We read today that a great crowd was following Jesus. Many tried to get close to Him and to touch Him. So “he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him.” We can observe a similar situation today when people gather around their favorite celebrities or athletes and aggressively try to get close to touch them, take a picture, or perhaps get an autograph. However, those celebrities don’t have much to offer to us, and most of them don’t care about you and me. Jesus has much more to offer. He offers us forgiveness, love, eternal life. He gives us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, that perfect medicine, that can heal us, heal our souls. Sadly, many people don’t take advantage of Christ being present in the Eucharist today. Our churches remain empty and many people don’t come to receive Jesus. If we truly believed in the real presence of Jesus among us, in the Holy Eucharist, during Mass, then the church would be packed, just like back then when Jesus had to get into a boat since the crowd might even crush Him.
