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(Dt.8:2-3,14b-16a;\xa0\xa0 Ps.147:12-15,19-20;\xa0\xa0 1Cor.10:16-17;\xa0\xa0 Jn.6:51-58) \xa0 \u201cI am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.\u201d \xa0 \u201cNot by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.\u201d\xa0 And here is the Word standing before our eyes.\xa0 Here is the Bread that gives us life.\xa0 Here is Jesus Christ, in this Blessed Sacrament, nourishing all our lives. Yes, His \u201cflesh is true food, and [His] blood is true drink,\u201d for it feeds not only our bodies, but our souls as well, anointing us with His presence, joining us to His sacrifice.\xa0 And so it becomes His flesh we carry in our bodies; so it becomes His blood running in our veins.\xa0 For, as Paul asks so pointedly, \u201cThe cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?\xa0 The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?\u201d\xa0 And so, do we not become like our God, who comes to us so humbly in this food, who becomes one with our own flesh and blood?\xa0 Is heaven not here with us and within us as we eat of His presence?\xa0 Or does He lie about His gift? Brothers and sisters, nothing more wonderful could the mind of man conceive than this blessed gift we receive at the hands of our own Savior.\xa0 It is a wonder beyond our understanding and yet a wonder truly present with us, as real as our own flesh and blood.\xa0 As the Lord \u201cfed [the Israelites] in the desert with manna, a food unknown to [their] fathers,\u201d so we feed now on this food unknown to all \u2013 this bread of the angels.\xa0 And though our doubting hearts may question, \u201cHow can this man give us His flesh to eat,\u201d when we partake of this Sacrament of the altar, we find no question remaining; for in faith we taste His glory. Over and over Jesus repeats His refrain: \u201cWhoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,\u201d knowing how slow we are to hear, so slow of heart to believe \u2013 how easily we \u201cforget the Lord, [our] God, who brought [us] out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.\u201d\xa0 And falling back to the \u201cwaterless ground,\u201d we fall away from His table and fail to realize that \u201cwith the best of wheat He fills\u201d us.\xa0 But listen to Him.\xa0 Come to Him.\xa0 Eat.\xa0 Drink.\xa0 Do not have unbelieving hearts \u2013 but believe!\xa0 Be as children, pure and lowly, and \u201cglorify the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion,\u201d and what is beyond your understanding will become the light of your understanding, and lead you to eternal life.\xa0 He has given His \u201cflesh for the life of the world.\u201d\xa0 Live in Him, brothers and sisters.\xa0 Live in Him. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Body of Christ" from The Whole Whale, eighth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, how you provide for us! giving us even your Son\u2019s Body and Blood to nourish us on our journey to you.\xa0 YHWH, feed us with your Son\u2019s Body and Blood, for He alone is the finest wheat and the drink that lasts unto eternity. Apart from you we are dead in our sin, LORD, wandering aimlessly in this desert filled with snakes.\xa0 But He came indeed to save us, to share with us the life that is you.\xa0 As to an oasis we come to Him, and He does not fail to revive us at His table, at the altar of His sacrifice. O LORD, may we ever find nourishment in Jesus; each day let us be fed by His Word and His Sacrament, which makes that Word so real\u2026 real as the blood coursing through our veins.\xa0 He indeed took flesh for our sakes, and now by His sacrifice that flesh He leaves with us in this Bread of the angels. Let us never turn from Him, LORD, but participate always in His Body and Blood.\xa0 Make us your children, make us like Him, the Word made flesh to join us to you.