FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY BODY and BLOOD OF CHRIST (CORPUS CHRISTI)

Dear Parishioners,

Today we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ. This Eucharist is God’s great gift to us. Jesus feeds us with bread from heaven, his body and his blood, to make us holy and raise us up to his level.

Last Sunday, we celebrated the Feast of the Holy Trinity and the fact that we are invited to be part of God’s life – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Eucharist we celebrate again and again draws us into that life with God. He gives us food for our spiritual journey towards him, and hold the promise of eternal life.

I thought it useful to listen to what some of the great saints had to say about the Eucharist and our participation in celebrating Mass together.

Pope, St John Paul II taught: We have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends … Let our adoration never cease.”

St Irenaeus said: “Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turns confirms our way of thinking.”

St John Vianney: “I throw myself at the foot of the tabernacle like a dog at the foot of his master.”

St Cyril of Jerusalem: “Since Christ himself has said ‘This is my Body’, who shall dare to doubt that it is His Body.”

St Thomas Aquinas (who originally proposed today’s feast): “The Eucharist is the sacrament of love: it signifies love, it produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life.”

St Augustine reminds us that we are the Body of Christ as we gather together for the Eucharist. We receive the Body of Christ to be more like Him. In other words, we should become more like Him in our lives”, because “we are what we eat.”

Jesus said: “I am the Bread of Life … I am the living bread which has come down from heaven … anyone who eats this bread will live forever … anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise them up on the last day.”

And finally, one of the most powerful statements on the Eucharist re-stated at Vatican II in sec. 47 – Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy:

“At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed our Savour instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection. A sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.

And it goes on to say that full participation is called for in the celebration … “they should be instructed by God’s word and be nourished at the table of the Lord’s Body ..”

Note: This is what I’ve been trying to do over the past 52 plus years and today I wish to celebrate this reality with you all

Have a blessed week, Fr Joe