"It is I" (Bread for the Journey 7)

 

In the first reading at today’s mass we hear ‘So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.’ (1 John 4:16).  An experience of the love of God is the foundation of a living faith.  We know because we have been loved and we have come to a realisation of that love.  The great mystery of our Christian religion is that God became flesh and that flesh became our bread of life.  God in Jesus Christ made himself a vulnerable baby.  Today, God makes himself a vulnerable victim in the host we receive at the Eucharist.  If we doubt God’s love let us stop and consider the words of Jesus reassuring the disciples on the stormy waters: ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ (Mark 6:50).  Through holy communion he lives in us and we live in him.  Love has conquered fear. When the minister declares to each of us, “The Body of Christ” we respond with “Amen” At that moment the Body of Christ speaks to us: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid” Amen!