In John’s Gospel, Jesus told his disciples that he would give them his Body and Blood as food and drink. This puzzled and confused them. What could he possibly mean by this? They did not know what he was going to do. Just before he died, Jesus gave his Apostles what seemed to be bread and wine; but he told them that it was his Body and Blood. Then he told them to do the same in memory of him.
In obedience to his words, we’re still celebrating the Eucharist. All around the world, the Mass is being celebrated; in tiny chapels and in great cathedrals, in hundreds of different languages, and in many different countries. And in the Eucharist, Jesus gives us his Body and Blood as food and drink, just as he gave it to the Apostles almost 2000 years ago.
Receiving the Eucharist is an amazing thing. Jesus himself comes to each of us. But he doesn’t just come to us alone. He is God, and God is infinite. We are too small to contain him. And so whenever we receive the Eucharist, we are united with all the other people who are receiving him around the world. We are even united to all the people who received him in the past, and to all the people who will receive him in the future! That is why the Eucharist is also called “Communion”. At Communion time, remember that Jesus is coming to you so that you can become united with millions and millions of other people in the Mystical Body of Christ.