June 23, 2019
Most Holy Body & Blood
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. We believe in the presence of Jesus, body and blood, soul and divinity in the elements of the Eucharist -- the consecrated bread and wine. The feast day was first proposed back in the 13th century by St. Thomas Aquinas to Pope Urban IV. It is a celebration of joy of the Eucharist. Catholics use the expression “real presence.†We can speak of the presence of Jesus as the Body of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, in the faith community and in our neighbor especially those most in need.
St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians reminds the Church at Corinth of a deep truth they already know and practice. “On the night Jesus was handed over, he took bread, after thanks, broke it and said: ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.’†Jesus is saying: “I am the bread that will be broken. I am the wine that will be poured out.†Jesus is interpreting his own impending death for the salvation of Israel and for us. When we receive Christ in Holy Communion, we are participating in his Pascal Mystery.
Jesus Christ is present in the assembly of believers. St. Paul understands the double meaning of the “Body of Christ.†The expression can refer to the faith community. St. Augustine would say, “You are the Body of Christ, and its members…When you hear ‘Body of Christ’ answer, ’Amen.’ Be a member of the body of Christ, so that your ‘Amen’ may be true.†(Sermon 272)
Jesus is also hidden and present in our neighbor and in the stranger. Mother Teresa of Calcutta would send her Missionary Sisters out onto the streets at the end Mass by reminding them that they have received Jesus in Holy Communion and now they must touch Jesus in the very poor and unloved.
Pope Benedict XVI in a reflection on Corpus Christi writes, “This communion, this act of ‘eating’ is really a meeting between two persons; it is to allow oneself to be penetrated by the life of the One who is Lord, who is my Creator and Redeemer. The purpose of this communion is the assimilation of my life with his, my transformation and configuration with the One who is living love.†(Benedictus, Corpus Christi Procession, p. 189.)
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