“FIRST IMPRESSIONS”
BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (A)
June 7, 2026
Deuteronomy 8: 2-3, 14b-16a; Ps 147; 1 Cor. 10: 16-17; John 6: 51-58
By: Jude Siciliano, OP
Dear Preachers:
Today we celebrate Corpus Christi – The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. It is the third in a series of “big feasts,” preceded by Pentecost and last week’s Trinity Sunday. Next week we return to Ordinary Time, counting, with a few exceptions, the Sundays until Advent.
Today’s solemnity developed in the Church during the Middle Ages as a way to focus special attention on Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist. We celebrate the Eucharist at every Mass but today invites us to praise and reflect more deeply on the gift Jesus gave at the Last Supper: his Body and Blood offered for the life of the world.
The feast began in the 13th century and was promoted by a Belgian nun, St. Juliana of Liège. At that time there was growing theological reflection on the Eucharist, as well as debate about how Christ is truly present in the bread and wine consecrated at Mass. The feast helped strengthen the Church’s teaching that Christ is truly and substantially present in the Eucharist – not merely symbolically but really present under the appearances of bread and wine.
In our Brooklyn parish, today’s feast was an occasion for a Eucharistic procession. The consecrated host was carried through the streets while the congregation followed behind, praying and singing hymns. We had a sense of walking together with Christ, not just within the church walls, but into our everyday lives in the world. We were expressing devotion but also making a public proclamation of faith to our Protestant and Jewish neighbors. What drew some of us kids to the procession – besides our principal, Sister Albina’s orders – were the snacks we had afterward in the church basement.
The readings for Corpus Christi emphasize themes of covenant, sacrifice, nourishment, and community. We are reminded today that the Eucharist is not only something to be adored, but also a call to become the Body of Christ for others through lives of charity, reconciliation, and service.
Today we celebrate that our God has come close to us and does not leave us. The Eucharist reminds us that Christ continues to feed, strengthen, forgive, and unite us as God’s people. We are called again to gratitude, reverence, and renewed commitment as we endeavor to live what we profess at the altar.
In today’s Gospel (John 6:51–58), Jesus speaks words that startled his listeners and continue to challenge us today: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” He does not merely describe himself as a teacher who offers wisdom and guidance. He offers his very self as food for the life of the world. At the heart of today’s feast is this astonishing gift: Christ remains with us, nourishing us through the Eucharist.
Many found Jesus’ words hard to understand. They understood only physical hunger and physical bread: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” But Jesus was speaking about a deeper hunger within the human heart – hunger for meaning, forgiveness, communion, hope, and eternal life. The Eucharist answers that deeper hunger because it is not simply a sacred symbol; it is Christ giving himself completely to us.
Every time we come to the altar, we are invited into communion not only with Christ, but also with one another. The Eucharist is never a private devotion alone. We receive the Body of Christ so that we may become the Body of Christ in the world. Bread is broken at the altar, calling us to become people who are broken open in love and service for others.
Today’s feast reminds us that God does not remain silent or distant. In Jesus, God chooses closeness. The Eucharist is Christ’s abiding presence among us: strengthening the weary, forgiving sinners, comforting the sorrowful, and drawing the Church together across every boundary.
Today we are invited not only to adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, but also to recognize him in daily life: in the poor, the forgotten, the suffering, and those who hunger for compassion and dignity.
A Brief Look at the Deuteronomy Reading
The reading from Deuteronomy prepares the way for understanding the Eucharist by recalling God’s gift of manna in the desert. Moses reminds the people that during their years of hunger and wandering, God fed them with “food unknown” to them, teaching that “not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Placed alongside the New Testament Eucharistic readings, the faithful learn that just as God fed Israel on the journey through the wilderness, Christ now feeds God’s people on their journey through life with the “living bread come down from heaven” in the Eucharist.
Deuteronomy emphasizes memory and gratitude: “Do not forget the Lord.” Corpus Christi is also a feast of remembrance – not mere recalling but entering again into Christ’s saving gift made present in the Eucharist. Israel survived because God nourished them daily; so too does the Church. Believers are spiritually sustained by Christ’s Body and Blood.
Just as God fed Israel in the wilderness, so too our lives can feel like a desert marked by hunger, testing, and uncertainty. The Eucharist is food for pilgrims, strengthening believers just as manna strengthened Israel.
The Deuteronomy reading helps us see the Eucharist not simply as a ritual meal, but as God’s faithful provision for God’s people on our journey toward the promised Kingdom.
Click here for a link to this Sunday’s readings: