Aloha nui to all on this Monday of the 11th week of ordinary time!
Since I missed yesterday’s message because I didn’t have enough time to get to it, here is a message based on yesterday’s readings for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi Sunday).
The Eucharist is our communion with the Lord! When we partake of the Body and Blood and Christ, we receive His redemptive and grace-filled presence in us and He receives us into His Body, the Body of Christ. It is a communion with all those who receive communion throughout the world! What a wonderful thought, that when I receive the Body of Christ, another believer is receiving it at the same moment somewhere in the world! And, to know that Christ gave his own body and blood for me! For me! Wow! For me! This is the living bread, not the dead bread! We are the grateful living, not the grateful dead!
Usually we celebrate Corpus Christi with a procession with the Blessed Sacrament of Christ’s Body inside or outside the church. But, in these days of health concerns, we must have that procession in our minds and hearts. Let it not stop us from honoring the Lord as part of the Body of Christ in the world! Our world needs Christ now more than ever! May we, in our thoughts, words and actions reflect His presence as we live our lives day by day! May Christ’s body give us life, hope, faith and love when we receive Him! Amen!
May the Good God bless you, + In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Scripture:
“Remember how the Lord tested you by affliction to find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments. Not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord. Do not forget the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 8)
“Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.” (Psalm 147)
“Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1 Corinthians 10)
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (John 6)
Blessings, pono and pule!
Fr. Brian Guerrini, ss.cc.
Priest
Molokai