The solemnity of Corpus Christi or the Body of Christ reminds us that Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine that become His body and His blood through transubstantiation at the mass. John’s gospel in the bread of life discourse reminds us of the following:
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” (Jn. 6:53-54)
The Old Testament reading from Exodus reminds us of the Mosaic covenant & the sprinkling from the blood of the lamb on the Israelite people. Jesus came to fulfill a new covenant per today’s gospel from Mark in which his body & blood becomes a symbol of everlasting life as found in the breaking of the bread at Passover. God’s people no longer have to make sacrificial offerings of animals for the atonement of their sins because it is Jesus that reminds us that He is the Lamb of God that will be the ultimate sacrifice to remove our sin & brokenness. Every Mass is a commemoration of the sacrifice made by Jesus on Calvary. Every Mass reminds us that Jesus has never left us and will be with us always when heaven meets earth and the bread & wine become life giving nourishment for us.
Blessed Carlo Acutis, a millennial soon to be Saint born in 1991 passed from this life due to leukemia had a great devotion to the Eucharist. Carlo once said, “The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on earth we will have a foretaste of heaven.” If our hearts & souls are not ready to receive His body & blood in holy communion, Carlo reminds us of the following “Our soul is like a hot air balloon. If by chance there is a mortal sin, the soul falls to the ground. Confession is like the fire underneath the balloon enabling the soul to rise again. . . It is important to go to confession often.” His website documents the miracles of the Eucharist http://www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/Liste/list.html
As Saint Thomas Aquinas once remarked, “The Eucharist is the sacrament of love: It signifies love, it produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life.” (https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251543/corpus-christi-sunday-2022-inspiring-words-from-the-saints-on-the-eucharist). The Eucharistic hymns of Thomas Aquinas are also worth reflecting on https://www.dominicanajournal.org/wp-content/files/old-journal-archive/vol11/no1/dominicanav11n1theucharistichymnsstthomasaqui.pdf
Let us reflect more deeply today at the pinnacle of our faith where Jesus becomes truly present for us in the Holy Eucharist. Let our Amen be strong as we receive Jesus, the living bread come down from heaven.
One of the prayers I recite after receiving Holy Communion is the following:
Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me. Within Thy wounds hide me. Separated from Thee let me never be. From the malignant enemy, defend me. At the hour of death, call me. And close to Thee bid me. That with Thy saints I may be Praising Thee, forever and ever. Amen.
Quotes from Blessed Carlo retrieved from https://www.ncregister.com/blog/17-inspiring-quotes-from-carlo-acutis
StreetEvangelist 
