[00:00] My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, blessed and happy Sunday to all of you, God's beloved people. Today, the Church celebrates one of the most beautiful and profound feasts of our Catholic faith, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, traditionally known as

[00:39] Corpus Christi. Today we do not simply celebrate a doctrine, we celebrate a person. We celebrate Jesus Christ who loves us so much that He chooses to remain with us until the end of time in the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is the greatest gift of Christ to His Church.

[01:13] Before His passion, before His suffering and death on the cross, Jesus looked upon humanity with immense love and asked Himself, "How can I remain with them?" "How can I continue to walk with them?" And His answer was the Eucharist.

[01:43] He became bread for us. Imagine that the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, humbles Himself and becomes our food because He does not want to be separated from us. In the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses reminds us Israelites of their long journey through the desert. It was a place of hunger, thirst, fear, and uncertainty, yet God never abandoned His people.

[02:24] When they had nothing to eat, He fed them with manna from heaven. The desert is not only a place in history, it is also a reality in our lives. Many people today are walking through the desert of loneliness, especially for those who are in home care, those old persons, or our loved ones alone in the home for the

[03:04] aged, or those who are in prison, or those who have migrated to other countries apart from their loved ones. Some are struggling with sickness. Others carry heavy burdens in their families, marriages, finances, or personal lives. Some are wounded by grief, disappointment, or anxiety about the future.

[03:44] Many appear strong on the outside but are spiritually exhausted on the inside. Perhaps some of us came to Mass today carrying hidden thirst that no one else sees. Yet God says to us what He said to Israel, "I have not forgotten you, I will feed you."

[04:17] The manna in the desert was only a preparation for a greater gift. God now gives us not merely bread from heaven, but the bread of heaven Himself, Jesus Christ. In today's Gospel, Jesus boldly declares, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven." This word shocked His listeners; they could not understand how Jesus could give His flesh

[04:51] as food, yet Jesus did not take back His word. He repeated it with ever greater force because He wanted the world to know the truth. The Eucharist is not a symbol alone; it is truly His Body and Blood, Soul, and Divinity. What love is this? Human love often has limits.

[05:24] People can disappoint us, friends can leave us, even those closest to us can fail us at times, but Jesus says, "I will never leave you." And He proves it by giving Himself completely in the Eucharist. Every tabernacle in every Catholic church is a silent proclamation of God's faithful

[05:56] love. Day and night, Jesus waits for us there. He waits for the sinner seeking mercy. He waits for the suffering seeking consolation. He waits for the lonely seeking companionship. He waits for the weary soul seeking peace. Sometimes we travel many miles to visit people we love, yet Jesus remains waiting for us

[06:33] only a few minutes away in the Blessed Sacrament. How often do we visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament? Many saints, one of whom is St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, visited more than 10 times a day. His profound devotion to the Eucharist was a hallmark of his priesthood.

[07:06] How often do we thank Him? How often do we receive Him with hearts prepared, filled with faith? My brothers and sisters, every Holy Communion is a miracle. At the moment we receive the sacred host, heaven touches earth. The same Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, who healed the sick, who forgave sinners,

[07:38] who carried the cross, who died and rose again, enters our heart. What greater gift could God possibly give us than Himself? St. Paul reminds us in the second reading that the cup we bless and the bread we break are a participation in the Body and Blood of Christ.

[08:10] Through the Eucharist we become one body in Christ. This means that we cannot receive Jesus at the altar, then refuse to love our neighbor. The Eucharist is not only something we receive, it is someone we become. When we receive the Body of Christ, we are called to become the Body of Christ. When we receive mercy, we must show mercy.

[08:40] When we receive forgiveness, we must forgive. When we receive love, we must love. The Eucharist transforms us into living witnesses of Christ's presence in the world. Today, our world desperately needs people who carry Jesus within them. There is so much division, violence, war, hatred, loneliness, and despair.

[09:16] The world needs Eucharistic men and women who live right in the love of Christ. Thanks be to God, we have a lot of devotees, adorers, priests who love the Eucharist. As what? Servant of God, Padre Gobbi, really. When he received the message from Our Lady that we have to propagate the evangelization,

[09:49] especially Eucharistic love, and also it's written by our founder, Fr. Stefano. If you read that book, it's very beautiful. Eucharistic love to evangelize in order that people become Eucharistic men and women. Because it's hard to say, many people did not believe in the Eucharist. Even those religious, or some consecrated.

[10:21] And that's the reason that a lot of Eucharistic abuse of the Eucharist. How come that you can't pass the monstrance with a mechanic? Or many people touching the Eucharist, the host. Even the angels cannot be able to touch that one. Who we are, we touch when we pass by during the Eucharistic procession.

[10:51] Because of the abuse of the Eucharist. There are a lot, and it's the time that we make a reparation for our adoration, for our praying rosary. We spend a lot of time in front of the Blessed Sacrament for the reparation, as what Our Lady of Fatima said to St. Lucia, "Have a reparation, reparation, reparation." The Eucharist is both a gift and a mission.

[11:25] We come to the altar, receive Christ, and then Christ sends us out to bring His presence to others. As St. Teresa of Calcutta beautifully said, "Be the living tabernacle of Jesus." The sisters here know well, coming from the mouth of Mother Teresa, "Be the living tabernacle of Jesus." Wherever we go, we should bring Christ's compassion, kindness, patience, and love.

[11:59] As we celebrate Corpus Christi, let us remember three P's: presence. Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. He is not a memory of the past, but the living Lord among us today. The second P, provision. Just as God fed Israel with manna, Jesus nourishing us with the bread of life is strengthening us for our journey toward heaven. The third P, participation in the Holy Communion.

[12:32] We participate in Christ's very life and become united with Him and with one another as one family of faith. Presence, provision, participation. These three realities reveal the heart of the Eucharistic mystery. Before I conclude, I invite you to ponder one simple but powerful truth. God became bread because He loves you. He loves me.

[13:03] Can you imagine that? The King of Kings becomes small enough to be held in the hands of a priest. This afternoon we have a procession of the Eucharist, the Blessed Host. Not only for the evangelization as what the U.S. Conference, Bishop Conference did, commemorate for 250 years this Eucharistic procession for the evangelization, and also for the deliverance.

[13:38] Those places which are occasions of sin, houses, divisions, when the Blessed Sacrament passes, all that evil will be cast out, manifest. Those evil vices will be cast out through the presence of the Blessed Eucharist. Father, sisters in Christ, the Creator of the universe becomes food for His creatures.

[14:09] The Savior of the world enters our hearts in Holy Communion, not because He needs us, but because He loves us. And there is true love. There is a desire to remain. That is why Jesus remains with us in the Eucharist as we honor the Body and Blood of Christ today. Let us also turn to the Blessed Mother, Mary Immaculate Mother of the Eucharist. She was the first tabernacle of Jesus before Jesus was adored in the monstrance. He was carried in the womb of Mary.

[14:42] The same body we receive in Holy Communion was formed within her Immaculate Womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary always leads us to her Son. She teaches us how to adore Him, how to love Him, how to receive Him with purity, humility, and faith. May the Immaculate Mother of the Eucharist obtain for us a deeper love of the Blessed Sacrament. May she help us never take the Holy Communion for granted.

[15:17] That you are like receiving the chocolate in your hands without a devotion. And that is the reason that many Communions are sacrilegious because of that. And it is really Our Lady told Fr. Gobbi that many Eucharistic Communions are sacrilegious because of lack of devotion and how many souls are in purgatory. May she help us never take the Holy Communion for granted. May she teach us to spend time before Jesus in adoration and recognize His presence in

[15:52] every Mass. And may Jesus in the Eucharist become the center of our lives, the strength of our souls, and the joy of our hearts, and the hope of our salvation. First be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.