Cycle B - Year I:
6 June 2021: Solemnity of Corpus Christi(Liturgical Color: White)Readings:First Reading: Exodus 24:3-8Second Reading: Hebrews 9:11-15Gospel: Please Read Mark 14:12-16, 22-26"Encountering Jesus in the Eucharist!The Church celebrates this Sunday the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, or the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.The Feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for Body of Christ) is a Catholic liturgical solemnity celebrating the real presence of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in the elements of the Eucharist, known as transubstantiation.Catholics believe that the doctrine of the Real Presence asserts that in the Holy Eucharist our Lord Jesus Christ is literally and wholly present body and blood, soul and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine.The great Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote that Jesus' presence in the Eucharist is visus, tactus, gustus. This means His presence is not imaginary in our mind. Because when we receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist we actually see (visus), touch (tactus), and taste (gustus) Him. As some theologians would say, our Lord Jesus is an "edible" God.The Holy Eucharist, or Corpus Christi, is the very center and source of our Christian faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ chose to remain with us in the sacrament of the Eucharist even after His ascension into heaven. Because in the Eucharist we encounter Jesus Himself and receive a foretaste of heavenly glory. It is unique to our Christian faith that God becomes present in a real way in ordinary bread and wine.The Gospel proclamation is from St. Mark on his version of the Last Supper. Take note that his narrative includes a detailed account of the precise preparation that Jesus asks two of His disciples to make in anticipation of the Feast of Passover. The emphasis on details of this preparation convey within themselves rich message of how we ought to prepare ourselves properly when we also encounter our Lord Jesus Christ in His Body and Blood, soul and divinity, in the Eucharist.We have our immediate experience of this encounter with Jesus within the holy sacrifice of the Mass. We are invited to prepare our minds, hearts and bodies in anticipation of the representation of the Paschal Mystery. That means to say, our minds and hearts and bodies ought to be oriented toward adoration of our Lord, contrition for our sins, thanksgiving for our blessings and crosses and supplications offered with our particular intention in mind.And so, as Jesus makes Himself present to us as a gift in the Holy Eucharist at Mass, so, too, we must prepare ourselves to respond to His gift of Self by our proper disposition during the Mass. Thus, our bodily postures of kneeling and genuflecting should remind us of who we are about to encounter as we approach the altar for Holy Communion. Even our discipline of an hour fasting before receiving the Lord into our bodies and souls should remind us of the purity and sense of mortification we must adopt if we want to imitate Him authentically. In the first place, we must also see to it that we are in proper attire when we go to Mass out of respect for the Lord.In sum, our preparation for Holy Mass, like the disciples' preparation for the Passover, must be precise and meticulous. As we prepare to go to Mass, we should ask: "How will I offer myself to God during Mass in order to match Jesus' love and gift of Self to me?" And we will soon discover that as much as we think we are giving ourselves to Jesus, in reality He is never outdone in His generous outpouring of His very life into our own, in the Holy Eucharist at Mass.Finally, let us conclude our reflection in these words of Most Rev. Jose Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles, U.S.A.: "The Body of Christ that we take at the altar makes us the Body of Christ that is the Church. And as the Eucharist is the sacrament of Christ's love, in every Eucharist he invites us to imitate his love, to love as he loves." Amen.A blessed Corpus Christi Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.To Jesus, through Mary!
