Dt 8:2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Cor 10:16-17; Jn 6:51-58
The business manager of Kentucky Fried Chicken calls up the Pope to ask for a favor.
The Pope says, “What can I do?”
The business manager says, “I would like to ask you to change the daily prayer from, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ to ‘Give us this day our daily Kentucky Fried Chicken’. If you do it, I’ll donate 10 million dollars to the Church.”
The Pope replies, “I am sorry. It is beyond my authority to change the Lord’s Prayer.”
“Listen your Holiness”, the business manager begs. “I really need your help to improve our sales. I’ll give you $50 million dollars if you change the words of the daily prayer from ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ to ‘Give us this day our daily Kentucky Fried Chicken’.
Yet, the Pope insists, “It is the Lord’s Prayer, and I can’t change the words.”
The business manager is not about to give up and makes his biggest offer. “Your Holiness. If you change the words of the daily prayer from, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ to ‘Give us this day our daily Kentucky Fried Chicken’ I will donate $100 million to the Church.”
The Pope replies: “I must confess that the Church could do a lot of good with that much money. It would help us support many charities. Okay, I give in.”
The next day, the Pope gathers all of his Cardinals to an emergency assembly. And he announces: “I have some good news and I have some bad news. The good news is that KFC is going to donate $100 million to the Church.”
The Cardinals rejoice at the news. Then one asks about the bad news.
The Pope says, “The bad news is that the bread from heaven is out of stock.”
(The story is from an unknown author)
As we celebrate the solemn feast of Corpus Christi we are reminded of the two meanings of the Body of Christ.
First of all, the Body of Christ refers to the Eucharist that we receive during Mass. More precisely, it is the body and blood of Christ being sacrificed and given for our salvation. The gospel reminds that Christ is the living bread from heaven, the one who satisfies the deepest yearnings of our hearts, and the one that sustains us on our earthly pilgrimage.
With little food, we become malnourished and weak; we can easily get sick or even die. It is more or less the same in our spiritual life. Without the food of the Eucharist, we cannot live and love truly. Deprive of the nourishment from the body and blood of Christ, we become vulnerable to temptations and helpless in the midst of trials and difficulties. The first reading teaches that people “live not on bread alone, but from every word that comes from the mouth of God”. Jesus is the supreme Word of God, and we love to receive him for nourishment and strength. By faithfully receiving Christ in the Eucharist, we hope to become more and more like him.
The feast of Corpus Christi gives us the opportunity to seriously consider Paul’s advice: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves” (1 Cor 11:27-29). Interior preparation, therefore, is a must for receiving the Lord in communion. If we are conscious of a mortal or serious sin, we must go to confession first before thinking of receiving the body and blood of Christ.
The Body of Christ also refers to the People of God. In the second reading, St. Paul points this out: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread”. In other words, St. Paul is saying that all who believe and follow Jesus are united with him, and together they form one body of Christ”.
If we are truly one body, we have to love each other, care for each other, and secure the well-being of one another. In the Body of Christ, the joy of one is the happiness of all; the problem of one is the predicament of all. St. Paul explains this idea quite extensively and clearly in his first letter to the Corinthians (12:12-31).
In one occasion, St. Paul expressed his disappointment to the people of Corinth because of their divisiveness and individualism. He admonished them by saying: “When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s Supper. For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the Church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!” (1 Cor 11:20-22). For St Paul, the Lord’s Supper is only meaningful when it is being celebrated by people who are united in love or who care for one another.
Therefore, it is not enough that we celebrate the Lord’s Supper or the Mass. It is necessary that we, the celebrants or the active participants, are living in a genuinely Christian manner. Otherwise, the breaking of the bread that we perform remains an ordinary dinner, not the Lord’s Supper. We might have a beautiful liturgy in the Mass, but if we continue to disregard the needs of the poor, our Eucharistic celebrations will always be lacking in meaning and blessing.
A man, down on his luck, went inside a Church. Spotting the man’s dirty clothes a priest, worried about the Church’s image, went to the man and asked him if he needed help. The man said, “I was praying and the Lord told me to come to this Church”.
The priest suggested that the man go pray some more and possibly he might get a different answer. The next Sunday the man returned. The priest asked, “Did you get a different answer?”
The man replied, “Yes, Father, I did. I told the Lord that they don’t want me in that Church and the Lord said, ‘Don’t worry about it son; I’ve been trying to get into that Church for years and haven’t made it yet.’”
(The story is from an unknown author)
The business manager of Kentucky Fried Chicken calls up the Pope to ask for a favor.
The Pope says, “What can I do?”
The business manager says, “I would like to ask you to change the daily prayer from, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ to ‘Give us this day our daily Kentucky Fried Chicken’. If you do it, I’ll donate 10 million dollars to the Church.”
The Pope replies, “I am sorry. It is beyond my authority to change the Lord’s Prayer.”
“Listen your Holiness”, the business manager begs. “I really need your help to improve our sales. I’ll give you $50 million dollars if you change the words of the daily prayer from ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ to ‘Give us this day our daily Kentucky Fried Chicken’.
Yet, the Pope insists, “It is the Lord’s Prayer, and I can’t change the words.”
The business manager is not about to give up and makes his biggest offer. “Your Holiness. If you change the words of the daily prayer from, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ to ‘Give us this day our daily Kentucky Fried Chicken’ I will donate $100 million to the Church.”
The Pope replies: “I must confess that the Church could do a lot of good with that much money. It would help us support many charities. Okay, I give in.”
The next day, the Pope gathers all of his Cardinals to an emergency assembly. And he announces: “I have some good news and I have some bad news. The good news is that KFC is going to donate $100 million to the Church.”
The Cardinals rejoice at the news. Then one asks about the bad news.
The Pope says, “The bad news is that the bread from heaven is out of stock.”
(The story is from an unknown author)
As we celebrate the solemn feast of Corpus Christi we are reminded of the two meanings of the Body of Christ.
First of all, the Body of Christ refers to the Eucharist that we receive during Mass. More precisely, it is the body and blood of Christ being sacrificed and given for our salvation. The gospel reminds that Christ is the living bread from heaven, the one who satisfies the deepest yearnings of our hearts, and the one that sustains us on our earthly pilgrimage.
With little food, we become malnourished and weak; we can easily get sick or even die. It is more or less the same in our spiritual life. Without the food of the Eucharist, we cannot live and love truly. Deprive of the nourishment from the body and blood of Christ, we become vulnerable to temptations and helpless in the midst of trials and difficulties. The first reading teaches that people “live not on bread alone, but from every word that comes from the mouth of God”. Jesus is the supreme Word of God, and we love to receive him for nourishment and strength. By faithfully receiving Christ in the Eucharist, we hope to become more and more like him.
The feast of Corpus Christi gives us the opportunity to seriously consider Paul’s advice: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves” (1 Cor 11:27-29). Interior preparation, therefore, is a must for receiving the Lord in communion. If we are conscious of a mortal or serious sin, we must go to confession first before thinking of receiving the body and blood of Christ.
The Body of Christ also refers to the People of God. In the second reading, St. Paul points this out: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread”. In other words, St. Paul is saying that all who believe and follow Jesus are united with him, and together they form one body of Christ”.
If we are truly one body, we have to love each other, care for each other, and secure the well-being of one another. In the Body of Christ, the joy of one is the happiness of all; the problem of one is the predicament of all. St. Paul explains this idea quite extensively and clearly in his first letter to the Corinthians (12:12-31).
In one occasion, St. Paul expressed his disappointment to the people of Corinth because of their divisiveness and individualism. He admonished them by saying: “When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s Supper. For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the Church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!” (1 Cor 11:20-22). For St Paul, the Lord’s Supper is only meaningful when it is being celebrated by people who are united in love or who care for one another.
Therefore, it is not enough that we celebrate the Lord’s Supper or the Mass. It is necessary that we, the celebrants or the active participants, are living in a genuinely Christian manner. Otherwise, the breaking of the bread that we perform remains an ordinary dinner, not the Lord’s Supper. We might have a beautiful liturgy in the Mass, but if we continue to disregard the needs of the poor, our Eucharistic celebrations will always be lacking in meaning and blessing.
A man, down on his luck, went inside a Church. Spotting the man’s dirty clothes a priest, worried about the Church’s image, went to the man and asked him if he needed help. The man said, “I was praying and the Lord told me to come to this Church”.
The priest suggested that the man go pray some more and possibly he might get a different answer. The next Sunday the man returned. The priest asked, “Did you get a different answer?”
The man replied, “Yes, Father, I did. I told the Lord that they don’t want me in that Church and the Lord said, ‘Don’t worry about it son; I’ve been trying to get into that Church for years and haven’t made it yet.’”
(The story is from an unknown author)
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