06/10/2026
Sunday Scripture Reflection-June 7, 2026-Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ - John 6:51-58
In reading these passages and looking forward to celebrating the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, I thought that by Jesus telling us to partake in his flesh and blood, he was relating his divine nature to what we as only simple humans can understand. As people on earth, we just cannot comprehend the majesty of our Lord. It’s not possible for us to even envision what God could look like. Unfortunately, the Jewish people took Jesus’s statements in the literal sense of consuming his earthly flesh and blood and missed the real message. This is not what he was trying to communicate.
God became flesh and blood so we can form a lasting union with his divine nature. He loves us and we are united to the divine Christ through Holy Communion. The Eucharist is how we experience Heaven on earth. The human heart desires love and thirsts for real connection with love constantly; we want Jesus’s love and through the Eucharist we can see him and touch God.
When we love someone, we don’t want to be separated from them. And the Father loves us and doesn’t want to be separated from us either. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of self-giving love for us and we must try to mimic his example of true love and sacrifice during our ordinary and mundane lives.
God is limitless, and the Eucharist gives us the ability to experience divine love. Jesus said that whoever eats of his flesh and drinks of his blood will live forever. Shouldn’t we then devour his bread of life? Wouldn’t it be incredible to live forever in the arms of someone who loves you truly without limits? I want to live forever in the arms of my husband because I love him so much; he makes my heart feel like it’s going to explode.
As a mere human being, I cannot begin to understand how a greater love could feel. But, it’s there. It’s there every time we take the Eucharist. Jesus is not manna from Heaven because those who consumed that gift from God died; they did not have the privilege of becoming a part of God’s kingdom through Jesus Christ. But since we consume the real bread from Heaven, the body and blood of Jesus, we have everlasting life, just as he said we would.
That’s the whole reason we attend mass; to encounter God, feel His love, know how he wants us to live our finite earthly lives, and to prepare ourselves to live in an unexplainable relationship like nothing we here on earth can comprehend. So, let’s follow Christ’s command to live that life of love and self-sacrifice so that by taking his body and blood we can live in eternity, a place beyond what we could ever hope to experience here.
Michele Hermes, Living Waters (Austin), Lago Vista, TX
