The Body and Blood of Christ

Rev. AndreaGrace and the BeLoved Community pray together every Sunday at 10 AM ET in a variety of ways - through word, music, meditation, visio divino and more. We learn from and pray with both the Saints (canonized) and saints (holy people) using inclusive language and images. 

These highlights from our service on June 7, 2026, the Body & Blood of Christ - Cycle A, are shared here as a resource for your prayer, reflection, and continued spiritual practice. 

On the second Sunday after Pentecost – the Church celebrates the Body and Blood of Christ. Through the centuries – the Church has shifted focus from the people as the body of Christ to the mystical body of Christ in Holy Communion. 

Expanding Our Image of the Trinity

We gather in the name of the Source of All Love, 

Jesus – Emmanuel who is In us 

and Holy Spirit – our very breath of life

Communion of Saints  - 

St. Maria Josefa de Guerra, of the Heart of Jesus 

September 7, 1842 – March 20, 1912

St. Maria Josefa de Guerra was called to establish her own institute, the Congregation of the Sister Servants of Jesus of Charity and he served as its first Mother Superior. Their mission, or charisma, was to assist in the care of abandoned patients and of the dying, whether in hospitals or in their homes. Each of the sisters was instructed to “provide for the sick, whom she accompanies to the door of eternity, a blessing better than that of a missionary, who, with his preaching, calls those who are lost to the right path of life”. She said: “Don’t believe, sisters, that assistance consists only in giving medicine and food to the sick. There is another type of assistance … the assistance of the heart that enters in sympathy with the person who suffers and goes to meet his necessities.”

Artwork by Bro. Mickey McGrath

St. Marianne Cope of Molokai

January 23, 1838 – August 9, 1918

Hansen’s disease, leprosy, had spread to the Hawaiian islands decades before. In the 1860s, patients began to be exiled to the island of Molokai. Fr. Damien de Veuster was ministering to them. In 1883, Mother Marianne and a few of her sisters arrived to assist him. She taught: 

“What little good we can do in this world to help and comfort the suffering, we wish to do it quietly and so far as possible, unnoticed and unknown.”

Praying with Songs:

• On this feast of Corpus Christi – we are reminded that God is in us – and that we are to be Christ in our world.  Breath of Heaven

• The refrain of the contemporary prayer-song, One Bread, One Body is based on a Bible verse  from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians Chapter 10

• We Remember: 

• Church, the Body of Christ

Readings

• Our first reading features a strong, wise woman named Abigail who saves her people – going around her husband, Nabal, to offer hospitality to King David – and in doing so, prevents a war. In addition to the gift of hospitality, she offers her very self to David.  First Book of Samuel Chapter 25 

• Our second reading is a contemporary passage. The Divine continues to inspire writers – just like the ones that covered the thousands of years leading up to the compilation of the Christian Scriptures. 

Excerpts from A Reflection by Beth K.

Mary and Elizabeth have an unusually deep relationship that connects them on many levels: emotional, spiritual and, most stunningly, physical. They personify our own deep connections with each other, and that makes this story resonate with us. 

Like Mary and Elizabeth, we understand from our lived experience what it means to feel physically connected to each other, to offer our bodies in the service of another: we remember times we have carried others or have been carried, the hands we have held, the tears we’ve shed or the steps we have walked on another’s behalf, the faces we have gazed upon, the times we have been truly seen by another. Yes, we instinctively know the experience of sharing our bodies.

And women, in particular, have acquired a certain perspective and some insights to add to this knowing. From an early age, every girl learns to tune in to her body, to be receptive to the mystery of life and the forces of nature beyond her control. Thinking back to our early origins as a species, women who were carrying babies or young children, when threatened by danger, had a powerful understanding of the importance of relationship and interdependence. They could not miss life’s message that we all need each other…

We turn our focus toward the incarnation. One of the most compelling expressions of the incarnation is the image of a mother, who dedicates her body to the bearing of new life ~ literally making a gift of her body and blood for the sake of creation. 

Whenever I hear the words “this is my body, given up for you,” I’m always reminded of motherhood and of what is required for new life to begin.  

• In the Gospel of John 6:48, 51: we read:  Jesus said, “I am the bread of life…I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

• This summer, our BeLoved Community will be doing a community read – where each person will be invited to read the book From Living with Real Presence: Eucharist as an Approach to Life by S. James Meyer. Then, we will meet in September to discuss it. This excerpt is from pages 1 & 2

"We had just returned from the wake service on honoring my grandfather, and what better tribute could we, his progeny, offer than to gather in his memory, share the bear beer he served at the card table in his own home, and tell stories. This is how he lived and loved, surrounded by family, laughing, talking, and simply being present with one another.

Each of us, we discovered, new Grandpa uniquely. Our lives had been affected in different and individual ways by what he said, how he related, and the way he lived. For the first time, I saw him through my dad's eyes, and I could see how my father and his father were one. Likewise, I discovered Grandpa through the eyes and heart of my mother, who entered the family at the age of 20, and through my sister's and my brother. Individually, we knew him only partially. But in shared communion with each other, we could know him far more completely.

We shared the moral code he passed to us, including his commitment to a life of purpose, his insistence on integrity, his devotion to family, and his instruction to always be your brother's keeper.

As the evening grew late, it became increasingly obvious to me that Grandpa was present with us in that kitchen. He lived and breathed in us, around us, among us, and in between us in a very real way. He was one in us, and we were one with him. This is how love works.

When we think of real presence in Eucharist, we tend to forget that presence is not a thing; It is an experience, an encounter, and a real form of intimacy. If we dare go deep in our spirituality, we discover that real presence is a way of life, perhaps the way of life that brings hope, compassion, peace, harmony, mercy, joy, and love to us, to our relationships, and to all humanity. It is the source of happiness now and forever."

Rev. AndreaGrace’s Reflection:

Today, I am going to share a few “soul threads” that have shaped my experience of the Body and Blood of Christ.  

Recognizing God in our bodies:  When I was on a “silent” retreat before my priestly ordination, my retreat leader was divinely switched. I was assigned a woman whose name for her ministry includes the words “body and soul.” We hear that so often… but this director actually invites me regularly to notice how God is working in my body, how something feels in my body.

Embodiment: At the WOC Conference, there was much talk about “embodiment.” It’s common and perhaps easy for us to say that we are the body of Christ. That we are Christ’s hands and feet in our world. When we proclaim this statement, we are often just using our minds, our heads. This is a belief. Yet, we are invited to move from our heads to hearts, to deepen our understanding of this divinity, of our divinity. To appreciate how God is speaking to us through our bodies – our gut feelings, the thing that gave us goosebumps, the still-small-voice-from-deep-within that is speaking to us in our silence. All of this is embodying Christ. 

Passion And recognizing the passion in our bodies and lives is also divine. In the Judeo-Christian Scriptures, the book of Song of Songs, is all about romantic passion. In the Jewish tradition, it was considered a mitzvah – a good deed – for a man to make love to his wife on the Sabbath. Christianity stripped that away. I recently read the book, Church Folks, by Michele Andrea Brown– about an African-American church community during the Civil Rights era. The importance of passion – in its many forms - was a central theme in the book. 

Bodies – Temples of the Holy Spirit. We have been taught that our bodies are temples of the holy spirit. Have we thought about our bodies as magnificent as churches? Each so beautiful and diverse? Also in the book, Church Folks, I was deeply touched by the appreciation for women’s bodies in all their full shapes and sizes and colors. So different from the slender, young run-way bodies that our society has been put on a pedestal. Let’s remember that God made so many varieties of birds… or fish – with all their colors, shapes, sizes, personalities…. We are that magnificent – each of us. Do we believe it? Do we celebrate our grey hair and wrinkles – as a sign of a long, rich life? Do we appreciate our own bodies – in all their manifestations? 

Touch In our reading, Beth gave us examples of life and touch. Many years ago, God invited me to begin casually touching people and praying that God’s energy would move through me to bless them. I did begin that form of prayer when one of my dear friend’s dad was transitioning to eternal life. I went to the hospital to be with them. He didn’t want me to pray with him nor anoint him. As I was walking out of his room, I touched his leg. We both felt a spark of electricity. That was God’s energy touching us - connecting us – assuring us that there was more than what we know about in this life. Embodiment. 

This touch, the knowledge in our womanly bodies, the passion we feel – it is important. It is Divine. It is the Body and Blood of Christ - ALIVE. And we are each invited to enter into it our human experience, more fully. In doing so, we follow the example of our BeLoved God who chose to enter humanity through a woman’s body – to become truly human, to live among us, to breathe and touch and feel passion – as we do. 

When we receive holy communion – we  – our very selves – are empowered and transformed to become more fully, more deeply, the body and blood of Christ. 

Prayer Experience

For our prayer experience today, I invite you to close your eyes

Breathe in the Holy Spirit Sophia Wisdom

And remember a time that you were aware in your bodies of Christ’s presence OR

of being Christ for one another. 

Now, create a body movement to share that with us. 

For example, touching the man, I might point my finger and jolt it back. 

Eucharistic Liturgy 

Read our standard prayers here.

A Blessing

Be blessed, my sisters and brothers, with more deeply knowing God’s presence within you 

Be blessed with celebrating the Divine in your bodies 

Be blessed with embracing that God moves in and with and through you

Be blessed that you may more fully embody the body and blood of Christ

Be blessed 

in the name of the Source of All Love, 

Jesus – Emmanuel who is In us 

and Holy Spirit – our very breath of life. Amen. 

Join our service every Sunday at 10 AM ET on Zoom. The link is sent out weekly via email or text. Sign up to receive weekly messages about the BeLoved Inclusive Catholic Community. We hope that you will join us and experience God's beauty and love in our community.