Daily Mass Gospel Reflection-Corpus Christi

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 06.19.22 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

Luke 9:11b-17

Friends, our Gospel today tells about the feeding of the five thousand.
Jesus instructs the crowd to recline,
and they do so on the grass.
Taking the loaves and dried fish,
Jesus makes a meal that satisfies the enormous crowd.
They are hungry, tired, worn out from their exertions,
and Jesus gives them sustenance for the day.

For Thomas Aquinas, the great metaphor for the Eucharist is sustenance,
food for the journey. The Eucharist is daily food,
sustenance for the journey, nourishment to get us through the day to day.
How effective would we be if we never ate,
or ate only on special occasions and in a festive environment?
Not very.
So, in the spiritual life,
we must eat and drink or we will not have strength.

Is this just meant in some vague symbolic way?
No, rather in a vividly analogical way.
For just as the body needs physical nourishment,
the spirit needs spiritual nourishment,
and there is no getting around this law.

“Well, it’s no big deal if I stay away from Mass
and refrain from receiving Communion.”
Think again!

[MurphsLaw]

+++Jesus spoke to the crowds
about the kingdom of God,
and he healed those who needed to be cured.
As the day was drawing to a close,
the Twelve approached him and said,
"Dismiss the crowd
so that they can go to the
surrounding villages and farms
and find lodging and provisions;
for we are in a deserted place here."
He said to them,
"Give them some food yourselves."
They replied, "Five loaves and two
fish are all we have,
unless we ourselves go and buy food
for all these people."
Now the men there numbered about
five thousand.
Then he said to his disciples,
"Have them sit down in groups of about fifty."
They did so and made them all sit down.
Then taking the five loaves and the
two fish,
and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing over them,
broke them,
and gave them to the disciples to
set before the crowd.
They all ate and were satisfied. picked up,
they filled twelve wicker baskets.+++