God our Father, for Your glory and our salvation You appointed Jesus Christ eternal High Priest. May the people He gained for You by His Blood come to share in the power of His Cross and Resurrection by celebrating His Memorial in this Eucharist, for He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever. Amen.


O Jesus, since You have left us a remembrance of Your Passion beneath the veils of this Sacrament, grant us, we pray, so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood that we may always enjoy the fruits of Your Redemption, for You live and reign forever. Amen.