There is something in our human nature where we want to be remembered and we certainly want to be loved as well. And so we have these great traditions of gift giving. At Christmas time, we give gifts to let people know how much we care for them. Valentine’s Day, we give cards and gifts that say how much we love. We find ways to help people remember us. I saw all this because there was a little girl at my parish, St. Roberts, who I baptized and pretty good friends with the family and after she made here first communion at St. Roberts they moved. And before they moved she wanted to see me. And she gave this little gift. It’s hand painted and it’s really one of my great treasures in life. I keep it in my car. It always reminds me of her and of our friendship.

It’s a way of looking at it and saying I will always remember you. We look for ways to do that. In the Gospel today, Jesus gives the ultimate gift, the gift of his very self. He gives his flesh and he gives his blood to us simply out of love as gift. Not that we just remember the Lord but the living Lord, the resurrected Christ. We eat his body, we drink his blood, we are nourished with the very presence of Christ, that presence of Christ that lives within us. It is the most intimate of gifts to be be given. Christ so loves you and loves me and loves his people that he gives us his body. “Eat my body, drink my blood so that you might have my life within you.” And then the encouragement, really, the demand of the Gospel is nourish with the very presence of Christ. We go forth from this place, we enhance the lives of others and the world in which we live.