Gianna Beretta Molla was born near Milan, Italy, the 10th of 13 children. An active member of the St Vincent de Paul society and the Catholic Action movement, and a practice pediatric doctor, she married in 1955. She had three children in her first four years of marriage. Early in her final pregnancy, which occurred after two miscarriages, doctors discovered that she had both a child and a tumor in her uterus. She allowed the surgeons to remove the tumor but not to perform the complete hysterectomy that they recommended, which would have killed the child. Seven months later in April 1962, her daughter was born, but she Gianna died the following week from an infection. Gianna Beretta Molla was beatified in 1994 and canonized a saint in 2004. She is the patron saint of doctors, unborn children, and wives.
In a very intentional way, Gianna Beretta lived out the values of the Eucharist and Christ’s Good News in her life. In that same spirit, our Gospel reading today is a part of the Bread of Life discourse from the John’s Gospel. The Eucharist is to always have a central role in the way we practice our Catholic faith. The sixth chapter of John gives us a solid foundation in our belief in the Eucharist. In fact, I recommend reading this chapter of John's Gospel to any Christian who wants to understand the Scriptural basis for our Catholic belief in the Eucharist as the real presence of Christ’s body and blood. We can only imagine how radical it was for those Jews to hear Jesus tell them that they were to eat his flesh and drink his blood and that this would be true food and true drink for them on their journey.
One of the greatest honors I have as a priest is to give a person his first communion. Looking in the eyes at the moment can say so much, more than words could. How important is the Eucharist to us in our lives of faith? Is it something we truly long for? I know what the answer is for those of you here at daily mass. I know the Eucharist is important to you and you make it a priority in your busy lives. How can we transmit that message to others?
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