Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 11, 2023
Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world.”
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
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.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
There is a procession to Holy Communion at every celebration of the Mass. It is a wonder to behold. Most bow as if to royalty. Many receive in the hands, enthroning the one more precious than gold. Some kneel and receive on the tongue. There are smiles to express unfathomable joy. Reverent faces reflect the solemnity of the moment. There are arms folded over chests by those seeking a blessing. Many make the sign of the cross in faith-filled response.
There is a Corpus Christi procession at every Mass everywhere. On this day, however, the one day of the year called Corpus Christi, there are still parishes in which the assembly proceeds from the church around the property or through the neighborhood in profound celebration of the Blessed Sacrament.
The sacred mystery that we celebrate today is a deeply personal one between me and Jesus, the eating of “the living bread that came down from heaven,” and a radically communal one in recognition that we are the Body and Blood of Christ, that “we, though many, are one body” (1 Cor 10:17).
How good it is that we piously, privately assimilate the Lord into our lives once again. And how good it is that we also look up and around at one another going to and from the Table of the Lord as we once again seek to form and send forth into our world the Body and Blood of Christ.
What is our part to play in the miracle of the bread of life, its reception, its adoration, and its drawing us into a more intimate, wonderful-to-behold communion with Christ and into a more practical, wonderful-to-behold shared experience as the mystical Body of Christ?
Prayer
O God, on this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, we stand with those who mourn the loss of loved ones and cling to Jesus’ promise that “those who eat my Flesh and drink my Blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” May we come to appreciate the Eucharist as not only food for life’s journey, but also a pledge of the life to come. Amen.
Saint of the Day

St. Barnabas is most known for being the traveling companion of St. Paul in his journeys to establish Christian communities among people who were not Jewish.
Barnabas was not one of the 12 disciples, but he is known as an apostle because he worked so closely with the disciples. His name was Joseph, but the disciples changed it to Barnabas, which St. Luke defines as “man of encouragement.”
The Acts of the Apostles describe the early followers of Jesus living together and holding everything in common. Many sold their possessions and offered the proceeds to the disciples and to the Christian community. Barnabas is singled out for his contribution from the sale of his estate (Acts 4:36).
When Paul came to Jerusalem after his conversion, many were skeptical of his change of heart. Barnabas spoke for Paul and helped the community welcome him. It was Barnabas who introduced Paul to the other disciples.
The disciples established a Christian community in Antioch, and wanted someone from Jerusalem to help the new converts there—they chose Barnabas. He continued to win converts by his preaching, and found himself needing help. Paul came and spent a year in Antioch, growing the community there. It was in Antioch that people first started calling followers of Jesus “Christians.”
The Church in Antioch grew and flourished. When Jerusalem and Palestine fell into famine during a drought, the Christians in Antioch raised money to support people in Jerusalem, and they entrusted it to Paul and Barnabas to be delivered. The two continued traveling after that, preaching the Gospel and establishing new communities. Finding that the Jews did not welcome their message, they devoted their efforts to converting Gentiles.
After their journey, Paul and Barnabas parted ways after a dispute, and not much else is known of Barnabas—he may have been stoned and martyred in Salamis. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Barnabas, you were the apostle who established Christian communities in your travels with Paul—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Barnabas is in the public domain. Last accessed February 13, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.