United to Jesus

The Gospel for this feast reminds me of what my grandmother Berta, my father’s mother, used to tell us when we visited her and she fed us. She always cooked a lot of food; her favorite saying was, “If you don’t eat enough, it’s your fault.” Perhaps Jesus would have said the same thing when he fed us with his Body and Blood.

Jesus came to change people’s hearts, to show them God’s love and how to love one another. The miracle of the loaves shows us that Jesus can feed millions with his Body and Blood in the Eucharist. The miracle of changing the bread and wine into his Body and Blood not only makes us feel good to have Jesus so close, it also strengthens us to give our best as his disciples. Just as food and drink help us continue to live, his Body and Blood help us continue to love. When you go to Mass, look around as people file through the lines to receive Communion and think about how many people are united to Jesus. United in a relationship so intimate that it cannot be had with anyone or anything else.

When the disciples spoke to Jesus about the hungry crowd, he said to them, “Give them something to eat.” And one day they did. When they celebrated the Eucharist after Jesus’ resurrection, the apostles gave that spiritual nourishment to Christ’s new followers. And today the Church continues to do so. With the strength of Jesus that we receive through the Eucharist, through the Body and Blood of Christ, we can teach all people about God’s love for them and how we are called to love one another. We nourish ourselves with the Body and Blood of Christ, so that we have the strength to love and transform the places where we go and live, to be the Eucharist, a miracle of love, in the world.

May the Lord always grant you his peace!

Fr. Lalo Jara, OFM Pastor,
Mission San Luis Rey Parish