This is the bread come down from heaven

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)  Year A -14 June 2020

First of all, apologies for somehow missing out Trinity Sunday! I'm not sure how that happened... But we're back on track this week.

Secondly, you'll notice a new page above - 'Parish Prayers'. This shows the names of those who have asked our prayers through the parish newsletter. Please pray for them.

Gospel John 6: 51–58

Jesus said to the Jews:

‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’ 

Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said.

Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly,

if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you.

Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him. As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from me.

This is the bread come down from heaven; not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’

Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

Wherever I am, I take a few moments to focus on my prayer, putting aside my daily concerns and inviting the Lord to 'make his home in me'.

When I am ready, I read these words of Jesus. I spend some time reflecting on their impact now, two thousand years or so after they were spoken.

Words can have a literal meaning or be understood at a spiritual level. I ponder and ask the Lord to open this text for me. In trust, I wait.

I may need to return to the text later. But in the meantime, Jesus’s words, living at the back of my mind, perhaps become clearer.

When I join my fellow Christians for the Eucharist, what is it like for me to hear these words spoken: 'the body of Christ' ... 'the blood of Christ'? What difference does this make in my daily life?

Perhaps I am drawn to reflect on their deeper meaning. Have they lost some of their impact through over-familiarity?

When the  me comes to conclude my prayer, I thank the Lord for being with me and for helping me to feel part of the body of Christ today.