Friday of the 3rd Week of Eastertide
Acts 9:1-20 | Psalm 116(117) | John 6:52-59
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him. (John 6:56)
Last night, I was introduced to a rather odd food item.
Shoe-shi! A tasty work of art painstakingly crafted to be a single mouthful.
And it’ll give us life…for about 30 seconds, then it’s all over but the Instagram “food porn” posts.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
In contrast, the bread that we share at each Eucharistic celebration looks and tastes pretty bland.
But eat it, while mindful of the sacrificial love poured out for us from the Cross, and we’ll be taking Christ into ourselves, where He will counsel and guide and propel us through the days to come.
Oh, and this mouthful will give us life eternal…just not on this earth.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been cooking simple meals for myself at least four times a week, mostly vegetarian noodle soups with the occasional tuna or minced pork thrown in for additional protein. I feel a lightness of being after consuming such meals, especially when compared to the meat-heavy dishes I used to eat regularly. My mood lifts, my mind focuses, and my body just works better.
Consuming Christ also gives me that “fills me up, doesn’t weigh me down” sensation, even though the small wafer is about 1% of even my lightest meal. It’s almost as if the host sublimates into a ethereal Spirit that floods my body; I don’t feel the wheat as it slides down my throat, just the warmth of Jesus lifting my spirit with an unquenchable love.
I suspect I’ll encounter that same feeling in spades tonight, when I return to Holy Hour for the first time in years.
Lord, thank You for coming to me, and abiding in me. Let me never take Your presence, Your counsel, Your direction, for granted. Amen.