St. Philip the Apostle Church

06/08/2026

06/07/2026

Corpus Christi Prayer
O Precious Jesus,
The gift of your Body and Blood, shared with us, is unfathomable.
Like manna that satiated our hunger, fill us where we lack.
Like the bread given to Elijah in the desert, sustain us.
Grace us with a glimpse into your love for us,
now and forever, present in the Eucharist.
Amen.

©LPi

06/07/2026

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
John 6:51-58

When I was a young altar server, I once overheard two very different comments about the Eucharist. One person asked, “Is Father distributing the bread or the wine?” Later, another asked, “Can you go get Jesus from the tabernacle?” Same parish, same Mass, but two very different ways of speaking. I pondered: So, is it bread that we pretend is Jesus? Or is Jesus a tiny white thing in a box? I was utterly confused.

This Feast of Corpus Christi is an excellent time to think about how we should speak about the Eucharist. In today’s Gospel, Jesus declares: “My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” (John 6:55) His words scandalized his listeners, who feared cannibalism, and even today puzzle many, who reduce them to metaphor. Both miss the truth.

The Church gives us better words that honor Jesus’ words in the Gospel. After the consecration, we do not call it “bread” or “wine.” Nor do we say, “a piece of Jesus” or even “Jesus.” We say: the Eucharist. We say: the Body and Blood of Christ. We say: the Real Presence. We say: the Most Blessed Sacrament. These words safeguard the astonishing reality that Christ himself is truly present, whole and entire, under the appearances of bread and wine.

If we speak well about the Eucharist, we will think more clearly and believe more deeply. And if we believe more deeply, we will adore more truly the One who gives himself to us — not bread, not wine, but Jesus Christ himself, whole and entire.
— Father John Muir

©LPi

06/06/2026

The starving Israelites found their physical salvation in manna, “a food unknown to your fathers.” We find our spiritual salvation in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, a food unknown to too many souls. Blessed are we to partake of the Bread of Life.
©LPi