06/08/2026
As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Deacon Rod Accardi invites us to reflect on God's faithful presence in our lives. He reminds us that just as God led and fed His people with manna, Jesus continues to lead us through sacrificial love and nourish us with His Body and Blood:
Remember How God Leads Us and Feeds Us Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14a-16a
On this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus, we pause to remember … to remember how much Jesus leads us and feeds us. The Lord of Love leads us by his sacrificial love of God and neighbor, even unto death on the cross. And he feeds us with the Word made flesh, with his body and blood.
Jesus would have been very familiar with the story we heard in today’s first reading - the story of our Israelite ancestors’ journey through the wilderness. God chose Moses to lead his people from slavery to freedom, from the oppression of Pharaoh’s rule by miraculously parting the Red Sea. But only then did their travel from the Sinai Peninsula to Canaan, a distance of roughly 200 miles really begin. The journey should have taken approximately 14 days. Instead, they travelled for 40 brutal years! I can only imagine a cantor of old chanting the lament of Psalm 13: “How long, Lord … How long …how long must I carry sorrow in my soul, grief in my heart day after day?”
The central image arising from the Exodus experience is that of manna in the wilderness. Manna symbolizes complete daily dependence on God; humility that resulted from their having been tested; and the foreshadowing of Jesus Christ as the ultimate source of eternal life. Moses reminded the people that they owed their survival, their very lives, to God. When they were lost in the barren desert, with no hope for finding food, God gave them manna to eat.
It is said that we are what we eat. One spiritual teacher put it this way: “When we eat material food, it becomes us. When we eat spiritual food, we become it.” The bread of life holds a sacred place in all of scripture. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35) and “I am the bread which came down out of heaven.” (John 6:4) In teaching us how to pray the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus asks us to remember to ask God to, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And Jesus himself took bread—blessed and broke it—gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take, eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26).
With so many trials and tribulations in our own personal lives, as well as global chaos around the world, the first reading today asks us to remember the journey of our ancestors through the wilderness. We are called to keep the commandments and to remember our story of faith —a history in which God humbled Israel in the wilderness—and a history in which he fed the Israelites manna. God called Israel and calls us to remember all that God has done for us. It's one thing to remember our history, our story of faith, and it is quite another to be willing to put our trust in him and follow him into the desert and an uncertain future.
I will conclude this reflection on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus by reading an excerpt of the Payer of Thanksgiving I wrote for the People of Christ the Servant, a prayer of trust and gratitude for all God has done for us. A prayer that could give voice to our ancestors who traveled the perilous journey of faith in the wilderness.
Gracious and loving God, our hearts overflow with gratitude and joy for the countless blessings you have bestowed upon us. You have heard our pleas, felt our struggles, and in your infinite wisdom you answered our prayers in ways we could not have imagined. When we were confused and lacked clarity, we put our trust in you. When we felt frustrated and misunderstood, we put our trust in you. When we had no idea where this process would eventually lead us, we put our trust in you. Jesus, thank you for being the light of the world. Thank you for showing us how to live a life of trusting in you. Give us the courage to shine your light on all we encounter and be a reflection of your light to everyone we meet. Amen.
