At the Offertory of every Mass, the gifts that will be used at the Altar will be bread and wine.  Jesus chose bread and wine, because they are available everywhere in the world, so that Catholics everywhere in the world can receive the living Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ.  That is why Jesus said in today’s Gospel, “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.” 

At the Passover Meal, all the Apostles received a piece of what was “one loaf of bread,” now the   “one Body” of Jesus.  They drank from what was the “one cup of wine,” now the “one cup of Jesus’ Blood.”   Upon consuming the Body & Blood of Jesus, our Lord entered each Apostle, and with that, each of them became members of the one Body of Christ, the Church.  They were many who became united as ONE! 

The individual members of our bodies do not work independently of each other, but are united as ONE, acting for the good of the whole body.  As members of the Body of Christ, united as ONE in our Baptism and in the Eucharist, we are called to act as ONE, for the good of all in the Body of Christ. 

In celebrating the Feast of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ, we celebrate our unity with God and with each other in love.  St. Paul said it well in our Second Reading, “Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” 

Jesus wants us to celebrate our unity in Him in the Eucharist, for as long as the Church is on earth.  That is why He commanded His Apostles to, “do this in memory of me.”  Two thousand years later, we still do! 

-Bishop Roy Campbell