Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

The solemnity of Corpus Christi celebrates Christ’s gift of the Eucharist, the source and summit of our life together as the Church. It is three feasts in one: the feast of the Eucharistic sacrifice, the feast of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the feast of the Real Presence of Jesus in this Sacrament.  Corpus Christi as a doctrinal feast was established for three purposes:  1) to give God collective thanks for Christ’s abiding presence with us in the Eucharist and to honor Him there; 2) to instruct the people in the Mystery, Faith and devotion surrounding the Eucharist, and 3) to teach us to appreciate and make use of the great gift of the Holy Eucharist, both as a Sacrament and as a sacrifice. 

In 1207, a Belgian Augustinian nun, Giuliana di Cornillon, who had just turned fifteen, had a vision of a full moon with a dark spot sullying it. Contemporary experts interpreted it thus: the full moon symbolized the Church; the dark spot was the absence of a specific feast in honour of the Body of the Eucharistic Jesus. The following year, the same nun had an even clearer vision, but had to fight hard to get the feast instituted. In 1261, the former archdeacon of Liège, Jacques Panteléon, became Pope Urban IV. In 1264, impressed by a Eucharistic miracle that had taken place in Bolsena, near Orvieto in Italy where he was residing, he promulgated the bull Transiturus through which he instituted a new solemnity to be celebrated the Thursday after the Octave of Pentecost in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. Thomas Aquinas (famous Dominican Theologian) was given the task of composing the liturgical office. Since Pope Urban IV died two months after having instituted the feast, the bull was never implemented, but Pope Clement V, the first Avignon Pope (1312), confirmed it later.

The now traditional procession of Corpus Christi was introduced by Pope John XXII in 1316. For many Catholics, such devotions deeply nourish their faith and they continue to have an important place in the Church. As in other aspects of Catholic life, however, different periods call for different emphases. Over the last century, and particularly in the Second Vatican Council, the Church has emphasised more strongly the presence of Christ within the community, which Paul called the Body of Christ. In this vision, all Catholics are active as well as receptive in the celebration of the Eucharist. It has also given strong weight to Christ’s action in the Eucharist. Christ is present, not simply in the consecrated bread and wine, but as the one who forgives, speaks, feeds, gathers together and makes present his offering on the Cross. In this fuller understanding of the Eucharist, Christ is present in the bread and wine because he is active in the Church. In the Eucharist, he calls us to prayer and reverence. He also calls us to follow his way in feeding the poor and giving spirit to the excluded and in taking up our own cross.

This feast also encourages us to pray, to wonder at Christ’s continuing gift to us through his presence and his continuing activity, and to follow him in giving ourselves to those in need.

By receiving Holy Communion, we become Christ-bearers as Mary was, with the duty of conveying Christ to others at home and in the workplace, as love, mercy, forgiveness and humble and sacrificial service.

As we celebrate this great feast of faith, let us worship what St. Thomas Aquinas did not hesitate to call, "the greatest miracle that Christ ever worked on earth ...... My Body ........ My Blood". Before the greatness of this mystery, let us exclaim with St. Augustine, "O Sacrament of devotion! O Sign of unity! O Bond of charity!"   Let us also repeat St. Thomas Aquinas' prayer of devotion in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament:  "O Sacrament most holy! O Sacrament Divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!"  

May the Eucharistic Lord continue to nourish our parish community and may all those drifted away from the Eucharist be drawn closer by Him. I wish all of us a very happy and blessed feast!