Today's feast presents to us three important elements of our faith. First is that God becomes physically present in the person of Christ, true God and true Man. Secondly, God continues to be present in His people, the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church. Thirdly, the presence of God under the form of bread and wine is available to us at Mass and preserved for our spiritual nourishment and worship.

In the first reading, Moses reminded the Israelites when they were wandering in the wilderness how God humbled them and wanted them to remember to trust in God's providence. God fed them with manna, thus foreshadowing the Eucharist.

The second reading reminds us to make the Eucharist the centre of our lives and a sign of unity of the Christian community. By sharing in the one bread and one cup, we are made one in Christ and share in His divine nature.

Jesus in the Gospel today announces He is the Living Bread. We are to eat His flesh and drink His blood in the sense that we are to assimilate totally into our very being, all that He teaches, His vision, His values, His understanding of the meaning and purpose of life. By partaking in the Eucharist, we become the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ in sharing our life with others - we are Jesus to others.