Ubi Caritas

Ubi Caritas

6/8/2025, 11:46:56 AM

What does the body of Jesus taste like? ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ – Matthew 26:26 Day after day, we come forward to the altar of God, hands open with yearning hearts, to receive the Holy Eucharist, Jesus Christ Himself, truly present: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. But have we paused to ask ourselves: What does the Body of Jesus taste like? Whenever my mother is cooking and I am at home together with my siblings, we can perceive the aroma of her cooking, and we begin to salivate because we know already that something wonderful is being prepared. eventually, it always turns out that way. We will say with pride, Mum, your meal is the best, this is because the food prepared does have great taste; if you doubt, do well to visit us sometime. If we can say that the food we eat to nourish our body is tasty, what then can we say the food of our soul tastes like? Is it the plainness of the host, a product of wheat? Is it something physical? Or is the taste something deeper? For me, I can boldly say that the taste of the Body of Jesus Christ is LOVE. It is the taste of self-giving love, the kind of love that looks at me, a sinful, broken, unworthy human, and still says, ‘You are worth dying for.’ In the Eucharist, Jesus offers Himself again, without reserve. He does not withhold even an ounce of His grace. He pours it all out, holding nothing back. That is love. That is the taste. It is the taste of the Cross. It is the taste of Sacrifice. It is the taste of Heaven touching earth. It is the taste of Love. When Jesus broke the bread with His disciples, especially after his resurrection, He was not just satisfying their hunger; He was opening their eyes. “They recognized Him in the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:35). That bread, His body, became a medium of His love, a love that assures, heals, forgives, and calls us back home. So, what does this taste do to us? It changes us. It draws us closer to Him. The Eucharist is not just nourishment for the soul; it is a calling. A calling to become like Christ, whom we receive. It teaches us to forgive as we have been forgiven, to love genuinely as we have been loved, to be broken and shared for others as He was for us. In receiving His Body, we become His Body. And today, as we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, we remember that this same Jesus, whose Body we receive, pours out His Spirit upon us. The Holy Spirit, the breath of divine life, fills our hearts and kindles in us the fire of His love. The Eucharist and the Spirit are not separate gifts. They are united. The Eucharist is Christ in us; the Spirit is Christ working through us. We celebrate with our Sisters, the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, as they celebrate their feast day, asking that the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit will continue to remain with them and guide and lead them in their missions of spreading the good news of our Lord Jesus here on earth. I conclude with this prayer: Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with the fire of that love. Let us never grow used to this mystery. Let the taste of the Body of Christ forever transform the taste of our lives. Amen. Happy Pentecost Sunday 🕊️ AGT ☘️