June 7, 2026 Corpus Christi Sunday
- Felix Cheah
- 18 hours ago
- 7 min read
June 7, 2026
Corpus Christi Sunday
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
According to journalist Megan McArdle, a lot of people are doing just that.
Ahe says that the average woman in the 1920s spent about 30 hours a week preparing food and cleaning up. By the 1950s, she was doing this just 20 hours a week. Now, women average about five hours a week in the kitchen.
And that's not because men are stepping in to help -- guys give only about 15 minutes a day to kitchen work!
Oddly enough, gourmet kitchens are on the rise at the very same time that people are fleeing the heat. Men and women are spending a ton of money on kitchen equipment that they rarely use.
A Viking stove costs $10,000. A Breville toaster oven runs $250. A Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker retails for $349. And a Shun chef's knife, with its own wooden display stand? $199. This is expensive kitchen equipment, being purchased at a time when more than a quarter of all meals and snacks are being consumed outside the home.
McArdle believes that each expensive kitchen gadget "comes with a vision of yourself doing something warm and inviting: baking bread, rolling your own pasta, slow-cooking a pot roast." Gourmet kitchen equipment promises a warm and wonderful feeling, even if you rarely touch it.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses a number of kitchen-based images to describe himself and his mission from God. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven," he says, offering a warm, inviting and nourishing image of himself as the bread of life. But then his language changes: "Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
In a flash, the pleasant image of enjoying fresh-baked bread takes a turn toward the eating of human flesh. We're suddenly in the world of fire, blood and knives.
John has already told us that Jesus is the Word of God in human form, having said that "the Word became flesh and lived among us" (1:14). And we know that this Word made flesh was not destined to live a long and happy earthly life, because we heard Jesus saying "just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (3:14-15).
Jesus is going to have to be lifted up on the cross, sacrificing his own flesh to bring us forgiveness and everlasting life, to which he alluded in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
Living bread. Word made flesh. Lifted on the bloody cross. Given for the life of the world.
In Jesus' kitchen we find God's recipe for everlasting life. But this kitchen gets hot. "The Jews" of our text begin to dispute among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" When Jesus spoke to them about "living bread," they had a sense of what he was talking about because they remembered the bread from God -- the manna -- that their ancestors had eaten in the wilderness. But his flesh? That didn't make any sense.
"Very truly, I tell you," says Jesus, "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." His images have shifted from warm bread to something that seems much more sinister. There is no longer any doubt that Jesus is going to have to give his flesh and shed his blood, and that his followers will need to eat and drink his sacrifice. Jesus is giving his whole self to us.
Jesus does not mean this in the literal sense of the language. There is no cannibalistic Jewish tradition, thus their confusion. And they were not positioned spiritually to understand Jesus' word on any metaphorical or miraculous level either. So many people, even some of those who were nominal disciples, left Jesus at this point thinking, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it? This guy is nuts!" They left the kitchen.
Taking Jesus into ourselves transforms us from the inside out. It gives a whole new meaning to the adage "you are what you eat." "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life," promises Jesus.
If we take Jesus into ourselves, we are given eternal life. Don't expect to understand it. We need to try as best as we can to believe it and be grateful.
After so much talk of flesh and blood, Jesus returns to the image of bread. He says about himself, "This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever." They form an unexpected meal, one that nourishes us spiritually and fills us with everlasting life.
After listening to Jesus, Jesus asks the 12 disciples if they wish to go away, Peter answers by saying, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life." The words of Jesus remain a source of solid spiritual food for us, as "the resurrection and the life."
Since Jesus is the word of God in human form, we can always be strengthened by what he says to us in the Gospels. His words are trustworthy and true, and he remains for us "the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).
During Mass, we can be nourished by communion, the holy meal that includes the bread of life and the cup of salvation. On the night before his death, Jesus took a loaf of bread, broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." After supper, he took a cup also, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:23-25).
Jesus instructs us to eat and drink of the bread and the wine to remember him. Receiving communion is an important way of living in Christ, and allowing him to live in us.
Finally, we can go out to be the body of Christ in the world. Christians who feast on the words of Jesus and nourish themselves with communion become nothing less than the flesh-and-blood presence of Jesus in the world today. We can be the hands and feet of Jesus, whether we are young or old, male or female, white or black, liberal or conservative.
None of this requires a gourmet kitchen, filled with expensive equipment and gadgets. All that we need to do is keep cooking with Jesus, even when things get hot.
Let us pray.
Today, the Feast of Corpus Christi, we celebrate the great gift which Jesus has bestowed on us, the spiritual nourishment that is His Body and Blood. We pray, that in uniting His Body and Blood with ours in the Eucharist, we are strengthened in our faith and love of God and neighbor. We pray to the Lord.
In today’s gospel Jesus tells us that “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him”. We pray that in our daily lives, we remember the living Jesus within us and follow his example in everything we do. We pray to the Lord.
As we celebrate Christ’s presence among us, we pray for all those who honour that presence through their commitment to the Apostolate of Eucharistic Adoration. We pray to the Lord.
We pray for peace in the world, particularly in the Holy Land and in Ukraine, that the Holy Spirit reveals to all the futility of war and creates a desire for peace in the hearts of all men. We pray to the Lord.
As we observe World Day Against Child Labor on Friday next, we remember all children forced into unjust labor, trafficked into sexual slavery and denied the joys of childhood. We pray to our Loving Father that they be released from their chains and granted protection, safety and a new beginning. We pray to the Lord.
We pray for an increase of priests, deacons and religious. We pray to the Lord.
We pray that those with generous hearts may be led to our small church and give generously to our mission so that we may continue to be a church open to all peoples . We pray to the Lord.
For those on our parish prayer list, that they may receive swift answers to their needs and that they may find consolation through Christ’s healing presence. We pray to the Lord.
We bow our heads and remember in silence our own personal intentions and the intentions of those who have asked for our prayers (pause). We pray to the Lord.
We come with thanksgiving to this place of prayer, O God. We offer our gratitude for the blessings of this day and especially for the meal which you have prepared for us. As we feast together, loving God, let us bring to your table the troubles which weigh us down and prevent us from being wholly present to the wonders of this day. Let us bring to your table the problems which perplex us and prevent us from being open to the fullness of life. Let us bring to the table our sorrow which seals us in hopelessness. Let us bring to your table our fears which prevent us from seeing clearly and living boldly. Grant us the courage to leave our burdens at your table and walk from the heavily laden table into fullness of life. As Christ transformed death into life, so might we be transformed as we take our holy meal, and feast with thanksgiving in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.
God Love You +++
The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Chapel
San Diego, CA.
As a small parish, we come to you all as beggars! Share with us this Christmas, a little sacrifice for the Christ Child. Your generous support also allows us to continue these important projects that fuel the movement of progressive Christianity. Thank you and God bless you! +++