Word to the Wise
Sunday, June 2, 2024 - Sunday after Trinity Sunday: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (formerly called Corpus Christi"") - A"
[Exodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26]While they were eating, [Jesus] took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God." [Mark]
SUNDAY, JUNE 2, 2024 THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST [CORPUS CHRISTI] - Cycle B
[Exodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15 and Mark 14:12-16, 22-26]
While they were eating, [Jesus] took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God." [Mark]
Jesus' words at the Last Supper are heard each time we celebrate the Eucharist. Our Catholic tradition takes them quite literally. Jesus' gift to us of his Body and Blood are, in the words of the Second Vatican Council, "the source and summit" of Catholic faith. Yet, a recent [2019] survey showed an alarming percentage of Catholics who do not believe those words but consider the consecrated bread and wine to be a kind of symbol instead of a physical reality. As a result, the bishops of the USA have been conducting a nationwide program of Eucharistic Revival to evangelize the Catholic community and renew the ancient Catholic faith in the Eucharist.
The transformation of the bread and wine at the celebration of the Eucharist, for which Catholic theological tradition uses the term "transubstantiation," is the work of the Holy Spirit, as the text of the Mass indicates: "Let your Holy Spirit come upon these gifts that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ at whose command we celebrate these sacred mysteries." The power and authority to invoke the Holy Spirit in this way is received by a priest at his ordination through the sacrament of Holy Orders.
Today we celebrate and emphasize the mystery of Jesus' gift of himself in the form of bread and wine that becomes his very Body and Blood. There may be special processions or times of adoration in our churches. What must be clear is that we cannot be truly Catholic if we simply see and believe the Eucharist is only a "symbol" of some sort. It is Christ himself in our midst. AMEN
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