This is My Body Given For You

It was Priesthood Sunday recently and our parochial vicar was giving a homily with the theme of vocations. During the homily, it occurred to me that in every Catholic vocation therein lies the Eucharistic theme of: This is my body given for you.

In marriage, husband and wife give their bodies to one another for the sake of love and procreation. The mother in particular gives her body to nourishing the life inside of her. In religious and consecrated life, they give of their bodies in prayer, charity, and service in community for the sake of building up the Kingdom of God. In priesthood, they give of their bodies in the vow of celibacy and take the Church as their Bride, promising to serve the people of God and lead them in the path of holiness. In single life, they give of their bodies to the opportunities God has given to serve their families, friends, church and community.

Even in our daily vocations, through the work and ministry we participate in, we give something of our body: our intellect, our talents, our labor, our work of the hands, to name just a few.

In all vocations, there is a gift of the body, given for one, a few, or many. If you think about it, it’s quite beautiful that we give a gift of self in every state of life and work we do for the Lord.

We participate daily in this important Eucharistic phrase of Jesus -- This is my body given for you -- often without even realizing it.