Homily on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) Year B

 Homily on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) Year B

1st Reading: Exodus 24: 3-8

2nd Reading: Hebrews 9: 11-15

Gospel: Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26

Introduction: 

Today, the Universal Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ also known as Corpus Christi. It is a special and joyous celebration of the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Today’s celebration reflects on the great event and moment of the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. It is a mystery that speaks volume of the unquantifiable love of God. It calls for thanksgiving, praise, adoration and worship.

Historical Background:

The feast’s origin is traced to a humble nun in Belgium in 1246, St. Juliana, Prioress of Mont Cornillon near Liege who after experiencing a vision, first suggested and advocated a special feast in honor of the Blessed Sacrament to be celebrated on a day other than Maundy Thursday. Equally, the feast was proposed by St. Thomas Aquinas to Pope Urban IV in order to create a feast solely on the Holy Eucharist, emphasizing the joy of the Eucharist being the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. 

Having recognized the authenticity of the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena on input of Aquinas, in 1264, the Pontiff then living in Orvieto, established the Feast of the Corpus Christi as a Solemnity and extended it to the whole Roman Catholic Church.  Also with the reform of Vatican II, Corpus Christi was joined with the Feast of the Precious Blood to become the Solemnity of the Body and Body of Christ. It is a celebration of the gift of the Eucharist which is the source and summit of our Christian Life and summary of our faith.

Eucharistic theologians explain the Real Presence by a process called transubstantiation: the entire substance of the bread and wine is changed into the entire substance of the risen, living and glorified body and blood of Christ retaining only the accidents (taste, color, shape) of bread and wine.

The first and second readings of today, point out three striking concepts, namely, ‘sacrifice, blood and covenant.’ In the first reading the old covenant was sealed by the blood of animals sacrificed and offered to God. The blood was sprinkled on the people by Moses (acting as a priest) as covenant with God.

In the second reading, the new covenant was sealed with the blood of Christ and longer the blood of goats or calves. He is the high priest as well as the victim of the sacrifice. Importantly, the old covenant does not promise eternal life whereas the new covenant guarantees salvation (eternal life).

Pertinently, in the gospel, we celebrate Jesus’ gift of His Body and Blood to us. We see in the gospel periscope an account of the institution of the Holy Eucharist by Christ who is both priest and victim who offered himself for our salvation in a bloodless manner yet the same with his sacrifice on the cross.

Pope Francis explained that the Eucharist is God’s concrete promise of what awaits his followers in heaven. The Eucharist is our reservation for the heavenly banquet. It is Jesus himself, as food for our journey towards eternal life and happiness. He notes that when Catholics worship Jesus in the Eucharist, they receive the Holy Spirit and find peace and joy. We are called to live no longer for ourselves but for one another in imitation of Christ who became bread broken for our sake. In this way, we live ‘eucharistically’, pouring out upon the world the love we draw from the Lord’s flesh.

In the words of St. Pope John Paul II, ‘Jesus is not an idea, a sentiment, a memory; Jesus is a person, always alive and present with us.’ We are called to love Jesus in the Eucharist, and to pour out ourselves in love for other, our bodies broken too and shared in the service of the other.

Reflection by 

Rev. Chimobi Mbawuike,SMMM