RECEIVING THE BODY OF CHRIST WITH THANKSGIVING

SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI - Genesis 14:18-20

The feast of Corpus Christi (the body of Christ) is a feast of the Eucharist, and the Eucharist is a celebration that takes place very Sunday, as the centre of the assembly of disciples in the day of the Lord. In fact, there should not be any need of a special feast of the Eucharist, because time and again we are invited to seat at the table of the Lord to eat the special food that he offers us - the bread of life, that is his own body, through which we receive life. The fact that such a feast exists reminds us of the times when the Eucharist lost its centrality in the life of the Church and it manifests the need of continually turning our minds and our hearts to this great gift of love: Jesus offers himself as the food that gives us the strength to walk with him towards the Father’s house.

In the first reading, the Church puts forward the figure of Melchizedek, who became a mythical figure symbolising Christ. We know only three things about him: he was king, he was a priest of God Most High and he offered a sacrifice of bread and wine. In the New Testament, Jesus is proclaimed priest in the manner of Melchizedek. He was not a priest according to the order of Aaron, since he did not come from a priestly family; but like Melchizedek, Jesus Christ is King and Priest, and he is so for ever. The sacrifice of bread and wine offered by Melchizedek is a prophecy of the Eucharist, in which we offer bread and wine, carrying out the commandment left us by Jesus Christ: Do this in memory of me. Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, we obey Jesus commandment, and together with him we offer the only sacrifice pleasing to God, Jesus Christ himself. Like Melchizedek, Christ is King and Priest, but he is at the same time the victim, that is the sacrifice. The bread and wine of the Eucharist are not food for the body; instead, they are the body and blood of Christ who offered himself in sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. The Eucharist is always the remembrance of the death of Christ and the celebration of his resurrection. Eating his body and drinking his blood - the body of the Risen Lord - we become one body with him, and present ourselves as a sacrifice that is pleasing to God. Paul reminds us of this connection of the Eucharist with the sacrifice of the cross: “every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.” (1 Co 11:26).

There are some people who consider the Mass (Eucharist) as an invention of the Catholic Church, but Paul makes it clear that he received it from the Lord and then passed it on. The Eucharist is not a tradition of the Church, initiated to uphold human interests; on the contrary, it is a gift which we have received from Jesus Christ, in which he gives himself to us.

In Portugal, we celebrate this feast on Thursday. And I had the opportunity to participate in this year’s celebration in Evora. The Bishop presided in the cathedral, and the mass was followed by a procession through the streets of the town. 

Indeed, the Lord is in our midst and walks through our streets with love and care; let us accept him and open our hearts to him.