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From the Pastor’s Desk
Dear friends,
I share this reflection with you
The intimate bond that unites families is well described by the phrase “flesh and blood.” “How can you treat your own flesh and blood so harshly?” a father might ask his son. “I can’t give up my baby for adoption; she’s my own flesh and blood,” a daughter may say to her mother. “I love you as though you were my own flesh and blood,” a brother might say to a stepbrother. It is as though our families are an inseparable part of us. Even those who have traumatic or abusive experiences with family members recognize the depth of emotional and spiritual connection we have with our families.
In Jesus’ words to the crowds in today’s Gospel we hear him talk about our participation in the Eucharist as a sharing in his own flesh and blood. Through the Eucharist Christ himself dwells in us. His divine and eternal life courses through our veins. Like a family gathered at table, we become more and more intimately connected with Christ and one another. As Paul tells us, “We, though many, are one body” (1 Corinthians 10:17), united as members of Christ’s own flesh and blood.
Within the Body of Christ today, many are suffering as Jesus once did, and the suffering of one of our “brothers and sisters” should be of deep concern to us. We who partake of the Body and Blood of Christ must be prepared to be broken and poured out as Jesus was “for the life of the world” (John 6:51). We must become willing to suffer ourselves if it will benefit a member of our own “flesh and blood.”
As you receive Holy Communion this week, open your heart to the intimate connections that unite us as family within the Body of Christ. Then reflect on how those bonds will affect the way you treat your own flesh and blood this week.
God Bless You,
Fr. Sergio Lopez
