"Take; this is my body." "This is my blood."

"Take; this is my body."

"This is my blood."
*******************************

   " You can have no life in yourselves,

unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man,

and drink his blood."
(John.6:54)

Jesus said these words to His followers when He was talking to them at Capharnaum. 

Jesus meant what He said literally.

How are we to eat His flesh and drink His blood?

Jesus instituted

the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist

during His last supper with His Apostles.

He took the bread and said, "Take; this is my body." 

and gave it to them to be eaten.

Then He took the cup of wine and said,

"This is my blood of the covenant."

and gave it to them to be drunk.

At Jesus' words

bread turned into His body

and wine into His blood.

We believe in Jesus and His words,

otherwise we cannot be Christians.

The unbelievers may ask, "How is it possible?''

God created the whole universe out of nothing,

because

He is Almighty, 

which means,

nothing is impossible to Him.

Just ponder over the wonders of nature, created by God.

A single female cell grows into a beautiful baby when united with a single male sperm!

Cow dung turns into fruits when consumed by trees!

Food turns into our blood when eaten!

Science can explain only 'whats' of nature,  not 'hows'.

It can explain what happens when trees absorb the manure with their roots,

but it cannot explain how it happens! 

It is God's plan what should happen  and how it should happen.

Jesus is God.

Can He not turn bread into His flesh when He can create a bread out of nothing?

It is to be always  in our midst

in His human nature also

with His real flesh and blood

and to give Himself to us as our spiritual food

that He instituted the Holy Eucharist

during last supper.

He also instituted

the sacrament of Holy orders

whereby His priests were given power

by Himself

to turn bread and wine

into His body and blood

during Holy Mass.

Jesus is really present in the Holy Eucharist .

When we receive  Holy Communion

we receive His real flesh and blood

as our spiritual food.

When our Lord Jesus

commands us to eat his flesh and drink his blood,

He invites us to take his life

into the very centre of our being.

" He who eats my flesh,

and drinks my blood,

lives continually in me,

and I in him."  (John.6:57)

That life which Jesus offers is the very life of God Himself.

Whenever we receive

Jesus' flesh and blood

we must remember

His atoning death,

His resurrection, and

His promise to return again.

"So it is the Lord’s death

that you are heralding,

whenever you eat this bread and

drink this cup,

until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26).

When we receive from the Lord's table

we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ,

who makes us sharers

in his body and blood.

This supernatural food is healing for both body and soul

and strength for our  heavenward journey .

When we approach the Table of the Lord,

we receive healing,

pardon,

comfort,

and

rest for our soul.

The  principal fruit

of receiving the Eucharist

is an intimate union with Christ.

As bodily nourishment restores lost strength,

the Eucharist strengthens us

in charity

and

enables us to break with

disordered attachments

to creatures

and to be more firmly rooted

in the love of Christ.

Jesus nourishes and sustains us

with His very own presence and life.

We must always hunger for Jesus

and be satisfied in Him alone.

Lourdu Selvam.