We thirst for life.  We have a seemingly insatiable desire for the fullness of life.  We want life in abundance.  Our hearts are yearning for something that will satisfy our thirst.  In answer to this thirst for life, Jesus offers himself on the cross.  There on the cross, from the open side of Jesus, from his pierced heart flows forth blood and water, the sacramental life of the Church, the source of living water, the fountain of God’s grace.  From the open side of Christ, while he sleeps in death, the Church is brought forth as a new creation.  All things are made new through the grace that flows out of the heart of Jesus.  The prophet Isaiah prophesied, “With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation, and say on that day: give thanks to the Lord, acclaim his name; among the nations make known his deeds, proclaim how exalted is his name.” (Is 12,3f)  As we draw our new life from the river of grace that flows forth from the heart of Jesus sacrificed we give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his name.  The Eucharist is present in the sacrifice of Jesus and Jesus is present in the sacrifice of the Eucharist.     Pope St. John Paul II wrote in Ecclesia Eucharistia:  “The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. In a variety of ways she joyfully experiences the constant fulfillment of the promise: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20), but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this presence with unique intensity.”  (Ecclesia Eucharistia, 1)  “To contemplate Christ involves being able to recognize him wherever he manifests himself, in his many forms of presence, but above all in the living sacrament of his body and his blood. The Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist; by him she is fed and by him she is enlightened.” (Eccl Euch, 6)  The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Church.  Our hunger and thirst for the fullness of abundant life is met in the Eucharist.  As we partake of the Eucharist the life of Jesus grows within us and renews us each day.     St. Paul reveals to the Corinthians:  “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.” (1Cor 11,26)  As we become transformed by the Eucharist we become prophets, witnesses of the sacrifice of Jesus and our entire lives proclaim the death of the Lord.  We “proclaim” Jesus not only with words but most often by the way in which we live.  St. Paul speaks of this mystery in his second letter to the Corinthians:  “But by the open declaration of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.  And even though our gospel is veiled, it is veiled for those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they may not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ.  But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us…always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.  For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death is at work in us, but life in you.” (2Cor 4,2-18)  We proclaim the death of the Lord so that we might manifest his living presence within us.     Only Jesus can truly give us that for which our hearts and hunger and thirst.  When Jesus finds himself in a desert place with 5000 hungry people he challenges the Twelve to feed the people themselves.  The Twelve apostles consider the impossible task of going to buy food for all the people.  Even if they had the money they could never satisfy the hunger of the crowd.  In the words of Isaiah the prophet, “All you who are thirsty, come to the water!  You who have no money, come receive grain and eat; come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk!  Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy?” (Is 55,1f)  Only the bread that is Jesus, the true “bread of life”, the bread of the Eucharist, could truly satisfy the hunger the people felt.  Jesus blesses the bread, breaks it and gives it to the people and “they all ate and were satisfied.” (Lk 9,16)     The Solemnity of the Body of Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi, celebrates the gift and grace of the Eucharist that gives us eternal life and satisfies our souls.  Through the “miracle of multiplication” Jesus feeds the whole world.  As our world debates population politics, Jesus lets us know that there is no problem, he can feed them all and have plenty left over.  As God fed his children in the desert, Jesus can feed all the children of the world through his Body and Blood that pours forth from his Most Sacred Heart of love.