Gospel:  Jn 6: 51-63

"I am the living bread, which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world." Then the Jews started arguing among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus replied to them: "In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person. As the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will also draw life from me. This is the bread which has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live forever." This is what he taught at Capernaum in the synagogue. After hearing it, many of his followers said, "This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?" Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, "Does this disturb you? What if you should see the Son of man ascend to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life."

1.  "My flesh is Real Food."

These words of Christ are truly awesome and unbelievable - a powerful testimony to a love which knows no bounds. We should meditate on the gift of the Eucharist with great faith and love:

O God, hidden Creator of the world, how wonderfully you deal with us! How sweetly and graciously you dispose of things with your elect to whom you offer yourself to be received in this Sacrament! This, indeed, surpasses all understanding. This in a special manner attracts the hearts of the devout and inflames their love. Your truly faithful servants, who give their whole life to amendment, often receive in Holy Communion the great grace of devotion and love of virtue. (Imitation of Christ, Bk 4, 1)

 

Rejoice, my soul, and give thanks to God for having left you so noble a gift and so special a consolation in this valley of tears. As often as you renew this Mystery and receive the Body of Christ, so often do you enact the work of redemption and become a sharer in all the merits of Christ, for the love of Christ never grows less and the wealth of His mercy is never exhausted.

 

Therefore, you should prepare yourself for it by constantly renewing your heart and pondering deeply the great mystery of salvation. As often as you celebrate or hear Mass, it should seem as great, as new, as sweet to you as if on that very day Christ became man in the womb of the Virgin, or, hanging on the Cross, suffered and died for the salvation of man. (Imitation of Christ, Bk 4, 2)

Conversation with Christ:  Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. You know how slow I am to understand the greatness of your love and your gifts to me. You are true God and true man, and you have given yourself entirely to me in the Eucharist, your body, blood, soul and divinity. Give me the grace to understand, in the measure of my ability, the greatness of your love in this sacrament. May I adore and love you in my heart. 

2. Draw Life from Me.

Contemplate Christ's love for his priests. What Jesus loves most is fulfilling his Father's will:"I only do what pleases him; my food is to do the will of my Father." The Father's will is to give life to the world. Christ loves his priests so much that he entrusts to them the transcendent task of giving life to the world. Through the words of consecration they bring him, the bread of life, to the world. Meditate on the priest as he consecrates the Eucharist during Mass. These words of Father Marcial Maciel, LC may help:

He has exalted me, doing great and wonderful things in me, giving me the priceless and inconceivable gift of the priesthood. Indeed, I do not believe there can exist in this life a greater bliss, dignity or consolation than that of feeling you possess the great power to transform bread into the most holy Body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every morning, every time that I can bring him into my hands and take him into my heart, it seems that I am present at a new Bethlehem and a new Calvary. I would gladly, and he is the witness to my truth, give all the gold, all the honors, all the fame of this world, and embrace poverty, humiliation, and every imaginable offense and pain just to have but once that joy of making him come down into my hands. I think that the joy of those moments in life is similar only to heaven where we can possess him without the veil of the sacrament to conceal him from us.

Conversation with Christ: Jesus, thank you for the gift of the priesthood, through which you give life to the world. Thank you especially for the gift of receiving you through Holy Communion into my heart. Make me more worthy of receiving you each day.

Questionnaire:  This optional questionnaire is intended to help you to examine your life, in the light of the inspirations God just gave you in these moments you shared with him. 

1. Do I meditate often on the great gift Christ has given us through the Eucharist? Do I adore him in the sacrament, as he deserves in his infinite greatness and majesty? Does my adoration lead me to greater faith and a firmer commitment to serve him more faithfully every day?

2. Do I try to go to Mass on occasion during the week? Do I try to know and love him more intimately in prayer during the silence after Communion?

3. Do I pray for priests and for vocations to the priesthood?