The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
There is practice at Catholic funerals which I find very comforting. Before the casket is lowered into the ground, family and friends are invited to take a flower from the flower arrangement set on top of the casket. The flower becomes a reminder and often a sacramental presence of their beloved deceased.
When we have lost someone we love, the deepest grief comes from the loss of presence. Even though we know that our loved ones are with God, we miss them being with us. The ability to see, hear, touch, hug, kiss, talk to our dear departed is the loss we grieve.
As we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, let us recall that Body and Blood of Christ was given to the disciples at the Last Supper. Besides being the Passover, it was Jesus’ last meal with his friends before his death. The disciples would miss his presence. But Jesus found a way to leave his presence not only with his disciples but with the entire world. As Paul says in today’s second reading, “The night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given 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” (1 Cor 11:23-26).
Today’s solemnity is a celebration of the PRESENCE of Christ. Unlike us, who when we die, lack the ability to be present to one another, Christ continues to be present to us even after his death. In this presence is our hope, our life, our eternity. Because of Christ’s presence, all of us who have and will experience death will have the ability to be present to one another… forever.
Let me say three things about the presence of Christ.
Real Presence
Christ knew the importance of presence for us because he lived the human life. Thus, before his death, Jesus offered us his presence. He did this not in some abstract way, but as a REAL presence. When we partake of the bread and wine, when we hold the bread in our hands and drink from the cup, we experience the real presence of Christ. At that moment, Christ is present to us body, soul, and divinity. In fact, I think that the name of today’s celebration is a misnomer. This is not just a solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ but a solemnity of his presence. We are not merely celebrating ‘something’ but “Somebody’.
Today, when you come for communion, don’t just receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Rather, receive the real presence of Christ - body, soul, and divinity. And in return, don’t just eat and drink, but be fully present to Christ - body, soul and humanity.
Holy Presence
There is a reason why we take the time each week to be at the Eucharist. There is a reason why we set aside a Sunday each year to celebrate Christ’s real and self-giving presence. It is because we recognize that here were encounter no ordinary presence. This is the most HOLY presence. This is the most sacred presence. This is the most eternal presence. As human beings we do not have the ability to be eternally present to each other. Only God does! Our holiness, our sacredness, our eternity is dependent on Christ’s holy, sacred and eternal presence.
So today, we go on our knees in awe of the real, total, holy, sacred, and eternal presence of Christ. Today, we do homage, we do worship, we bring our lives into the all holy, sacred and eternal presence of Christ.
A Self-Giving Presence
The entire incarnation from the conception, birth, life, suffering, and death of Jesus is a work of self-giving. Divine became human, the Eternal One was born of a woman, life underwent death. After the Last Supper when Jesus said, “This is my body,” and “This is my blood,” Jesus gave himself up on the cross. Literally, body and blood were given for the world. But Jesus had begun preparing for this ultimate self-giving every early in his ministry. Today’s gospel reading is the account of the multiplications of loaves in fish. The disciples had only five loaves and two fish. They gave what they had to Jesus who then multiplied it for the large crowd. Soon, he would give himself for the life of the world.
As believers who believe in the real presence of Christ among us, our celebration today is an invitation by Christ to become selfless like him. Moreover, Jesus himself invites us to find his presence not only in his Body and Blood but also in those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, and those in prison. He said, “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do it to me” (Mt 25:40). If we adore the Lord in the Sacrament and we do not recognize him in the most vulnerable of our society, then we need to ask ourselves if we truly recognize the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Today, we thank God for the gift of the Eucharist. Every Eucharist is an invitation to allow Christ to be present to us in the Sacrament and in the most vulnerable. Every Eucharist is an invitation to be present to Christ in the Sacrament and in the poor. Let us make this Eucharist an act of faith in the PRESENCE of Christ to the world. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph