Scripture Scribbles: June 11, 2023 Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

the Gospel

John 6:51-58

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."

the devotion

Pure gift! Offered to us! Offered to ALL of us! The gift of Eternal Life. What will we do with it?

What are we doing with it now? Is it still wrapped up sitting on a shelf where we placed it on the day of our Baptism? Did we also place the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit that we received at confirmation right up there on the shelf next to our pretty little package. Do we realize what we have received? Do we glance at these gifts thinking what a blessing they all are? Or, are they collecting dust, have they been pushed back and other things are now obscuring our view of them?

At Mass when we walk towards the altar preparing to receive the Body of Christ, are we receiving Him? Or, is He, receiving us? Us, with all our sin, and faults, our wounds and our weaknesses….. if I glance up at the cross I see Him with his arms wide open on that cross, receiving me, receiving you….receiving all who come.

All who labor and are weary and He will give us rest. Rest! Rest in Him. What does this rest look like? Maybe it looks like knowing that eternity is real, we are not made for this world and He gives us gifts to go about our days here if only we open the gifts.

We are not meant to do this alone, actually we can’t do it alone.

That’s why those pretty little gifts are meant to be taken down, dusted off and opened. The beautiful gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit help us gauge if we are on the right track and then the ultimate gift of the Body of Christ “for whoever eats this bread will live forever.” I’m excited to do some unwrapping, hope you are too!!

Today’s devotion was written by Beth Brennan