Dedications

​The body and blood of Christ is a metaphor. "Take, eat, and drink; this is my body and blood" is not any spiritual savagery or cannibalism. It is a metaphor of speech from the region where Christ was from. It is like in Britain when a person dies, it is referred to as having "kicked the bucket." So, too, are there metaphors in every culture where a literal translation makes no sense.

​When Christ said, "Take, eat, and drink; this is my body and blood," it meant to take his teaching and the example of his life and live it the way he did, and then go and preach it to others. Unfortunately, today there are only preachers and no examples from the clergy as to how Christ lived. It is not just the clergy; even among the laity, no one is living Christ-like. Everyone is preaching what Christ was like, ending with Christ not liking any of it.

​Even his death, which is explained as "he died for our sins," is a completely wrong interpretation. He died because of the sin and evil practices of the world he lived in, where innocents were also crucified. This is just like in today's world, where innocents are killed in war and others are incarcerated in jails through no fault of their own.

​So, let this period of Lent be less about only what Christ taught us. Let it be about what he actually meant and how much we are living our lives based on the life of Christ.

​Let it not be only the Stations of the Cross and readings of the Passion of Christ; rather, let us give it meaning through the way we lead our lives. How many people’s crosses will we lighten? How many will we avoid crucifying with our greed to succeed and accumulate worldly wealth? Even Christ said, "My kingdom is not of this earth."

​This does not, again, mean the literal interpretation of what Christ said to a rich man when he asked how he could follow him. When Christ said to give up your riches, share them with the poor, and follow him. What he meant was to give up your ego and pride. Share your talents with the less privileged and help others grow. Let it be a resurrection for the underprivileged who are being killed by the capitalism and greed of the world today.

Let us feast on his body and blood of knowledge of what he taught us.