Homily: JUne 6, 2026, Solemnity of the most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus.

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 "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him."

Every year to prepare the children to receive their first holy communion, they would attend a retreat, during which we would re-enact the last supper. The children would bake unleavened bread and use it for the re-enactment.

At the 2024 retreat, the re-enactment was going well as we all took our roles seriously and followed the script. Unsurprisingly, I played the role of Jesus. At the climax of the re-enactment, I held up a cup of cranberry juice and said, “This is my blood.” Then I handed the cup to the little girl next to me.

She looked at me with horror and shouted, “I don't drink blood!”

For a moment, I was stunned too, then I assured her, “This is not really my blood.” But she immediately replied, “But you just said so!”

We all laughed.

She was not wrong, but to keep the play moving, I suggested she pass the cup to the next person. Thankfully, she did and we could finish the play.

Afterward, I tried to explain to her, but she was unconvinced. Where I failed, her parents succeeded. 

The following Sunday she came forward eagerly to receive her first Holy Communion. Today, not only is she receiving the Body and Blood of Christ regularly, she has also become one of our altar servers.

Do you drink blood? I don’t. In a way, that little girl’s response was normal, and it was exactly how many people reacted when Jesus first taught about the Eucharist.

For the Jewish people, drinking blood was unimaginable. Drinking human blood was even more shocking and unacceptable. Yet Jesus did not water down His teaching. He said exactly what He meant.

At the end of chapter six in John's Gospel, we see many disciples left Him because they could not accept such a teaching. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Do you also want to leave?”

It must have been very difficult for the twelve disciples to imagine having to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus, but faith told them to trust Him, He is the Messiah.

Would you be able to accept eating the raw flesh of Jesus and drinking His fresh blood?

No. In all honesty, it would be too difficult. And while Jesus did not make His teaching palatable in terminology, He did make it palatable in reality.

His precious Body and Blood are hidden and given in the form of bread and wine. 

His Disciples did not finally have to struggle with eating raw flesh and drinking fresh blood, so the same for us.

But over the centuries, we struggle with another issue, we now look at the bread and wine and find it hard to believe it is the real Body and Blood of Christ!

For two thousand years the Church has consistently and confidently taught that the Holy Eucharist is NOT merely symbolic, it is not a physical representation, it is not a prop to recall a historical event. It is truly and fully Jesus’ heart and blood.

The sacrifice on the cross, the first Eucharistic giving then and now the celebration of Mass, is one and the same. Jesus’ Body broken and Blood poured out from the cross appear in the form of consecrated bread and wine on the paten and in the chalice at every Mass.

Why?

Because "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." Jesus wants us to be able to eat and drink Him without getting into a gory mess.

Why would God do something so extraordinary?

The answer is in the second half of the teaching: “…remains in me and I in him.”

God loves us so much, He wants to be with us in the most intimate way possible, not side by side outside of us, but fully united, we inside of Him, He inside of us. 

Last Sunday, I visited a parishioner in the hospital. His wife suffered a cardiac arrest during surgery. She almost died, but through the doctor’s quick intervention, she survived but was unconscious.

The husband could not attend Mass so I brought Holy Communion to him in the hospital. Immediately after receiving the Eucharist, he went to his wife's bedside, took her hand, and began praying softly in Spanish: “Diosito, quien está en mi corazón ahora...”, translated to mean “dear God, who is now in my heart..."

Then he continued, "…touch my beloved who is suffering. I ask for a miracle."

My heart was moved. I am sure Jesus’ heart would be moved to compassion too.

It is one of the most beautiful prayers I have ever heard. His prayer showed that he believed firmly what many believers forget – that Jesus was not far away. Jesus was not merely in heaven. But Jesus was right there in his heart at that very moment.

Jesus’ heart was beating together with his own heart. The Lord, who conquered death, was in his body, standing with him beside that hospital bed. 

The Lord, who loves his wife more than he does, must have heard his prayer and was doing something wonderful.

This is the power of the Eucharist. That everyone of us can carry the real Body and Blood of Jesus in our heart.

After receiving Communion, look into your heart and have a deep conversation with Jesus who is truly present. Do not rush, do not be distracted, do not think about dinner plans, your next meeting, or anything else.

Instead focus on Jesus, talk to Him, He would be the most intimate person with you at that beautiful moment, and simply say “Thank you Jesus” or “Speak Lord, your servant is listening”, say anything, just talk to Him and no one else.

Then listen with your heart. He is there.

Appreciate that moment of heaven, enjoy the reality of ‘God is with us’, know that He is doing something wonderful even if you don’t know, don’t feel, don’t see.

Because God knows, God feels, and God sees everything in your heart, in your life, in your world.

The feast of Corpus Christi is a celebration of our liberation from sin, when the sinless Body of Christ enters and restores our sinful body from inside.

Today, as you receive Holy Communion, receive the love and life of Christ, then carry Him to wherever He leads, to where the world needs. Amen.


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