THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST [B]: (Ex 24:3-8, Heb 9:11-15, Mk 14:12-16, 22-26)

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, popularly known as Corpus Christi. It was introduced in the late 13th century to encourage the faithful to give special adoration to the Holy Eucharist. Why was it necessary to institute a new feast? Doesn't the Church recall the institution of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday? Doesn't she celebrate it every Sunday and, more than that, every day of the year? In fact, Corpus Christi is the first feast whose object is not an event of the life of Christ, but a truth of faith: His real presence in the Eucharist.

Both our first and second readings talk about covenant, sacrifice, and blood. According to the first reading, the old covenant was sealed with the blood of animal sacrifice which Moses sprinkled on the people. On the contrary, the second reading reminds us that the new covenant was sealed with the blood of Christ. While in the first covenant blood was poured on the covenant parties, in the second covenant the sacrificial blood was consumed by the covenant parties. When we receive communion we reaffirm our acceptance of the New Covenant with God. This is more than just saying, “I agree.” Communion is an intimate sharing of the presence of Christ conquering evil on the Cross. We are not just stained with blood. We take the blood of the Lamb within us. We don’t just offer young bulls for sacrifice. We take the sacrifice within us. The sacrifice is the Body of Christ.

 

While the first covenant never guaranteed eternal life, the new one does because it was sealed with costly blood through a perfect sacrifice offered once and for all. In the gospel, Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist. Here he was both the priest and the victim.

There is a danger that believers face at present regarding the Eucharist which is to trivialize it. There was a time when it was not received so frequently, and fasting and confession had to precede it. Today, virtually everyone approaches it. It is normal that participation in Mass also implies Communion; that is why it exists. But all this entails a mortal risk. St. Paul says: Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let each one examine himself and then eat the bread and drink the cup because he who eats and drinks without discerning eats and drinks judgment unto himself. We cannot receive God except as "God," that is, respecting all His holiness and majesty. Therefore, worthy reception is demanded from the recipients.  A worthy reception will enable us to communicate with Jesus on a deeper level. Every petition we make is heard by the Lord, particularly when he is within us.

Today’s gospel reading describes the moment when Jesus gave the gift of the Eucharist to his first disciples. It was Jesus’ last meal with them, on the evening before he was crucified. At this last supper, Jesus gave himself to his disciples in a way that was distinctive and memorable. The last supper may have been the last in a whole series of meals, but Jesus also intended it to be a beginning, the beginning of what we have come to call the Eucharist. This is why in the earliest account of the Last Supper in one of Paul’s letters, and also in Luke’s gospel, Jesus goes on to say, ‘Do this in memory of me’. In other words, ‘Repeat what I have just said and done’.

The Lord’s giving of himself in love to his disciples at the last supper looked ahead to the gift he would make of himself to them and to all humanity the following day. On the cross, he gave his body and his blood, his entire self, out of love for us all. The love that shone through Jesus on the cross was shining through him at the last supper and continues to shine through him at every Eucharist. That is why Saint Paul could write to the church in Corinth about twenty five years after the last supper, ‘As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes’. At every Eucharist, we are proclaiming the Lord’s death, the Lord’s self-giving love on the cross, and that love becomes present to us in a powerful way. The Lord who gave himself on Calvary gives himself to us at every Eucharist. As at the last supper he called on his disciples to take his gift of himself, the gift of his love, so at every Eucharist he calls on us to take his gift of himself, to receive his love into our lives. The Lord’s love that we are invited to receive at every Eucharist is a costly love, it is the love of one who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life for all. We are sent from the Eucharist to share this costly love that we have received, so that the Lord can continue to serve others through us. The Lord comes to us in the Eucharist to catch us up into the rhythm of his own self-giving love. He comes to us so that he can live in and through us, so that his attitudes and values can take flesh in our daily lives. Because we receive the Eucharist so often, it is easy to overlook the huge commitment we are making to live and spread the Kingdom of God.

 Sharing in the Eucharist places several significant demands on us, calling us to live in ways that reflect the profound spiritual and communal significance of the sacrament.

Sharing in the Eucharist calls us to emulate Christ’s love and sacrifice by serving others. This includes acts of charity, justice, and compassion, particularly towards the poor, marginalized, and those in need. The sacrament strengthens and sends believers out to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world. As we are dismissed today at the end of the Mass, let’s recognize that we are going out with Christ’s hands and feet and heart and mind to reach out to other people as Christ would today.