Today’s celebration reminds us of the priceless gift Jesus generously offered to his Church – his very own body and blood. The magnificence of this gift was beautifully captured by St Maximilian Kolbe who said: “If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion”.

·        Jesus offers his body and blood both as sacrifice and as food.

·        As sacrifice, Jesus offers his very own life as ransom for our sins. He offers himself as a sacrifice of thanksgiving, pleasing to the Father (Cf. CCC 1360).

·        By this generous act of self-offering, Jesus presents himself as the eternal high priest, foreshadowed by the Priest Melchisedek who makes an offering of bread and wine to Abram (Cf. 1^st Reading).

·        Each time Holy Mass is celebrated, Jesus’ body and blood are offered up in thanksgiving to God for remission our sins. Jesus continues to sacrifice himself even today for our reconciliation with God and one another.

·        The Church teaches thus: “The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his benefits, for all that he has accomplished” (Cf. CCC 1360).

·        Jesus also offers his body and blood as nourishment for our souls. Jesus is the bread of life, as he says in John’s gospel account: “whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (Cf. Jn. 6:54-56).

·        Jesus seeks to satisfy our most profound hunger – our spiritual hunger. His heart is moved with pity when we are weak and desolate (Cf. Gospel).

·        At the last supper, he commanded his apostles to continue feeding his followers with his body and blood – “do this in remembrance of me” (Cf. 2^nd Reading).

·        Jesus is aware that the Christian journey is not an easy endeavour. He knows we need spiritual strength, comfort and healing. He provides these and more when we worthily receive him in the Holy Eucharist.

·        Let us always approach the Holy Eucharist with due reverence, for in it, we meet Jesus himself. “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained” (Cf. CCC 1374).

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The solemnity of Corpus Christi, or the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ might, initially, seem a puzzling addition to the liturgical calendar. Have we not already celebrated the institution of the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday, at the commencement of the Easter Triduum, the most solemn moment of the Church's year? Why do we need a return to the mystery now?

But the Easter Triduum is a time when the full richness of the Paschal Mystery of the Lord's Passion, Death and Resurrection is brought before our gaze. There is an abundance of glory which dazzles the eyes of the soul. The Church has therefore established the feast of Corpus Christi to provide a concentrated focus on the Eucharist.

Not that the connection with the Paschal Mystery is lost; that cannot be. The Eucharist is not simply a successor to the many sacrifices of Israel's cult. These came to their long awaited fulfilment in Christ crucified on Calvary. And the Body and Blood of Christ are not another sacrifice, continuing Israel's tradition, even if in another key. The Eucharist is rather the continual making present of Christ's one sacrifice which every Eucharist contains. All Eucharists are in fact one Eucharist, all priests the one High Priest, all churches the one Church which is Christ's body.

In the Eucharist we share in the Passover from this world to the Father which is Christ's Paschal journey. Corpus Christi and Maundy Thursday are two commemorations, but dig below the surface and the mystery is one and the same.

Bidding Prayers

Let us pray for all who confess Christ, really present in the sacrament of his Body and Blood, that our lives may be conformed to the mystery we celebrate.

Let us pray for priests, that they may celebrate the sacraments with that fulness of faith and devotion which the mysteries demand.

Let us pray for all who sleep in Christ, that they may open their eyes to see with unveiled face that mystery which before they beheld only beneath the sacramental veils.

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Note: These hymns have been chosen from different sources.

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Guide me, O thou great Redeemer (CFE233, L960, LHON307, TCH221)

I received the living God (CFE280, L636, LHON371)

Let all mortal flesh keep silence (CVE355, L607, LHON418, TCH120)

Lord enthroned in heavenly splendour (CFE379, L769, LHON444, TCH121)

Bread for the world, a world of hunger (CFE92, L625)

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Key

CFE - Celebration Hymnal for Everyone

L – Laudate

LHON – Liturgical Hymns Old and New (Mayhew, 1999)

TCH – The Catholic Hymnbook (Gracewing)              

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