(Source from The Word Among Us)

We, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. (1 Corinthians 10:17)

If you buy an airline ticket, you’ll have to decide between first class, with all of its fine amenities, and the more basic economy class. If you go to a play, you can choose between orchestra seating, which is right in front of the action, and balcony seating, where you may not see the actors too clearly. Similar options exist in many other places where people gather. Except, of course, for Mass. There are no different “classes of service” at the liturgy: just the whole people of God gathered as one to receive “the one loaf,” which is Jesus himself (1 Corinthians 10:17).

On this feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, St. Paul reminds us that we are “one body” in the Lord (1 Corinthians 10:17). Jesus has called us into one community as his brothers and sisters. He has gifted all of us with the “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins” (Apostles Creed). And he has filled each of us with the same Holy Spirit that filled Mary, Peter, John, and all the saints. Everyone has a first-class seat! Everyone has the same high privilege of being named a child of God!

This truth is at the heart of the mystery we celebrate today: in the gift of the Eucharist, Jesus offers his whole self—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—to each and every one of us. He invites each of us to become treasured vessels of his presence: living, breathing tabernacles of his glory. He makes no distinctions, and he asks us to do the same: we are one in Christ!

Today during Holy Communion, look at the brothers and sisters gathered with you. Lift them up in prayer. Honor them as the beloved of Christ that they are. And welcome them into your heart, just as Jesus has welcomed you!

“Jesus, thank you for giving yourself to me so freely and generously!”