Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ
My Heart Shall Never Say Die
First Reading (Deut 8:2-3, 14-16): The Lord fed His chosen people with 'manna' and His words
Second Reading (1 Cor 10:16-17):We are united in the Body and Blood of Christ
Gospel (Jn 6: 51-58): The Body and Blood of the Son of Man are the food and drink of the faithful
Chinese Classics
-Now heaven and earth is the inn of all things. Time is the traveler of all ages.” (1)
-“I will fill up the Eastern Sea. My body may fail, my aim will not change. Until the great sea is filled my heart cannot know surcease.(2)
Jesus said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” (Jn 6:53-54)
Christian friends (protestants) tend to treat this verse as an analogy. However, for two thousand years, we Catholics have believed that Jesus spoke these words to us directly. He gave his blood for us to drink and his flesh for us to eat.
We believe that during the Mass Jesus' real body is within the white bread and his precious blood is truly within the grape wine. In theology, this is called “transubstantiation”. It was because Jesus' words were direct and clear that the Jews reacted so strongly when they heard Jesus say, “eat my flesh” and “drink my blood”. However, no matter how strongly the people reacted, Jesus continued to say, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.”
In the first Epistle to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul said the same, “the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor 10:16) We do not only receive Jesus' body and blood, but also are united with each other within the body and precious blood of Jesus. Christ's body and blood will help us attain life and give us strength to proceed along our life journey.
Life itself is a journey as Li Bai wrote. “Now heaven and earth is the inn of all things. Time is the traveler of all ages.”(1) For us living in this world is like living in an inn. We are going towards our heavenly home and our heavenly Father. During this journey we will experience many difficulties; at that time what we need is strength, strength to complete life's journey.
Ku Yen Wu of the Ming Dynasty wrote a poem called “Jhing Wei.” Jhing Wei was a bird. Legend had it that the bird was the daughter of Emperor Yen who was drowned while swimming in the Eastern Sea. The bird used its small beak to bring tiny pieces of wood and small pebbles from the Western Mountain to fill up the sea. It did this without stop, hoping that no one else would get drowned in the sea again. This was the story of “Jhing Wai filled in the Sea”
This little bird used its feeble strength to bring twigs and pebbles from the Western Mountain to fill up the Eastern Sea. The bird's goal basically was impossible but Jhing Wai continued to go on courageously without fear. Ku Yen Wu wrote a poem and used the form of question and answer to describe the bird's efforts. “The world is full of injustice. Why do you struggle so in vain, always urging on that tiny body, forever carrying sticks and stones? Jhing Wai replied, “I will fill up the Eastern Sea. My body may fail, my aim will not change. Until the great sea is filled my heart cannot know surcease.” (2)
The poem starts with questions: There are so many unjust and unreasonable and regrettable incidents in this world. why is there only you who feel the sorrow? Why do you take on this responsibility so laboriously arduously? Your body is but an inch long, why do you bother to pick up the twigs year after year to fill up the sea? Jhing Wai replied: “I must fill up the Eastern Sea. I will not change my aim until the day I die. So long as the sea is not filled up, my heart will not rest and I will never give up.”
Christians face the challenges of life, of society and of God's call. It is a very long road. While traveling on this road, we need strength from God. Jesus established the Eucharist for our food and strength. Therefore, we call the Eucharist Viaticum, “Food for the Traveler”.
Friends, let us hope we use this holy Sacrament well. At least, when we participate in Mass weekly, we should receive Holy Communion. Before doing so we should be recollected, reflect and meditate, be contrite and cleanse our hearts completely, so that there is more space within us to receive Jesus, Lord of the universe, into our lives.
After we have received Holy Communion we should be quiet for a while, talking and listening only to Jesus within our hearts. We should share our lives with Jesus, whether success or failure, joy and anger, sorrow or happiness, all those treasured and wonderful experiences that are ours. We can share with Jesus all our happy and unhappy feelings.
When we receive Holy Communion, it is good to make acts of faith, hope and love.
We believe: We believe that Jesus is present in the form of bread and wine. We hope: we hope that Jesus will come into our hearts and become the food of our lives and thus the strength of our lives. We love: We love Jesus because he willingly waits for us in the form of bread and wine. Let us be filled with a great love to embrace, accept and receive Him.
After Mass, the Eucharist is reserved in the Tabernacle. This is a beautiful tradition in the Catholic Church. If when we enter the church we see a red light, it is a sign that Christ resides there. We could use one, five, or ten minutes to adore the Blessed Sacrament to talk to Jesus, let him know our hearts' concerns, express the joy in our hearts, tell Jesus our life's plans, our hopes for the future and all that is part of our lives.
Jesus is our good friend. He wants to enter into our lives and be united with us. Let us cultivate sentiments of faith, hope and love. Let us invite Christ to enter into our hearts. And let us enter into Christ and hope to be united with Christ for all eternity.
(1)夫天地者,萬物之逆旅;光陰者,百代之過客。
(2)我願平東海,身沉心不改;大海無平期,我心無絕時。
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