Today
we are celebrating the Gift of God Himself – The Eucharist.
God nourishes us with His Body and Blood; it is the Source and Summit of Christian Life; “… bread and wine are transformed by the Spirit of God into the body and blood of Christ.” The Eucharist we receive can transform us into sacraments of God’s love compassion, justice, peace and hope for our families and our world. [Adopted from Connections 6/02/2024]
The Feast of Corpus Christi – The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. I want to focus on four thoughts: The Real Presence, a hug, a kiss, and daily bread. In our Reading from Genesis the king of Salem [Melchizedek] brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram. In the 1st Letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us that Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”
Luke recounts the miracle when Jesus TOOK, BLESSED, BROKE & GAVE the five loaves and two fish to feed the huge crowd. This miracle points to Holy Thursday when Jesus TOOK, BLESSED, BROKE and GAVE His Body and His Blood [the Eucharist], to the Apostles. Jesus taught us the Our Father where we pray for our daily bread; the evangelists coined a Greek word [epiousios] for daily it has two meanings: “necessary for existence” and “bread for the future.” “Jesus is present to us in many ways, but only in the Holy Eucharist is He uniquely & substantially present — Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. This is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.” [CCC, 1373-1374]
Timothy O’Malley wrote, “… doctrines are not a physical or technical explanation of what happens in the consecration at Mass. It is not a physical change.” [Real Presence: What Does It Mean & Why Does It Matter?]
At the Last Supper Jesus asked to be Remembered & He gave us: THE EUCHARIST, the Memorial of His Body and Blood to do that. These stories may help us treasure and love the Eucharist more deeply.
6-year-old Mortakai refused to go to the school, when his Mom or Dad took him, he ran home, his parents tried everything & nothing worked. Desperate they went to their Rabbi, who said bring him to me, the Rabbi did not say a word, he held the boy to his heart for a long time & then put him down. This silent embrace accomplished what words could not & the young boy went on to become a great scholar & Rabbi. [The Sunday Website of St. Louis University, “In Exile,” Ron Rolheiser OMI, 6-7-15]
In the Eucharist God embraces us!
As a boy growing in Hungary before WWII George Docsi loved dinner… big plates, the maids serving soup, the dining room; one evening at dinner time he went to the dining room, and it was in an uproar. A persecution was taking place in Russia, and his grandfather went to the railway station and brought home some Jews. Men were in skull caps in the living room, mothers nursing babies in the dining room.
George threw a fit and yelled, “I want my supper! I want my supper!” One of the maids saw this & gave him a piece of bread. He threw it on the floor and screamed, “I want my supper!” His Grandfather entered the dining room at that moment - bent down, picked up the bread, kissed it and gave it to George. Kissing the bread was a beautiful act, George said, “… I think there’s a little of my grandfather in me now.” [The Little Book on the Human Shadow p. 41]
In the Eucharist God kisses us!
The silent Embrace and the Kissing of the bread are very personal; they remind us that Jesus Embraces and Kisses us in the Eucharist; the Eucharist is very personal. St. Augustine said, “If you receive worthily, you become what you receive.”
As we celebrate CORPUS CHRISTI may it remind us that Jesus leads us to the heavenly banquet giving us the Eucharist for nourishment along the way. “The Eucharist is not a luxury, but a necessity, for without it, we would, in the spiritual sense, starve to death.” [Bishop Barron, Eucharist, p.11].
For a few minutes, in silence think about what receiving the Eucharist means to you & how grateful you are to receive the Eucharist?
May God Be Praised.
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