Corpus Christi - Year A
This annual feast offers an ideal time to reaffirm the church’s belief that the bread and wine are truly changed into the body and blood of the Lord. There should be no question that this is the faith of the church. The challenge is putting that doctrine in the proper context. There is always a danger that in emphasizing one tenet of the faith, other important beliefs are overshadowed. The result can be a distortion of the faith tradition rather than a strengthening of it.
With regard to belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the form of His body and blood, there are two major contexts that need to be maintained. The first is that He offers us His body and blood precisely as food and drink. His presence is not for its own sake so that we might adore the host or view Him as a prisoner in the tabernacle. He is present in the body and blood to feed and nourish us and to transform us more fully into His body in the world.
The second essential context is the various ways that Christ is present in the Eucharist. He is present not only in the bread and wine but also in the assembly, in the presider, and in the word proclaimed. These other forms of His presence are not in competition with His presence in the Eucharistic species, but work with that presence to enable us to encounter the Lord throughout the celebration of the liturgy and to be transformed more fully into His likeness.
Today let us concentrate on the richness of our Eucharistic tradition. Let us take pains to see the connections between the various modes of Christ’s presence and recognize the true purpose of the Eucharist as our own transformation. Once this is fulfilled, the goal of liturgical formation is achieved. Let us ask ourselves the following questions: (1) What is my experience when I say “I adore you Lord!” (2) Does that adoring attitude take its origin from the transformation I underwent and the satisfaction I got feeding on the body and blood of the Lord?
ONE BREAD, ONE BODY..
The Scriptures today remind us that “we, many though we are, are one body for we all partake of the one loaf.” How are we using our gifts of time and talent to build up the Body of Christ?
CORPUS CHRISTI
This feast of Corpus Christi is celebrated after Trinity Sunday to solemnly commemorate the institution of the Holy Eucharist. This feast was originally celebrated on Maundy Thursday. This day, however, was in Holy Week, a week of sadness, during which the minds of the faithful are expected to be occupied with thoughts of the Lord's Passion. In Canada and the United States this is celebrated on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday. In some other countries it’s celebrated on the Thurs. after Trinity Sunday.
Prayer of
St. Thomas Aquinas
Almighty and everlasting God, behold I come to the sacrament of Thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: I come as one sick to the physician of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the light of eternal brightness, poor and in need of the Lord of heaven and of earth.
Therefore, I beseech the abundance of Thine infinite bounty that Thou wouldst vouchsafe to heal my weakness, wash my uncleanness, give light to my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness, so that I may receive the Bread of Angels, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords with such reverence and humility, such contrition and devotion, such purity and faith, such purpose and intention, as shall aid my soul's salvation. Grant unto me, I beseech Thee, not only to receive the sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord, but also its full reality and power.
O most merciful God, grant me so to receive the Body of Thine only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, which He took from the Virgin Mary, that I may merit to be incorporated into His mystical Body and to be numbered among His members.
O most loving Father, give unto me to behold for all eternity face to face Thine own beloved Son, whom now upon my pilgrimage I purpose to receive under a veil, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. AMEN.
