Who Needs Bread?
31 May 2018
You do.
Today we celebrate Corpus Christi – the Body of Christ – where Jesus say to you, ‘this is my body; this is my blood.’
The Eucharist is central to the life, mission, and prayer of the Catholic Church. It is at the heart of our faith and gives meaning to all we believe.
Why? Our sacramental participation is participating in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Entering into this celebration, making it at the center of your life, it is what makes you a Christian. What lies at the heart of this celebration? The Body of Christ.
In the Eucharist, we can have the most profound encounter possible with God. It is the source and summit of the Christian faith because, in the Eucharist, we can see God in the body and blood of Christ. We are able to hear the Him speak to us through the Scripture.
We are able to experience Him in the community as one Body. We are commissioned with our mission to go forth, in peace, sharing the love of God that we have just received.
It also allows us the opportunity to express our faith physically. Faith cannot exist without expression. This is the story of the incarnation. God became man: the spiritual became physical. Unlocking how we physically express our faith is the key to deepening in our faith. It is this gift of the Eucharist that is our unique and central expression of faith, centred on an encounter with God.
Today, I want to challenge you to open your heart and mind to follow Christ’s call and encounter Him in the Eucharist. This might require you to step out in faith, like the disciples in today’s Gospel who go into the city not knowing what they will find, but believing the Holy Spirit has paved the way before them. The Holy Spirit has paved the way for you to a deep and profound encounter with Christ. That encounter is precisely what your heart longs for.
So, do you need Bread? Yes.
Amen.