"I
am the living bread that came down from heaven…" John 6:51
In today’s
Gospel, Jesus makes the remarkable claim that His flesh and blood are real food
and real drink: the life-giving food that brings eternal life. Moments later,
John’s Gospel will also testify that this teaching caused many of His disciples
to walk away and leave Jesus. How could such outrageous claims be believed?
Even his chosen twelve are confused. But when Jesus asks if the twelve will
abandon Him also, Peter says, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words
of eternal life.”
This teaching about the Eucharist is the pearl of great price; the treasure above all treasures of the Church that I long to share with those I love, many of whom are far from the Church. I long to share this treasure with my faithful friends of other Christians churches who love Jesus so much, yet fail to see Him present in the Eucharist, nourishing us, loving us, and as He promised, remaining with us always until the end of time. I long to share this truth with the many Catholics who have left the Church, because if they knew Jesus in the Eucharist, they would, with Peter, know there was no place else to go.
Perhaps no one this side of eternity can fully comprehend the infinite treasure we hold in the Catholic Church: the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, truly present in the Eucharist. But if we truly believe that Jesus speaks the words of eternal life, we must accept this beautiful but difficult teaching, and with Peter, proclaim that there is no other Church, no other place to go to find Jesus Christ, truly present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist.
O
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.
I
offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ
present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages,
sacrileges and
indifferences by which He is offended.
By the infinite merits of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary
I beg the conversion
of poor sinners. Amen.
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