The uncanny thing about being out of shape is that none of us consciously allow ourselves to  become that way; it’s something that creeps up on us. The extra pounds that pile on around our waistlines are the result of making wrong choices on a daily basis. Just as we can become physically unfit so we can become spiritually unfit. None of us make bad choices on purpose, but nonetheless if we make choices on a daily basis that are not based on God’s values we can easily feel weighed down,   dissatisfied and unhappy. The feeding of the five thousand is prophetic. Jesus is showing us that God’s reign is about satisfying both human spiritual and physical need. The importance of the miracle is not so much about the multiplication of food, but the message that God can provide for all our needs.

On the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we are reminded that in just the same way as we care for our physical diet, we need to make Jesus part of our spiritual diet both in communion and in our daily choices to live as Christians so that we might be spiritually whole. We are invited to feel alive and rejuvenated and ready to impact the world around us.

Jesus was all about sharing. He gave his time, his love and finally his body and blood. When we receive Holy Communion in Mass our action is twofold. The Eucharist is a banquet for the multitudes in which we remember Jesus’ sacrificial self-giving. More than this, we remember the promise that anyone who eats his bread and drinks his blood will share eternal life.