Word to the Wise
Sunday, June 26, 2011 - Sunday after Trinity Sunday: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (formerly called Corpus Christi"") - A"
[Deut 8:2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Cor 10:16-17; John 6:51-58,81]Do not forget the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery; who guided you through the vast and terrible desert with its saraph serpents and scorpions, its parched and waterless ground; who brought forth water for you from the flinty rock and fed you in the desert with manna, a food unknown to your fathers. [Deut] The cup of blessing that we, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ: Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. [1 Cor.] I am the living bread that came down from heaven;whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.....Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.
Some important feast days in the liturgical calendar focus on a particular individual or event. Some focus on a particular truth of our faith. The feast of Corpus Christi is an example of the latter. This feast is about the Eucharist and the truth of Christ's presence to us in the form of his Body and Blood in consecrated bread and wine. Each of the scriptures read today touches on a different aspect of this central reality of our faith.
The passage from Deuteronomy is part of an exhortation to the people to REMEMBER what God has done for them, including feeding them with manna in the desert. The Eucharist is a celebration in REMEMBRANCE of all that God has done for us. Just as the Lord commanded the Chosen People to celebrate the Passover as a perpetual remembrance, Jesus also told his disciples, "Do this in remembrance of me!" This is not a matter of "re-living history" as it is a matter of living the truth that we have long believed.
The passage from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians is also part of an exhortation that emphasizes COMMUNION - not only with the Lord but with one another. This "collective" and "participative" meaning is often lost as we line up one by one to "receive communion." We are not all strangers who happen to be in the same place at the same time to collect a private connection with the Lord! We GATHER IN COMMUNION and testify to that communion by our reception of the Body and Blood of Christ.
The passage from the Gospel of John focuses on the PERSON of Jesus Christ who gives us "his flesh to eat and his blood to drink." Although Christ is "really present" to us in the gathering of the assembly, in his Word that is proclaimed and in the presider who represents him, his presence in the consecrated bread and wine is unique. This is not some form of spiritual cannibalism! It is the unique way in which Christ assures us of his physical presence over and over again. His self-offering invites OUR self-offering to his Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. Traditionally, on the feast of Corpus Christi, a consecrated host - the Blessed Sacrament - is carried in procession with incense and candles with three pauses to give adoration. Throughout the liturgical year, this same adoration takes place in the churches throughout the world, whether in great cathedrals or humble mission churches. Christ is truly present to each person who comes in faith - no matter what the surroundings may be.
These three aspects of the Eucharist do not exhaust all the meaning, but I hope they can be part of all our celebration of the truth that this feast offers to us! AMEN