(Dt.8:2-3,14b-16a; Ps.147:12-15,19-20; 1Cor.10:16-17; Jn.6:51-58) "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever." "Not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord." And here is the Word standing before our eyes. Here is the Bread that gives us life. Here is Jesus Christ, in this Blessed Sacrament, nourishing all our lives. Yes, His "flesh is true food, and [His] blood is true drink," for it feeds not only our bodies, but our souls as well, anointing us with His presence, joining us to His sacrifice. And so it becomes His flesh we carry in our bodies; so it becomes His blood running in our veins. For, as Paul asks so pointedly, "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?" And so, do we not become like our God, who comes to us so humbly in this food, who becomes one with our own flesh and blood? Is heaven not here with us and within us as we eat of His presence? Or does He lie about His gift? Brothers and sisters, nothing more wonderful could the mind of man conceive than this blessed gift we receive at the hands of our own Savior. It is a wonder beyond our understanding and yet a wonder truly present with us, as real as our own flesh and blood. As the Lord "fed [the Israelites] in the desert with manna, a food unknown to [their] fathers," so we feed now on this food unknown to all – this bread of the angels. And though our doubting hearts may question, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat," when we partake of this Sacrament of the altar, we find no question remaining; for in faith we taste His glory. Over and over Jesus repeats His refrain: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life," knowing how slow we are to hear, so slow of heart to believe – how easily we "forget the Lord, [our] God, who brought [us] out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery." And falling back to the "waterless ground," we fall away from His table and fail to realize that "with the best of wheat He fills" us. But listen to Him. Come to Him. Eat. Drink. Do not have unbelieving hearts – but believe! Be as children, pure and lowly, and "glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion," and what is beyond your understanding will become the light of your understanding, and lead you to eternal life. He has given His "flesh for the life of the world." Live in Him, brothers and sisters. Live in Him. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Body of Christ" from The Whole Whale, eighth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, how you provide for us! giving us even your Son's Body and Blood to nourish us on our journey to you. YHWH, feed us with your Son's Body and Blood, for He alone is the finest wheat and the drink that lasts unto eternity. Apart from you we are dead in our sin, LORD, wandering aimlessly in this desert filled with snakes. But He came indeed to save us, to share with us the life that is you. As to an oasis we come to Him, and He does not fail to revive us at His table, at the altar of His sacrifice. O LORD, may we ever find nourishment in Jesus; each day let us be fed by His Word and His Sacrament, which makes that Word so real… real as the blood coursing through our veins. He indeed took flesh for our sakes, and now by His sacrifice that flesh He leaves with us in this Bread of the angels. Let us never turn from Him, LORD, but participate always in His Body and Blood. Make us your children, make us like Him, the Word made flesh to join us to you.