Scripture readings for June 7, 2026, Solemnity of Corpus Christi
Dt 8:2-3, 14b-16a Ps 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20 1 Cor 10:16-17 Jn 6:51-58
This is it.
This Sunday marks the last of the big springtime Sunday feasts — a final punctuation mark after the Easter season, as we turn the corner and head back to Ordinary Time. Fittingly, we mark the occasion by honoring Christ’s enduring gift, one that prevails in every season: holy Communion.
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ reminds us that Jesus hasn’t left us. He gave the world a part of himself to last long after his Ascension. It’s a legacy we can touch and taste.
Many of us receive holy Communion every week or even every day. So what we receive that sliver of bread on the tongue, that sip from the chalice on our lips may be something that too many of us take for granted.
But we shouldn’t. This Sunday tells us why.
To borrow a phrase from his Last Supper: Do we realize what he has done for us? This is a moment to engrave that in our memory.
In fact, the scriptures this week begin fittingly with a command that is repeated during the Last Supper: “Remember.” Moses called on his people to remember; and centuries later, Jesus would call on his followers to “do this in memory of me.” What we need to remember, what we need to treasure and celebrate, is God’s enduring presence in our lives, and all that he has done for us.
Do we need a refresher course? All of the Easter season has paid tribute to God’s limitless love for us — the generosity, the sacrifice, the mercy, the opportunity to gain eternal life because of what happened at Calvary. It has all enabled us, no matter what our hunger, to be fed.
“Do not forget the Lord, your God,” Moses implored, calling to mind the God who led the Israelites out of Egypt and slavery and fed them with manna in the desert.
Do not forget this: Our God still feeds us with bread, as Jesus made plain: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
This Sunday affords us an opportunity to reflect once more on the astounding gift of God giving himself to us through his Son — and the Son continuing to give himself to us through his own body and blood, week after week, year after year, century after century.
And if we need one more visible reminder of that, there is the venerable tradition of this Sunday: the Eucharistic procession. In countless neighborhoods around the world, the faithful will walk with the Blessed Sacrament, elevated in a monstrance; hymns will be sung, incense will be burned, and the wonder and mystery of the sacrament will be conveyed to all who see it.
Christ remains close to us in our streets, traveling our sidewalks and roads. We walk with him, as he has walked with us.
We remember that he walks with us through everything, all our hardships and heartaches, our joys and our hopes. He knows our pains. He’s felt our wounds. He bends when we feel we are ready to break.
And: he does not leave us to face life alone. He walks with us. So, this day, we walk with him. We show the world how very much we love him, because of how much he loves us.
We celebrate the Body of Christ as the Body of Christ, in all its brokenness and beauty, in something as humble and yet as overwhelming as a simple piece of bread. We shouldn’t let this day pass without whispering a prayer of gratitude for that unending gift — a gift that truly keeps on giving.
Deacon Greg Kandra is an award-winning author and journalist, and creator of the blog “The Deacon’s Bench.”
