(Homily for Corpus
Christi Sunday, Year B)
Today the
Holy Mother Church celebrates the most sublime Mystery: the Solemnity of the Corpus Christi, the Solemnity that
recalls the Mystery of the real presence of Christ in Body, Blood, Soul and
Divinity in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The aim of this solemnity is three-fold: first, it
serves an invitation for us to be always conscious of the greatness of this
Gift; second, to make our faith always alife and convinced in It; third, to
reawaken in us the sensibility always to render gratitude to Jesus who
instituted It, “the very night he was to be betrayed”, as a sign of His extreme
love for us. The Eucharist is the
perpetuation of both his Love and his Presence. It is the Sacrament
of Christ’s extreme love for humanity. It is a sign of his continuous Incarnation
in human history. In the
words of Giovanni Vannucci, “man is the only creature that has God in his
blood”, we have in us a divine chromosome,
for Jesus dwells in us! This Sacrament
reminds us of the Jewish religious tradition of Berakah, which has to do with blessing,
thanksgiving and praise to God for the wonders he has wrought.
Going
through history lane, we remember that in the Old Jewish tradition, when the
family gathers for the Passover Meal, it was prescribed that the last born of
the house, asks a question to the Father of the family, thus: What does this
ritual mean? This was the question that someone (maybe John that was the
youngest apostle) directed to Jesus, the evening they were at table for the
Last Super. In response to the question Jesus might have explained to them how
the whole celebration from the night of the Exodus, to the killing of the lamb
and the Passover Meal, were not but a figure and a prophecy of Him; the Lamb of
God (cf. Gen. 22:7; Jn. 1:29), that
has to be slaughtered in order to take away the sins of the world, and to be
food and drink for his friends. Indeed, “Christ loved us and handed himself
over to us as an offering and a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:2).
Similarly,
the same question can situate us well into the context of our present
gathering, therefore, let us ask ourselves: What is the meaning of this ritual?
Not because we do not know what we are about to do or the essence of our
celebration, but for the Lord to explain it to us again, through his word and
through the church, always for a more
profound understanding. To that question the readings of today have much in
stock for us.
In the first
reading (Ex 24:3-8), prior to this
wonderful gift, the people of Israel celebrated their covenant with God by
means of the blood of sacrificed animals. This reading tells us how God one day
at the foot of mount Sinai made a covenant with Israel. He promised to protect
and defend them if they keep his commandments. Moses asked the people if they
want to accept, and they all in one accord agreed. There Moses raised an altar
representing God and the twelve tribes of Israel. Moses pours the blood of
animal on the altar for sacrifice. This pouring of blood symbolizes that from
that moment onward God and the people of Israel are one person (because of the
blood). For this covenant to be effective,
God demanded faithfulness from the people.
The two readings
from the New Testament throw more light to the awareness of the centrality of
this passage to the understanding of the Christian redemption and its
representation in the Eucharist. First, in Mark 14:24: “This is my blood of the Covenant”. Here, the covenant blood of Christ is contrasted with the blood that Moses
sprinkled against the alter and over the people. Second, in Hebrew 9:15-21, with particular
reference to verse 20, which cited Exodus 24:8, in a glaring manner. The
basic question emanating from this passage goes thus: why was it necessary in the Scripture for a covenant to be ratified in
and with blood? This boils down to the idea that the death of the victim has the finality of making the covenant
irrevocable. More so, the sacrifice is an eloquent expression of the
offerer’s total commitment to carry out the terms of the covenant. The passage
from the book of Exodus is suggestive of a possible understanding and
interpretation of the Eucharist from the view point of an atonement. In the Old
Testament, before the covenant is completed, the people have to become
participants. For instance, in the Sinai covenant, Moses sprinkled the people
with half of the blood, after he must have applied the other half on the alter
(which represents Yahweh). Be that as it may, in this
parlance, the Eucharist becomes an
integral part of the once and for all sacrifice of Calvary.
The second reading (Heb 9:11-15), reminds us of the yearly celebration of the feast of
Expiation by the people of Israel, to wipe their sins away. The High Priest
enters the Holy of Holies where God was believed to be present and there he
poured the blood of the covenant. The author of the letter to the Hebrews makes
a comparison between what the High Priest of old did and the sacrifice of
Christ. And he says that the new is greater than the old. Why? Because the old
was offered with the blood of animals, while in the new Christ offers his own
blood. Christ shed his blood once and for all (and commanded us to continue to
do it in memory of Him). In todays readings we hear repeatedly of blood that
purifies, and that is the blood of Christ. Jesus is the High Priest of the New
Testament.
He is not in opposition with the Jewish worship, rather he came for its
fulfilment. The high priest of the Old covenant was entering into the Holy of
Holies once a year and he sprinkled blood to offer atonement for sins. But
Jesus entered the Holy of Holies offering his blood, and the sacrifice of and
with his blood is effective at all times. Jesus is both Priest and Victim.
The Gospel (Mk 14:12-16.22-26), can be divided
into two parts: preparation for the last supper and the institution of the
Eucharist. It is in this passage that Mark identified the Last
Super with the Passover meal. Mark in
his account desires to affirm that the Eucharist
is the Christian Passover meal. Little wonder, Jesus is depicted as the eschatological Prophet (Mk. 14:12-16), owing to his
foreknowledge of the direction to which the disciples were to meet the man with
the water jar. Therein, we need to pay
attention to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, which actually captures what
we traditionally refer to as the institution of the sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist: He took a loaf of bread and
after blessing it gave it to them and said: take; this is my body. Here we pay
attention to the fact that what he was having was a loaf of bread but after the
blessing it became his body. After the blessing he no longer called what he had
loaf of bread but My Body. The same
thing is applicable to the cup of wine after
giving thanks he said take, This is
my Blood. At the end of this special meal he told them to do
what he had done in memory or remembrance of him, as in (cf. 1Cor. 11:24.25).
Extrapolating
from the passage, we can identify three important elements in relation to this
sublime mystery, namely: ●The substantial
change of the bread to the body of our Lord Jesus Christ and the wine to
his blood. This is what we refer to as transubstantiation,
as opposed to transfiguration. ●The element
of thanksgiving, which in Greek is “Eucharistia”. ●The phenomenon of remembrance or memorial. This serves as a reminder to the people
of God not to forget the good deeds of the Lord.
Drawing the issue further, the three readings of today propel us to
consider the Holy Eucharist above all, from variegated points of view:
►The Eucharist
as a Sacrifice: The Eucharist is above all, the sacrifice that renders the self-immolation of Christ actual and
perenially present. It is the sacrifice of the New covenant ratified with
the blood of Christ. ●As we read in the first reading, God through Moses made
the chosen people to know of his laws and commands. And the people on their
part, resolved to observe them, repeating it with an oath: “All the words
Yahweh has spoken we will carry out” (Ex.
24:3). ●The letter to the Hebrews declares in a definitive manner the
conclusion of the time of the Old law, which was to serve as a preparation for
the coming of Christ and for salvation through faith in Him. The numerous sacrifices with animals gives
way to the unique and perfect sacrifice of Christ, a sacrifice of infinite
value. The blood of animals was replaced with the blood of the unique and
immaculate victim: Jesus Christ. By means of the replacement with the blood of
Christ, we are no longer talking about a
provisory covenant, that has to do with the Israelites alone, but a definitive
covenant. It is not just a ritual of external purification, rather the
“purification of our conscience from the works of death to serve the living
God” (Heb. 9:12-14). ●For this Jesus
insitituted the Eucharist, according to Mark (14:22-23), with the pronouncement of the following words: “When he
had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to them. Take it, he said, this
is my body. Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he handed it to
them, and all drank from it”. On the other hand, Luke in his gospel (22:20) and St. Paul in 1Corinthians (11:25) speak explicitly of the “New
Covenant”. The Eucharist, therefore, is the representation in a sacramental way
under the signs of bread and wine, of the unique and perfect sacrifice of
Christ, to the glory of the Father, for the expiation of sins.
►The Eucharist
as a Banquet: The Eucharist is not only the sacrifice of Christ, but at the
same time, it is a supper, a feast, to which everyone is invited. Jesus
instituted it in the context of the Last Supper, with typical elements of a
banquet: bread and wine, and he said clearly and distinctly: “Take, this is my
body” (v.22). “Then he took the
chalice and gave thanks and handed it to them and they all drank from it” (v.23). Indeed, the Eucharistic celebration is inseparably a sacrifice and a banquet.
►The Eucharist
as a mystery which calls for commitment: The Eucharist is not a mere rite
or a simple cultual act, that is repeated in a formal way. Above all, it is a
mystery that requires a conscious and active participation. It is a mystery
that demands fully the commitment of a believer. The Eucharist as a sacrifice requires
those who participate in it the effort to make themselve a living sacrifice
acceptable to God, to unite their daily sufferings to that of Christ. And
as a banquet, it is a feast around which we gather as children of God, the Eucharist as such, invites us to live
in communion, fraternity and love.
Again to our
earlier question: What does this ritual mean? Our Lord responds to us, first of
all, with the words of St. Paul: “whenever you eat this bread and drink this
cup, you are proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes” (1Cor. 11:26). And at the moment of the Institution of the
Eucharist Jesus said to his apostles: “Do this in memory of me”. But memorial
of what? Of the death of the Lord, certainly, but not only of this, Jesus said:
“In memory of me”, the Eucharist,
therefore, remembers (brings to heart) Him, all his mystery; His prefiguration
in the Old Testament and his actuation in the New Testament. In this sense,
the Eucharist is a Remembrance/Memorial of the Lord and the Salvation he
wrought, that culminates in his Death and Resurrection.
Above all
else, however, the people of God have their memorial, but it is a living
memorial. Here stands the great difference, a living memorial, not the ashes of
someone. The biblical remembrance is essentially different from the human, that
makes one to relive the reality only intentionally in the memory. The biblical
remembrance (zikkaron) rather makes one to relive the reality really; it is a remembrance and a presence at the
same time!. The Death and Salvation of Christ, in the Eucharist, are not
relived only in our memory, but they are relived really; there is a real presence
on the alter (Along history lane some have doubted this, we recall the
Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano in the year 700). It is the presence of the
Risen Lord who says: “Touch me, it is really I” (Lk. 24:39). We remember him, his death, that is, we become
witnesses to his death. We have gathered round the alter like Maria and John
around the Cross, but there is also the sad possiblity that we are here like
the soldiers, like the enemies and like the passer-bys were round the Cross
(little wonder, today, there are many abuses of this Sacrament). May the Ever
Present Emmanuel, the Eucharistic Jesus continue to nourish us physically and
spiritually! May He make our presence before his Presence a transforming
encounter. May we become more of Him and less of us. Amen!!!
Verbum caro factum est
Verbum panis factum est
Verbum caro factum est
Verbum panis factum est.
(Fr. Vitus M.C.
Unegbu, SC)
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