In John’s Gospel, Jesus gives a long discourse on the Bread of Life. In today’s Gospel, he says that the bread he will give is his flesh. The leaders of the Jews don’t understand. Hopefully, we can do better.
In the pagan world at the time of Christ and before, a sacrifice was also a meal. Jesus used that understanding of sacrifice to explain his gift of self. He would die on the cross as a sacrifice to the Father, and we would share in the meal by consuming bread and wine, which are his Body and Blood.
Better than the pagan sacrifice, the Eucharist unites us with God because Jesus is both human and divine. His humanity allowed him to represent us to the Father, as a lawyer represents a client to the court. Jesus’ divinity allowed his sacrifice to be worthy of the Father, as no merely human gift could be.
The Eucharist also unites us to one another. Because the food we share is the Body and Blood of Christ, we in a sense become what we eat. We show this by our love, by sharing our faith, by forgiving each other, and by our service to each other. If we believe that Jesus is divine, we must believe his word that the Eucharist is truly his Body and Blood, given for us.
Tom Schmidt, Diocesan Publications
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ | USCCB