Father Koch: The Eucharist Is the key to evangelization
June 20, 2025 at 8:58 a.m.
Gospel reflection for June 22, 2025, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus
As we observe the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we are challenged to reflect deeply on our personal relationship with Jesus and the gift that his presence is in our lives.
In a unique way, the Eucharist is both a gift of God to the community and to each faithful recipient of the Sacrament. The Eucharist forms and is the heart of the Christian community. We are the Body of Christ, formed by the Body of Christ, through our sharing in the Body of Christ. We are a eucharistic people.
At the same time the Eucharist is a uniquely personal experience. We celebrate with great fanfare the reception of our First Holy Communion. Eventually, the reception of Holy Communion becomes a matter of routine. Like any other personal relationship, we are challenged to be attentive and active within the relationship. Any friendship or familial relationship that loses intentionality and is no longer enthused by love, one’s relationship with God and the Eucharist suffers from familiarity. Without a consistent life of prayer, frequent reception of Confession, and at least weekly attendance at Mass, the reception of Communion itself becomes banal.
Similarly, the opportunities for Adoration of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, whether it is at Exposition or in the Tabernacle, are gifted moments where we share in the presence of Christ, and have the opportunity to experience his transformative love.
We receive the Eucharist and we adore Christ present, though, not for ourselves alone. We are called to evangelize through the Eucharistic presence of Christ, to lead others to Christ.
At the closing Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress in July 2024, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagale, the legate of Pope Francis to the Congress, remarked in his homily: “Jesus does not impose himself on anyone. He appeals to our interior freedom. Faith and conviction are our gifts to Jesus, who gives himself to us… The gift of his presence and love for us will be our gift to people. We should not keep Jesus to ourselves. That is not discipleship. That is selfishness.
“The gift we have received, we should give as a gift. Have you experienced the tenderness of Jesus towards his tired disciples, offering them time to rest and to eat, as recounted in the gospel today? Go and share Jesus’ tender love to the weary, the hungry, and the suffering. Have you experienced Jesus’ compassion and guidance when you were like sheep without a shepherd? the weary, the hungry, and the suffering. Have you experienced Jesus’ compassion and guidance when you were like sheep without a shepherd? Go and share Jesus’ shepherds’ caress to the lost, confused, and weak. Have you experienced Jesus’ wounded heart uniting those who are separated from each other, as St. Paul states in his letter to the Ephesians? Go and share Jesus’ gift of reconciliation and peace to those who are divided.”
Jesus had compassion for those who were without food, and he fed them. While they enjoyed a feast of bread and fish – far more than they could even eat – they did not recognize what he was doing for them and in their midst.
Here Jesus prefigured the Eucharist while at the same time harkening back to the ancient days when God fed his people in the desert, or when Elisha fed the prophets with a few loaves. Jesus stands as the fulfillment of a promise and as the one who enters into a new covenant with all of humankind through his own Passion and Death. This is realized in the Eucharist – shared first with his disciples at the Last Supper, and now fully expressed in the Liturgical act, and as the Church enters anew into his sacrifice.
This weekend many parishes will extend the celebration of the feast through an outdoor procession with the Eucharist and celebrating Benediction on various altars.
This is a sign of the challenge expressed by Cardinal Tagle – to take the Eucharist to the world. Jesus is himself the greatest tool of evangelization, and we must share him with the world.
Father Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.
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Gospel reflection for June 22, 2025, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus
As we observe the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we are challenged to reflect deeply on our personal relationship with Jesus and the gift that his presence is in our lives.
In a unique way, the Eucharist is both a gift of God to the community and to each faithful recipient of the Sacrament. The Eucharist forms and is the heart of the Christian community. We are the Body of Christ, formed by the Body of Christ, through our sharing in the Body of Christ. We are a eucharistic people.
At the same time the Eucharist is a uniquely personal experience. We celebrate with great fanfare the reception of our First Holy Communion. Eventually, the reception of Holy Communion becomes a matter of routine. Like any other personal relationship, we are challenged to be attentive and active within the relationship. Any friendship or familial relationship that loses intentionality and is no longer enthused by love, one’s relationship with God and the Eucharist suffers from familiarity. Without a consistent life of prayer, frequent reception of Confession, and at least weekly attendance at Mass, the reception of Communion itself becomes banal.
Similarly, the opportunities for Adoration of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, whether it is at Exposition or in the Tabernacle, are gifted moments where we share in the presence of Christ, and have the opportunity to experience his transformative love.
We receive the Eucharist and we adore Christ present, though, not for ourselves alone. We are called to evangelize through the Eucharistic presence of Christ, to lead others to Christ.
At the closing Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress in July 2024, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagale, the legate of Pope Francis to the Congress, remarked in his homily: “Jesus does not impose himself on anyone. He appeals to our interior freedom. Faith and conviction are our gifts to Jesus, who gives himself to us… The gift of his presence and love for us will be our gift to people. We should not keep Jesus to ourselves. That is not discipleship. That is selfishness.
“The gift we have received, we should give as a gift. Have you experienced the tenderness of Jesus towards his tired disciples, offering them time to rest and to eat, as recounted in the gospel today? Go and share Jesus’ tender love to the weary, the hungry, and the suffering. Have you experienced Jesus’ compassion and guidance when you were like sheep without a shepherd? the weary, the hungry, and the suffering. Have you experienced Jesus’ compassion and guidance when you were like sheep without a shepherd? Go and share Jesus’ shepherds’ caress to the lost, confused, and weak. Have you experienced Jesus’ wounded heart uniting those who are separated from each other, as St. Paul states in his letter to the Ephesians? Go and share Jesus’ gift of reconciliation and peace to those who are divided.”
Jesus had compassion for those who were without food, and he fed them. While they enjoyed a feast of bread and fish – far more than they could even eat – they did not recognize what he was doing for them and in their midst.
Here Jesus prefigured the Eucharist while at the same time harkening back to the ancient days when God fed his people in the desert, or when Elisha fed the prophets with a few loaves. Jesus stands as the fulfillment of a promise and as the one who enters into a new covenant with all of humankind through his own Passion and Death. This is realized in the Eucharist – shared first with his disciples at the Last Supper, and now fully expressed in the Liturgical act, and as the Church enters anew into his sacrifice.
This weekend many parishes will extend the celebration of the feast through an outdoor procession with the Eucharist and celebrating Benediction on various altars.
This is a sign of the challenge expressed by Cardinal Tagle – to take the Eucharist to the world. Jesus is himself the greatest tool of evangelization, and we must share him with the world.
Father Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.