Solemnity of Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
On the night before giving His life on the cross, Jesus instituted the Eucharist, the gift of His Body and Blood, in the form of bread and wine, as the perpetual Passover sacrifice for His followers. This was done in the context of what is traditionally called the Last Supper.
As we celebrate Corpus Christi this Sunday, our first and second readings discuss covenant, sacrifice, and blood. According to the first reading, the old covenant was sealed with the blood of animal sacrifice, which Moses sprinkled on the people.
However, the second reading reminds us that the new covenant was sealed with the blood of Christ. The sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ is the game changer. While the first covenant never guaranteed eternal life, the new does because it was sealed with costly blood through a perfect sacrifice offered once and for all.
In the gospel, Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist. Here, He was both the priest and the victim. This is another difference between the new and the old covenant. As the priest, Christ offered Himself to God for our salvation. So, it is important to note that whenever we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, Christ is fully present both as the priest and the victim.
The Solemnity we celebrate this Sunday centers on the gift of the Body and Blood of the Lord, which we partake at Holy Mass until the Lord comes again in glory at the end of the ages.
Firm belief in the Body and Blood of Christ and regular reception of Holy Communion is fundamental to Catholic doctrine, spirituality, and growth in holiness. This is our inheritance. Let us joyfully embrace the gift of “finest wheat,” which God offers us regularly, even every day.
The unbroken teaching of the Church is that we behold and receive in the Eucharist the Real Presence of the Risen Lord, who promised to be with us until the end of time.
It is a great mystery yet, at the same time, a simple truth: God is with us in a very special and singular way in the Blessed Sacrament, both received at Holy Communion and adored in the Tabernacle or exposed on the altar at Exposition and Benediction.
Therefore, we should not come to Mass out of mere obligation but because the Eucharistic celebration is an integral part of our life in Christ and our communion with others. The celebration and reception of the Eucharist should be our strength and joy, a commitment to faith and love that gives meaning to all our existence.
We aren’t Christians because we go to Mass, but we go to Mass because we are Christians, to celebrate God’s unbounded love for us and to participate in the action that followers of Christ have engaged in since the Lord walked among His own.
We might say the Mass never ends because, at the conclusion of every Mass, we are “sent forth” to announce the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth by our words and especially by our deeds.
As tabernacles of the Lord, we are commissioned by receiving His Body and Blood with a special task that not everyone has embraced: to be “bearers of Christ” to all people until our final breath.
Therefore, today’s celebration is a celebration of life, salvation, and grace. It teaches us that as real food, the Eucharist is the true Body and Blood of Christ, which nourishes our souls. It is a concrete way through which Christ is divinely present with us every day and moment.
So, when we share in the celebration of the Eucharist, we share in the life of Christ the head and in the life of the church, His body. This means that we must pay more attention to the Holy Eucharist by spending more time in His divine presence.
If we present ourselves before Him daily, He will fill us with wisdom and show us the best way to approach life. This means that we should adore and offer Christ the reverence due to him. Any moment spent in the presence of the Most Holy Sacrament is both a golden moment and a moment of grace. Jesus present in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar, I trust in you!
