Solemnity of the Corpus Christ (The Body and Blood of Christ)
The Corpus Christi Year C 2022
Today we joyfully celebrate the solemnity of the Corpus Christi, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. It is a mystery, a challenge, a gift and a promise. It is a test of true Christian discipleship. This mystery shakes the foundation of human reason, yet calls it to embrace the light of faith, because, before this mystery, the human senses fail but at the same time are beckoned to rise on the wings of faith to behold that which lies behind the veil.
We get a sense of this Divine test in the Gospel of John 6. There Jesus says, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven, anyone who eats this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world”. To eliminate any confusion, Jesus did not make it any easier by bending what he had said as people got offended by this truth. Why? Because, if we miss this point, we would have missed the whole truth that Jesus is the true lamb of Sacrifice whose blood cleanses us from our sins, the one prefigured in the ancient Israelites Passover lamb (see Exodus 24).
To drive home this point and to eliminate any temptation to see this simply as symbolism, the scripture used a Greek word which means more than just eating, but a crude way of eating, like masticating, munching, or chewing (see John 6:54-58). Therefore, the jews who heard Jesus knew that Jesus wasn’t speaking symbolically. Hence, they were upset, because for a Jew to drink the blood of any living thing is outrageous and abominable as it was forbidden by the law, for they believed that the life of all flesh is in the blood (see Deu 12:24, Gen 9:4, Leviticus 17:10-14). And in the book of Leviticus, God promised to set his face against and cut off any person who violates this law. So, in fairness, the Old Testament Jews probably walked away from Jesus and rejected this truth in obedience to the faith of their fathers.
Strangely enough, the Old Testament Jews that walked away from this mystery probably showed a deeper understanding of what Jesus was saying than many of us Christians who now think that Jesus was speaking in a symbolic way. If they understood Jesus as speaking symbolically they wouldn’t have walked away. They walked away because they understood that Jesus truly meant something more than mere symbolic expression. However, none could have imagined the possibility of what Jesus was offering humanity, the Gift of his body and blood as we have in the Eucharist. Hence, it was a hard one for people to take in.
But St Paul reminds us of this truth and says in today’s second reading from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 that on the same night that he was to be betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you, do this as a memorial of me. In the same way after the supper he took the cup and said, this cup is the covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me, until the Lord comes then every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you are proclaiming his death.
Child of God, this mystery invites us to believe, and to trust the words of Jesus Christ. No need to turn away like the people did in John 6. No need to speak ill of this truth as is often our attitude before the divine mysteries or any difficult teaching of the church? Instead of simply submitting in faith as we seek understanding, saying to God, I believe but help my unbelief, we often take the easier option which is to walk away and to speak ill of that which we do not yet understand (see Jude 1:10).
This solemnity of the Corpus Christi is indeed a test of true discipleship. When people walked away from Jesus in John 6 because of this teaching, Jesus did try to stop them. Because it is a choice everyone must make with the help of the Holy Spirit. Jesus simply asked St Peter, do you also want to leave with them. St Peter replied, to whom shall we go, you have the message of eternal life (see Jn 6:68). Did St Peter’s understand fully what Jesus was saying? Probably, not. But he simply placed his trust in Jesus Christ.
This mystery is a test of our trust in the one who loved us. Because, before this mystery, our senses fail us, since the body and blood of Jesus still taste and feel just like ordinary bread and wine. But the reality is this, after the priest had pronounced Jesus’ own words over the bread and wine at the consecration, these two species truly become the body and blood of Jesus Christ glorified.
‘‘Apart from being a test, this mystery is also a gift and a promise. Jesus’ gifting of himself to us as food is also a guarantee of an eternal life. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” says Jesus. This is the bread of life that is already prefigured in Jesus’ feeding of the thousands in today’s Gospel of Luke 9. As it were, one could see the Eucharistic gestures in the account. The taking of the bread and the fish, the raising of his eyes to heaven, and the blessing over the gifts and lastly, the handing of the bread and fish over to the people. In a similar way, at the last Supper Jesus took the break and the cup, after giving blessings, he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples. And then in his passion, Jesus was taken, broken through his scourges and on the cross and was given to us for our salvation.
In this mystery our God has given himself to us as food, that by eating we may become more like him, having life abundantly. Jesus wants us to draw life from him. For as the living father sent me, says Jesus, and I draw life from him, whoever eats me will draw life from me. You can see here Jesus' intention to be one with us, in as much as it is a hard teaching. In consuming his body and blood we become that which we consume. And as death could not hold him, even so shall death not hold us captives and the power of the resurrection becomes ours.
As the Jews rightly believe that the life of all flesh is in the blood, in consuming Jesus’ body and blood, we have his life in us and by his grace, may we become one in love, because the gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is a gift of unity. “For the blessing cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. One loaf one cup, though we are many we form a single body. The Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus is indeed a sacrament of unity.
But today, we witness so much disunity among Christians who have shared in the same bread and from the same cup. We treat each other as if we were no longer of one stock and members of the same body.
Let’s pray for a renewal of our love for the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ. Let’s prayer for the strengthening of the faith of those whose conviction about this truth is shaking. Let us remember those who have rejected this truth on the conviction that they were being faithful to God. That through the power of the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth, the truth of the Body and Blood of Christ, we may all, like St. Peter say, Lord, where shall we go, you have the message of internal life. For those who are sick in any way, let the body and blood of Christ we consume bring us healing and consolation.
Let us pray,
Eternal Father, as we believe, consume and adore the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the sacred species, may we continue to recognise him at the breaking of the bread, and so experience the joy and hope he restores. We make our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Lord be with you
May Almighty God bless you, The Father the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Go in Peace and Happy Corpus Christi.