The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
2026 commemorates the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. Anniversaries are important milestones. Anniversaries capture the past, the present, and the future. They tell us who we were, who we have become, and what the future may hold for us. But most of all, anniversaries help us to remember.
Twice in today’s first reading we are told, “Remember” and “Do not forget.” Moses said to the people, “Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert…” (Deut 8:2). And again, “Do not forget the LORD, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt…” (Deut 8:11).
Each year the Church celebrates Corpus Christi. We might say, we celebrate Mass each Sunday and indeed there is Mass in a Church each day Why then do we need a special day to commemorate the Body and Blood of Christ? The reason is simple. We keep this solemn feast, this anniversary, this celebration, so that we may not forget. It helps us to remember and celebrate what the Lord, Our God has done for us. Basing myself on each of the three readings, I would like to offer three things for us to remember and not forget.
Do Not Forget the Lord, Your God
In the first reading, the people are invited to remember how the Lord directed the people’s journeying in the desert. But more importantly, they are invited to not forget God.
As we celebrate Corpus Christi, we remember God and the great work of our salvation through Jesus Christ. God has directed us not merely out of a desert. In and through Christ, God has directed us out of mortality into immortality, from humanity into divinity, from death into life, from earth into eternity. For this, Jesus came to earth, embraced humanity, entered death and transformed it into the way to eternal life.
May we never forget that the Lord, our God has done for us. May we always remember that Jesus gave us his all to bring us into eternal life.
Remember Who You Are
On Corpus Christi, we recall the meaning of what we do and who we are. Paul says, in today’s second reading, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (I Cor 10:16). It is a reminder that our participation in the Body and Blood of Christ makes us who we are - one body of Christ.
Often, we do not remember that we are the one body of Christ. We let doctrines and preferences, race and class, politics and ideologies tear up the body of Christ. Today, we are invited to remember that the cup of blessing that we bless is a participation into the blood of Christ; that the bread that we break is a participation into the body of Christ. Today, we must remember that because we participate in the one cup and one bread, we are the one body of Christ; and, that we should not allow any earthly reality to come in the way of the one body of Christ.
True Food and True Drink
The gospel of John, from which we have today’s gospel reading was written much after the Last Supper and even after Paul his letter to the Corinthians. It was written about seventy years after the death and resurrection of Christ. It seems that in just about seventy years, people were beginning to forget something - that the Eucharistic bread and wine was indeed the real presence of Christ. They asked, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (Jn 6:52).
Many people today ask the same question. It is hard to convince anyone that the simple bread and humble wine on the altar is the flesh and blood of the Son of Man. Yet, at the core of our faith is Jesus’ words, “My flesh is real food, my blood is true drink” (Jn 6:55). In fact, without the belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the edifice that is Catholicism would come crumbling down. Today we remember that our faith in the real presence is based firmly in the gospels. Let us not forget that unless we eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, we have no life within us.
May our commemoration of the Body and Blood of Christ help us to live life in gratitude to the Lord, our God. May we strive for unity, love, and peace. And may our participation in the Body and Blood of Christ lead us to eternal life. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph