The Bloodline of God

As we approach the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, I find myself thinking of an observation by Kaitlin B. Curtice: “The bloodline of God is connected to everything.” At Pentecost, we are accustomed to marveling at how God’s breath animates all of creation, but have we ever considered that all things are connected through God’s blood as well?

According to Wikipedia, “Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells.” In sharing God’s spiritual bloodline with us, Christ provides us with nourishment (grace, love, belonging) and a way to divest ourselves of the things that don’t serve us (for example, pride, fear, and greed).

We are connected to all people in the recognition that blood is life and that to spill another person’s blood is a grave crime (“Thou shalt not kill”). At the Last Supper, when Jesus took a cup, gave thanks and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant” (Mt 26:27-28) he was giving them — and all of us — a share in the life of God who loves us unto death. Through this bloodline of God, we are connected to all others in the Body of Christ, which leads us to reverence and gratitude. We honor the new covenant Jesus extended to us when we recognize that we are connected to each other through the bloodline of God and consequently treat each other as sisters and brothers.