John 6:52-59
‘He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him.’
When we gather together to give thanks to the Father and to share bread and wine we make a statement about who we are as individuals and who we are as community. We receive Christ’s broken body as a pledge of love and hope of healing for the world. Christ lives in and among us. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration you may hear these words: Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life. As we leave the church we are commissioned TO BE the Body of Christ.
The Church Fathers were quite clear about what this meant for believers:
Do you want to honor Christ’s body? Then do not scorn him in his nakedness, nor honour him here in the church with silken garments while neglecting him outside where he is cold and naked. For he who said: This is my body, and made it so by his words, also said: You saw me hungry and did not feed me, and inasmuch as you did not do it for one of these, the least of my brothers, you did not do it for me. [Mat 25:34ff].
( St John Chrysostom, Homily 50)
In our world today we don’t have to look far to see Christ’s broken body.
Where can you be the Body of Christ today?
Photo by Sylvain Brison on Unsplash