Homilies

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi
June 18, 2006

(For the Homilies Archive, click here.)

Today’s readings for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) are about the covenantal relationship between God and man. A covenant, like a sacrament, is an oath–swearing. A sacrament is as an outward and visible sign that conveys an inward and spiritual grace.

The Latin word sacramentum has its origins as the oath of allegiance taken by Roman soldiers. A sacred ceremony was performed to impress an obligation between the soldier and his emperor.

God so loves us that he makes his relationship with us a sacramental one. The sacraments are like pacts between men and God. But a sacrament is much more than a pact. A sacrament effects the very thing it signifies, it communicates something very real upon the recipient.

Whenever you receive a sacrament, God swears that he will be a faithful and loving Father to you, and to give you the gift which the sacrament promises (e.g., the pardon, the food of your core). For your part, you promise to be a son or daughter to him who will love him truly, to be faithful and obedient to him, to live according to his Word. Thus, in the sacraments we become members of the family of God.

In the first reading for today’s Mass, we hear how, through a covenantal ritual, the Israelites become God’s chosen ones. In this covenant, God promises to lavish gifts upon Israel, all they have to do is accept.

In the ritual, which enacts the covenant, Moses is the priest: the mediator between God and man. According to God’s direction, Moses uses blood to enact the covenant. Blood obviously symbolizes life. Through this covenant, God is giving life to the people. Moses first sprinkles blood on the altar, i.e., sprinkles it on God. Then he reads the Word of God to the people. The people receive the Word by assenting to its truth and promising obedience. Then Moses sprinkles blood on the people. Now, because of this blood–covenant, Israel is in a much more profound relationship with God.

In the Epistle for today, Saint Paul is writing to the Hebrews who faithfully followed the Messiah when he came. Because these Israelites followed the Christ, they were banned from the Temple by the other Israelites (who still maintained control of the Temple). What a loss! No more ritual, no more sacrifice! A severance from the family of God!

Not so, says Saint Paul. Their relationship to God is now even better, for Jesus is the new high priest. This priest is perfect (for he is God as well as man). And the sacraments, which he enacts, take the place of (and are superior to) the old covenant. As the high priest, Jesus is eternal. We can always rely on him. His sacrificial action takes place in the Holy of Holies but the new Holy of Holies is in Heaven, in the very presence of God the Father. And it is an eternal sacrifice. The blood is now no longer that of an animal but that of the God–man. Hence, the effect the sacrifice has on us is at a much more profound level. Now it effects not just our flesh but our eternal souls. The faithful Hebrews, therefore, have cause not for sadness but joy. For this new covenant is more than the old. With the perfect Lamb, the new covenant effects perfectly what the old covenant did only imperfectly.

In today’s Gospel, we hear about the institution of the Eucharist during the Passover. It’s no accident that God chose the Feast of the Passover to be the day he instituted the Eucharist. For, Christ is the new Lamb of the Passover.

In the institution of the Eucharist, Jesus replaces Moses as the high priest. And, as Saint Paul emphasizes in the Epistle, Jesus institutes this new covenant using not the blood of animals but rather his own blood. When we drink this Precious Blood, we are transformed. We are made like Jesus. Thus, because of the Eucharist, we are able to have an amazingly more intimate union with God while we are here on earth, engaged in spiritual combat. Indeed, there is great cause for rejoicing!

The one thing we are all thinking after pondering these readings is how can we come to truly appreciate the amazing reality of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. How far I am from loving the Eucharist the way I ought to love it. And how stupid I am not to treat it as my true nourishment. What a sad state I am in! I can only pray that my hard heart might be overwhelmed with grace, that I might receive well the fire of his Love, which moves me to treasure the Eucharist.

Therefore, with the Psalmist in today’s Mass I pray:

What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.

Contribution by Brother Anthony Myers
© SACROS 2006 {www.sacros.com}
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