It is 18th June 2017. We celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus Christi. We too celebrate the Father’s Day today. May the Lord bless, protect and provide the fathers in a special way today and the days ahead. The readings are from Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16; the second reading is from 1Corinthians 10:16-17; and the Gospel from John 6:51-58. The pompous celebrations of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, which began on the eve of the Last Supper continues to sustain us the Church in every turn of our lives. As we celebrate, we are openly confessing and believing that the Lord Jesus is truly and undoubtedly present under the appearance of bread and wine. This Most Sacred and Precious Host is reserved in the tabernacles is indeed the real, the substantial and the true presence of our Lord Jesus Himself. The Catechism teaches us more firmly, “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist ‘the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained. Because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present.” (CCC.1374). The Most Holy Eucharist is the perfect gift from God to the Church at large and to every believer in person to assure God’s continued support, protection and blessings. We must not hesitate to come closer day by day to this Most Precious Presence of our Lord Jesus. Every moment we prostrate before the ever pardoning and loving presence of Jesus, we frustrate the Satan and its advances in our lives. In the first reading, God offers the substantial food to satisfy the hunger caused by the wanderings in the wilderness. “It is God who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good.” (Deut.8:16a). The responsorial Psalm praises, “Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.” (Ps. 147:12). In the second reading, St. Paul assures us that our oneness in and among us comes through the participation of the Holy Eucharist. “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” (1 Cor.10:17). The Holy Eucharist offers the inner energy to our core being, nourishing our faith, helping us to grow closer to Him and reawakening our commitment to the Risen Lord Jesus. Every Eucharistic celebration and participation is the opportunity to be with the Lord in the upper room. Our formation as one community depends on our participation in the Holy Eucharist. We need to appreciate, and adore the real presence of our Lord in our churches. It is also a day to recollect and submit humbly for all the abuses we as the Church committed against the Corpus Christi. Most of us have failed seriously acknowledging the true, the real and the substantial presence of Jesus during the times of pain, fear, suffering and frustrations of our lives. Let not our fear and pain paralyze our faith and hope in the Eucharist. In the Gospel, Jesus himself claims that without eating and drinking the body and the blood of Him, we have no life at all. The real food demands the continuation of His love in the world and to put an end to all kinds of slavery and poverty. The reverence we have in the Most Holy Eucharist must propel us to have the utmost respect and protection toward the other vulnerable and exposed Christ in our streets without shelter and love. May you have a good day.