Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (June 11, 2023)
Deut 8.2-3, 14-16; 1 Cor 10.16-17; Jn 6.51-59
This great solemnity should remind us that Eucharistic Communion, that is, communion with the Body and Blood of Christ, allows us to participate in and become one with Christ. It also unites us with one another, who thus make up the ecclesial body of Christ, the Church.
Included in this body are not only the Saints and Angels in heaven or the suffering souls in Purgatory, but those most vulnerable here in the Church Militant: the unborn, the infirm, the elderly, the poor, and the handicapped.
Today’s feast affirms the sacredness of the body. Anyone who does violence to the unborn or to the elderly, therefore, does violence against God Himself.
People often find it difficult to believe that in the bread and wine, hidden from our senses, Christ is really present. Similarly, many people find it difficult to admit that the unborn are human, because at some stages they do not appear distinctly human, or do not seem to feel pain. Let us pray that God may give these people the power to see both the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the presence of human life in the unborn.
Pro-Life Intercession
That those who say, “This is my body” to justify taking life by abortion may learn to say, “This is my body, given for you”, as Christ did, we pray to the Lord ...