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Our first reading for this Sunday, from the prophet Zechariah, was used as a resource for Matthew, Mark and Luke as they composed the passages about Jesus’ final entrance into Jerusalem. Zechariah was writing for his day, not the predicting the future. Inspired as he was, he realized that the way out of the political, social, fiscal and religious devastation of his day was to offer hope to the people that would come to be as they looked at a new way for peace to be accomplished. We have much to consider when we reflect on this passage. Much positive transformation will take place when we insist on leaders whose first allegiance is to God’s plan. God’s plan asks us to rejoice because God, when we cooperate with God, will bring healing. Our part is to focus on how we can respect as fully as possible the dignity of every person on earth. We seek common ground, and not division; we choose to see the goodness in every person, beginning with ourselves, and commit ourselves to listening to one another and to uniting on the conviction that the more we see ourselves as equal in the eyes of God, the more likely we are to make evident what God wants.

In this weekend’s Gospel, Jesus continues to clarify what He expects of us. Jesus asks that we be realistic about the fact that we are first loved by the God who created us. Therefore, it makes sense that our most important relationship would be with the One who gives us life and sustains us constantly with love. We pray that given this focus on God who loves at all times in all ways, all other relationships would be nurtured to the fullest possible extent. Keeping our priorities foremost in mind will result in making sacrifices as we do our best to be as loving as possible in all aspects of our lives. Jesus promises that we will experience a high level of purposefulness and meaning the more consistently we base our identity on the one God gave us.

This weekend, we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. We allow ourselves to be nurtured as we ponder the many ways we can experience the presence of the divine in our everyday lives. We reflect on how majestic is all that God created. All that exists is infused with a holy presence because it is created out of love. Being created in the image of God, we realize how God’s goodness is embedded in our entire being. Every one of our senses is able to detect the loving presence of God. In somewhat of a reverse process, we believe that the essence of Jesus is present even in a small piece of bread that is the staff of life. The Holy Spirit makes Jesus’ presence ever more evident to us, just as the Holy Spirit embedded in our being provides us with the ability to believe. Our faith in the goodness of God revealed by Jesus is renewed by sharing in the Bread of Life. We have Jesus’ Word on this.

Our first reading and Gospel this weekend are like bookends with the Psalm and the second reading in between. Our first reading calls us to reflect with the people at the time of Moses, about 1,200 years before the birth of Jesus. God is portrayed as merciful and gracious, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity. Our Gospel reminds us of a very familiar statement, namely, that “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” The graciousness and kindness of God is expressed in the most intimate way possible. We are reminded that God’s gift of Jesus was so that the world would be saved. Our Psalm includes other words by which to identify God, namely, as holy and gracious, praiseworthy and glorious. Our second reading, quite appropriately, calls us to rejoice that our God of love and peace will be with us. How blessed we are!