sure realism
"My flesh is real food and My blood real drink." —John 6:55
The Bible speaks of Christ's body in a shockingly realistic way. Imagine a live human being in front of you saying: "Eat My flesh and drink My blood." This turned a lot of people off, but Jesus refused to change His terminology. Holy Communion really is Jesus.
Jesus also spoke of His body the Church in a very realistic way. When Saul was persecuting the Church, Jesus knocked him to the ground and said: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" (Acts 9:4) Jesus said Saul was persecuting Himself, not just a symbol of His body.
The Church is also in a very real way the body of Christ. This should give us a new attitude toward the body of Christ and a desire to receive Jesus in Communion daily. We should say with Paul: "All these were but a shadow of things to come; the reality is the body of Christ" (Col 2:17). We should love the Church and even give our lives for her (Eph 5:25). We choose to be married or single based on how we can serve the Church. We choose the religious or lay vocation for the same reason.
Our preoccupation is with Christ's body — Holy Communion and His body the Church. The focal point of our day is to respond to the words "body of Christ" with an "Amen" that permeates our lives and transforms the world.
Prayer: Father, may my next "Amen" before Communion be a radical statement.
Promise: " 'I have been sent by the Lord Jesus Who appeared to you on the way here, to help you recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.' Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized." —Acts 9:17-18
Praise: St. Adalbert was martyred while trying to share the good news of the risen Jesus to the Prussians.
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 9, 2009
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