As we celebrate today the Solemnity of the Lord’s Body and Blood, we should remember that the Eucharist has two primary purposes that cannot be separated.
            Jesus feeds us with his own body and blood in order to affirm his deep love for each one of us and to strengthen our intimacy with him. We should always remember that we share in the life of the risen Christ now through baptism. The life of the Risen Christ flows within us. Sadly, we sometimes neglect the life of the Risen Christ within us. We fail to cultivate that life through prayer, through active participation in the sacraments, through our conscious efforts to live our lives in conformity with the life of Jesus Christ. Each time that we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we should offer two prayers. First, we should ask forgiveness for the ways in which we have neglected the life of the Risen Christ within us. Second, we should give thanks for this great gift that is intended to renew and strengthen the life of the Risen Christ within us, and as we give thanks we should ask Jesus to deepen and strengthen our relationship with him.
            Jesus also feeds us with his own body and blood so that we can be Jesus in our world. The strength of our relationship with the Risen Christ is reflected in how well his values shape our lives, how well we give witness to those values in our daily lives. As we pray to Jesus to strengthen our relationship with him, we should always remember that the proof of the strength of our relationship with him is how well we become his incarnation in our world and in our time. Do others see in us his compassion, his mercy, his forgiveness, his generosity, his faithfulness to the will of God, our Father, the welcome he gave to all persons without exception? When we receive the Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus, it should be with the conscious desire to strengthen our incarnation of his values in our lives which serves as the proof of the strength of our relationship with him.
            Always remember why this beautiful gift was given and what this gift requires of us!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Fr. Mark Hallinan, S.J