The theme for the three readings can be summarized in Jesus saying in the Gospel, “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” What is Jesus saying to us here, how do we gain a deeper understanding of how we can bring our burdens to Him?

The 1st reading from the book of the prophet Zechariah tells us that even before we can bring our labor and burdens to Him, He makes the first movement towards us. He comes to us: “See, your king shall come to you.” (Zec. 9:9) In His compassion, He makes the first initiative to reach out to us in love. He does not wait for us to come to Him, He always reaches out to His people first. The greatest proof of this is: “God so loved the world that He sent us His only begotten Son.” (Jn. 3:16) In truth, we can not approach God, unless He approaches us first, because between God and Man, there is an immense gap, Jesus filled this gap.

We are all called to be missionaries, and the mission includes the cares of daily life, activities, events, and happenings. This chapter of Matthew is often times called Jesus' Missionary Discourse. Jesus teaches His disciples about the mission they are facing and at the same time trains them of the right disposition in the mission. The two paragraphs contain the two main ideas of Jesus about the mission.

What is the hierarchy of values that Jesus' disciples must adopt? He presents three categories: First, and the most important, Love. A disciple must love the Lord, Jesus Christ above everyone else. This simply means that we value our relationship with Him more than any other relationship, including our families.

Jesus tells His disciples they must not be afraid, “nothing is concealed that will not be revealed…. Be afraid of the one who can destroy both the body and the soul” There will always be oppositions, but a disciple should not be paralyzed by fear, but continue to proclaim the Gospel to the mountaintops. Fear can indeed paralyze us and even silence us. Sometimes we dilute or soften the message of the Gospel to make it easier or to avoid the consequences of proclaiming the truths of the Gospel. But the bottom line is, God is Love, He loves us, provides for us, and protects us.

At the Ascension, Jesus entrusted His mission to His disciples, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good news.” He wants us to proclaim the full truth of the Gospel, the fulfillment of His mission depends on them and their own salvation as well. Jesus warned them of the oppositions, they will be persecuted and people will reject them and their message, therefore do not be afraid. The song, “Be not afraid”, captures this danger and risk in the mission, “Be not afraid, I go before you always. Come follow me, and I will give you rest…” What they learned from Jesus, they must proclaim to the mountaintop, even at the cost of death, and like Jesus, perhaps, death on the cross.

Corpus Christi Sunday is officially called the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. In the Gospel (Jn. 6:51-58), the listeners of Jesus were not prepared to accept His condition for true life, for eternal life. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever… unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” It is an unfathomable mystery, but something we must believe and live in faith.

The essential point of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi is His desire to be united with us and to continue to live in us. Corpus Christi is Communion with Christ.