The Feast of Corpus Christi

“This is my blood poured out for all…do this in memory of me”

(Fr. James McTavish FMVD)

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Corpus Christi. As we all know Corpus Christi is Latin for ‘body of Christ’. Today’s feast helps us appreciate the gift of the Eucharist. A little story can help us enter into the historical aspects of this feast and to see why it was instituted. One weekend in the middle of my studies in Rome we had an outing to a beautiful lake. On the way home we stopped off in a small town called Bolsena outside of Rome. There we encountered the basilica of St Cristina. Inside this beautiful little church how surprised we were to find out about the eucharistic miracle of Bolsena. In 1263 a priest was visiting the church. He was having difficulty to believe in the real presence of Christ in the consecrated host. One day during mass, after consecrating the bread and wine, the eucharistic host took to the form of human flesh. As he raised the Eucharist, drops of blood fell on the marble floor. How powerful is this blood that even marked the marble stone floor. The eucharistic flesh remains preserved as does the stained marble floor where the drops of the blood of Christ fell on it. This miracle eventually led to the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi.

What does the feast signify for us? Let us look at the readings proposed this day and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us. The first reading is from the book of Exodus (Ex 24, 3-8) where Moses sprinkles blood from sacrificed animals on the altar he has built. He then sprinkles the blood on the people. What is the meaning of this rite? The concept of a blood relative is familiar to us all, whereby blood gives ties or a relationship between different people as they ‘share the same blood’. This is also known as consanguinity (co=sharing, sangui=blood). Moses establishes a blood relation or consanguinity between God, represented by the altar, and his people. However the people break the covenant so that a more permanent covenant will need to be established. Only a covenant that is unbreakable and eternal can save a sinful people. For this the blood of animals will not suffice, only the innocent blood of the spotless Lamb, Christ himself. Only the blood of the only begotten Son can clean God’s people innerly. One drop of Christ’s blood is powerful enough to penetrate stony hearts and take away all the sins of the world. In the second reading of today the author of the letter to the Hebrews (Heb 9, 11-15) states “how much more effective is the blood of Christ, who offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God through the eternal Spirit, purifying our inner selves so that we can worship the living God.”

For our participation in the Eucharist to be more fruitful it requires faith to believe that Christ is truly present in the consecrated bread and wine. Externally we do not see any visible change in the bread and wine so what is the basis of our faith in the transubstantiation? The very words of Jesus himself - “This is my body…this is my blood”. St Thomas of Aquinas noted that in front of the Eucharist sight, touch and taste are often deceived, such that the ear alone is best believed. In the text of his hymn ‘Pange Lingua’ he wrote “though our senses cannot see, faith alone which is unshaken shows pure hearts the mystery’. As followers of Christ we believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist because Jesus told us so.

And Jesus in the Gospel today asks his disciples to help him prepare the Passover meal. Jesus does not want his followers to be mere passive spectators in his eucharistic love. This is why he says ‘Do this in memory of me’. We marvel at the mystery of the Eucharist but Christ does not want mere admirers or adorers but imitators. As Christians we are called to become what we receive (See Lumen Gentium 26). To become living bread and nourishment for others with our words and life. Many followers of Christ have given their blood for love of him. Martyrs such as the Jewish philosopher convert, Edith Stein. From a brilliant intellectual life, being a disciple of Husserl’s school of phenomenology, her search for the truth eventually led her to become a Catholic and then a nun in the Carmelite order. She was put to death in a Nazi concentration camp. She always said that the atrocities of Nazi Germany would have to be atoned for. She died pouring out her blood as an atoning sacrifice and doing this in ‘memory of me’. Each Christian is called to give their blood, perhaps not as dramatically but in a way just as real. Perhaps it is drop by drop, day by day in self giving, in patiently bringing up a family, in studies, in prayer and in doing God’s will. Christ still asks for active collaborators to transform this world. He wants that his blood still flows through the self giving of many Christians today. 

Lord we pray that as your followers we can allow your Spirit to transform us. We place our lives, our efforts, our drops of sweat in the paten and ask you to transform us so that through each one of us you can continue your self giving, that you may be able to continue pouring out your love on this world and to each brother and sister. Amen.