Corpus Christi 2022
Gn 14:18-20
1 Cor 11:23-26
Lk 9:11b-17
At the end of this Mass, weather permitting, we shall go in procession in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. Processions are something Catholics do.
We believe that the divine Presence in the Holy Eucharist is much more than a feeling of communion among us and with God when we gather together and remind ourselves of what Christ did during the last Supper before He suffered.
We believe that Christ’s presence in the sacrament is not only symbolic, but real; and that this reality does not stop when the Mass is over.
We believe that the Risen Christ is really present in the Holy Host. He is offered in sacrifice to the Father and distributed for communion at Mass. He is kept for the sick in the Tabernacle, thus dwelling in this house of prayer and adoration.
The Eucharistic Host is Holy. This Holy Host is Christ. This Holy Host is God.
The popular name for today’s feast in French is “Fête-Dieu”, meaning “God’s Feast”. And rightly so. The Holy Eucharist is God under a sacred sign; God in a sacrament; God’s presence signified to the eyes of our faith; God giving Himself to our hearts.
In the Blessed Sacrament, Someone is here, among us and for us.
If Christ were to appear right now, I suppose that after a minute or two of understandable emotion, we would spontaneously gather around Him and then go out with Him with great pride and gratitude, and with a desire to show Him to the world. It is something of the sort we do when we process out of the church with the Holy Host. We express through this symbolic action that we are proud of our Saviour, that we are grateful for His gifts, that we want the whole world to be sanctified by His grace and to benefit from His sacramental presence.
When we follow the Priest holding the Sacred Host in procession, we acknowledge who Christ is – our God whom we adore; and we express who we are: We are Christ’s people. We follow in His steps. We proclaim His Gospel which was handed over to us. In the strength of His Bread of life, we walk in the world as children of the Father and witnesses to Christ’s light.
In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus gives Himself to the Church. The Church is the Holy People of God, instructed by the Word of God and fed with Christ’s life given in His sacramental Body and Blood. Christ and the Church are one Body. They have one life. The Eucharist celebrates their unity, the bond of love and charity which unites Christ with each of us and with all of us as a community.
This is a marvellous gift, a really divine gift. But this is also a challenge. We could say it is a challenge for our faith, because without our faith in the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, our gathering would be maybe very friendly, maybe beautiful, but terribly empty. We know well that we go to Mass for Him: for Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar; for there is at Mass something we cannot find elsewhere. But this remains in the faith, not in the full vision – which at times can be challenging for our mind and our imagination. If it is the case, let us listen rather to our heart. Near the tabernacle, let us keep silence and discover once more that we are loved.
The gift of God is a challenge for our lives, too. We have a duty of coherence. We can ask ourselves: Do we live according to the Eucharist – that is to say: Do we live a life inspired and nourished by the Risen Christ? Are we in communion with Jesus: in our thoughts and our choices? in our words and in our actions? Do we let the light of Christ come into our lives, show us the ways of life, and, when needed, convert us from the ways of sin and death?
“As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”.
This Host is Holy. This Host is Christ crucified for our sins and risen for our justification. This Host is God revealing His mystery of love. Let us adore. Let us love.