THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD
OF CHRIST [B]
(EX. 24:3-8, HEB. 9:11-15,
MK: 14:12-16, 22-26)
Dominic Tang, the courageous
Chinese archbishop, was imprisoned for twenty-one years for nothing more than
his loyalty to Christ and Christ’s one true Church. After five years of
solitary confinement in a windowless, damp cell, the Archbishop was told by his
jailers that he could leave it for a few hours to do whatever he wanted. Five
years of solitary confinement and he had a couple of hours to do what he wanted!
What would it be? A hot shower? A change of clothes? Certainly, a long walk
outside? A chance to call or write to family? What would it be, the jailer
asked him. “I would like to say Mass,”
replied Archbishop Tang. [Msgr.
Timothy M. Dolan, Priests of the Third Millennium (2000), p. 216].
The former archbishop of San
Francisco, John Quinn, loves to tell the story of the arrival of Mother Teresa
and her Missionaries of Charity to open their house in the city. Poor
Archbishop Quinn had gone to great efforts to make sure that their convent was,
while hardly opulent, quite comfortable. He recalls how Mother Teresa arrived
and immediately ordered the carpets removed, the telephones, except for one,
pulled out of the wall, the beds, except for the mattresses taken away, and on
and on. Explained Mother Teresa to the baffled archbishop, “All we really need
in our convent is the tabernacle” [Msgr.
Timothy M. Dolan in Priests of the Third Millennium (2000), p. 218.]
On this annual feast
of Corpus Christi, we focus on the Eucharist in the context of
his Resurrection.
After the Holy Thursday
liturgy, there is a Eucharistic procession (in this parish we do it to the
School Library) that reminds us of the procession Jesus and his Apostles
made to Gethsemane. After the Corpus Christi Mass, there is often a
procession in which we bring the Eucharist out into the streets, reminding
us of the Church's mission to bring the Good News to the whole world.
Holy Thursday is the sorrowful celebration of the Eucharist, and
Corpus Christi is the joyful celebration of the Eucharist.
The Corpus Christi is three
feasts in one: the feast of the Eucharistic sacrifice, feast of the Sacrament
of the Eucharist and the feast of the Real Presence of Jesus. The sacrificial
aspect of this feast emphasizes the theme of Covenant blood because the ancient
peoples sealed covenants with the blood of ritually sacrificed animals, and
Jesus sealed this New Covenant with his own Blood, shed on Calvary. The first
reading describes how Moses, by sprinkling the blood of a sacrificed animal on
the altar and on the people ratified the covenant. Since the altar symbolizes
Yahweh’s presence, all the Covenant-makers now have blood splattered on
them. The Letter to the Hebrews explains the
rituals of the Old Testament as foreshadowing and pointing to their fulfillment
in Christ, in God-with-us.
Today’s Gospel details how
Jesus converted this ancient ritual into a Sacrament and sacrifice.
Instead of the lamb’s blood, Jesus offered his own Divine/human Body and Blood
and, instead of sprinkling us with blood, Jesus put it into our hands as food. Since
it was his own, this Blood needed no further identification with God by
splashing against an altar. Mark
recounts the institution of the Eucharist -- how Jesus said to his disciples,
gathered for the Seder: "Take, … eat … this is my Body" -- not
"represents,” or "memorializes", but "IS"!
Finally, the Blood was
"to be poured out for you and for many (a Semitism for 'all')."
Thus, the new and perfect Paschal Lamb accomplished for people of every nation
what Mosaic sacrifices only imperfectly achieved for the Jews.
Vatican II states that as a sacrifice
"the Holy Eucharist is the center and culmination of Christian life"
(L.G.11).
The
Eucharist is the symbol of God's presence. St Maximilian Kolbe wrote,
“God dwells in our midst, in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar." It is
the symbol of God's concern and God’s immeasurable love. St. Peter
Julian Eymard expressed it as,”The Eucharist is the supreme proof of the love
of Jesus. After this, there is nothing more but Heaven itself."
When
we receive the Holy Communion we become the tabernacle where Jesus is present.
So Maximilian Kolbe says, ' If angels could be jealous of men,
they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion." Hence, it is
binding on us that we should keep the tabernacle, ourselves, holy.
St
Francis de Sales preached to the people, "When you have received Him,
stir up your heart to do Him homage, welcome Him as warmly as possible, and
behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of
His Presence." Blessed Damian dedicated his life for the service
of the lepers. It was a hard choice. He said, "Blessed Sacrament is,
indeed, the stimulus for me to forsake all worldly ambitions."
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