John 6:51-58 Bible Gateway New International Version

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”

Corpus Christi...these two Latin words mean the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is present in the Holy Eucharist. Eucharist means “Thanksgiving.” Before you eat a meal, you say a blessing. In this blessing you thank God for his loving gifts and ask him to bless the food you are about to eat. The priest asks God to bless the bread and wine just like Jesus did. During the mass, the priest says the same words that Jesus said at the last supper, “This is my body.” Then it is not ordinary bread any more. The bread truly becomes the body of Christ. When the priest says, “This is my blood.” The wine becomes the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.”

If you have received the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, you are indeed blessed because Jesus shares his living bread with you. The Holy Eucharist is indeed one of the best blessings you can receive. One of the ways you can show God you are thankful for his many blessings is to receive communion often.

After you receive communion, talk to Jesus. Tell him what is going on with you. Yes, he already knows, but he will be ever so glad to hear it from you. You are his child. Tell him you’re upset because you didn’t do as well as you wanted on your math test. Tell him you want to read better. Tell him that you love your father and mother. Celebrate with that your soccer team won five out of six games. Tell him that you are thankful he made birds so you can watch them fly up to the clouds to be close to him. Tell him that war scares you and that you wish people would get along with each other. Thank him for the roses that are so pretty and smell so sweet. Tell him that you love him very much.

If you are too young to receive communion, Jesus wants you to know that he gives you a special blessing when you come to the altar with your hands crossed in front of your heart. Jesus knows this means that you love him very much. He knows that you are learning as much as you can about him. Then when your First Communion day comes, you will be so very happy because you will understand the goodness of the Lord’s living bread. You will live forever with him in paradise.

Say the “Our Father” and thank God for giving you his Son, Jesus Christ as spiritual food that opened the gates of paradise.

“Our Father, who art in Heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day, our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.”