Corpus Christi:[A]: Deut 8: 2-4,14b-16a; I Cor 10: 16-17 Jn 6: 51-58

Corpus Christi:[A]: Deut 8: 2-4,14b-16a; I Cor 10: 16-17 Jn 6: 51-58

Introduction: During the liturgical year there are at least two feasts that invite us to meditate on the mystery of the Eucharist: the Maundy Thursday and the Feast of the Precious Body and Blood of our Lord (Corpus Christi - that is today!).  On the Maundy Thursday, the reflection on the Eucharist is centered on the memorial of the Passover meal and the institution of the priesthood.  The feast of today gives us yet another opportunity to contemplate the mystery of the Eucharist. 

Origin: Today is the Solemnity of “The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.”, the Feast of Corpus Christi, owes its existence to Blessed Juliana, an Augustinian Nun, in Liege, France, who had a great veneration for the Blessed Sacrament around 1230 and longed for a special feast in its honor. Largely through her insistence, in 1264 Pope Urban IV commanded its observance by the Universal Church, on Thursday after Trinity Sunday; however, where it is not a day of obligation it is usually celebrated on the Sunday following Trinity Sunday.

Corpus Christi is the celebration of the abiding presence of a loving God as Emmanuel – God with us – in order to give collective thanks to our Lord living with us in the Eucharist. The feast gives us an occasion to learn more about the importance and value of the “Real Presence” so that we may appreciate the Sacrament better and receive maximum benefit from It.  We explain the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist by the word “transubstantiation” which means that the substance of the consecrated bread and wine is changed to the substance of the risen Jesus’ glorified Body and Blood by the action of the Holy Spirit, and its accidents (like color, shape, taste etc.), remain the same.

Readings: The First Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy tells of Moses' advice and warnings to his people not to forget the deeds God had done for them when they travelled through the desert after being freed from the slavery of Egypt. He recalls the way in which God fed the people of Israel in the desert with manna, that miraculous food which Christians were later to see as a prefiguration of the Eucharist. As they relied on manna for life in the desert, so they must also continually depend on the Word of God. St Paul in the second reading says, the Eucharist builds the Church, whose head is Jesus Christ. Participation in the body and blood of Christ is the source of the life and unity of the Church as one body. From this Eucharistic fellowship with Christ follows the real union of all the faithful with one another in one body. In the Gospel passage, Jesus identifies himself as “the living bread that came down from heaven,” thus linking himself with the manna in the wilderness, while assuring his disciples that, unlike those who ate manna, “One who eats this Bread will live for ever.”    

Anecdote: Two soldier friends served together in Iraq. One was a dull fellow. The other was sharp. Yet, there was a chemistry that made them inseparable. The slow one was wounded. His friend gave his blood. When the wounded fellow learned whose blood had saved his life, he said to his companion, "I feel like a new man."

Something similar should take place each time we receive the Eucharist. We drag ourselves into the Liturgy looking for a spiritual transfusion, a pick-me-up, a refueling. We need an adrenaline rocket that will jump start us and get us through the next six days. 

Joke: Seems an elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years.
He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%. The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased you can hear again."

To which the gentleman said, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will five times!"

Practical Applications: 1) Let us appreciate the “Real Presence” of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, by receiving him with true repentance for our sins, due preparation and reverence.

2) Let us be Christ-bearers and conveyers: By receiving Holy Communion, we become Christ-bearers as Mary was, with the duty of conveying Christ to others at home and in the workplace, through love, mercy, forgiveness and humble and sacrificial service.

3) Let us offer our lives on the altar along with Jesus’ sacrifice, asking pardon for our sins, expressing gratitude for the blessings we have received and presenting our needs and petitions on the altar.

Introduction: Corpus Christi

Message:  The cup we share, is it not the blood of Christ?  And the bread we break, is it not his body? Just as God fed the Israelites with manna from heaven, so too do we feed on the best of wheat, the bread of angels, food for the pilgrim journey.

Saints and Events in this Week: 24-Twenty Forth-Tuesday-The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist; 27-Tweenty Seventh-Friday-The most Sacred heart of Jesus; 28-Twenty Eighth-Saturday-The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Saint Irenaeus, bishop, martyr; 29-Twenty Nineth-Sunday-Saints Peter and Paul. Apostles;