The Nuns of St Cecilia’s Abbey sing Cibavit eos, the entrance antiphon for today’s feast, Corpus Christi. ‘He fed them with finest wheat, and he filled them with honey from the rock.’ As I listen, I become aware of how God feeds me, how he cares for my needs and fills me with good things; how everything that is good in my life comes from God.

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John.

John 6:51-58

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, 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; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’

On this feast-day of the Body and Blood of Christ, the gospel invites us to ponder the meaning of the Eucharist in our own lives. Can you recall a celebration of the Mass, of the Lord’s Supper, has been of particular importance for you?

What Jesus is offering here isn’t simply a gift for each of us as individuals but is intended “for the life of the world”. Ponder for a moment or two what “the life of the world” means in this context. How might your own individual life contribute to this wider life?

As so often in John’s gospel, those who hear Jesus speak fail to understand him. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” It sounds like an invitation to cannibalism. How might you begin to try to explain to them what Jesus really means?

As the passage is read again, listen to Jesus’s own explanation of what he means. What particularly catches your attention in what he says?

John 6:51-58

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, 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; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live for ever.’

Jesus promises twice here that those who receive his Body and Blood will live forever with him. Speak finally with God about what these promises mean to you.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be

World without end

Amen