Take This. This Is My Body

Written by BPNews Team | 03 June 2012

SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST
(White) Cycle B, Year II (June 10, 2012)
Ex 24:3-8/Heb 9:11-15/Mk 14:12-16, 22-26

Whenever we attend the Holy Mass, especially on Sundays, we usually see the Body of Christ being raised by the hands of the priests in the form of a white bread or receive and eat it when we take the Holy Communion. We may not understand it but we have to believe that in that form of bread, after the consecration of the priest, there is the presence of Jesus Christ. And not only that; that bread has already become the Body of Christ. In the same way, the wine in the chalice has also become the Blood of Christ. This is true because it was Jesus Christ who said these words: “Take it; this is my body….This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” (Mk 12:22c, 24a). If it was Jesus, the Son of God, who declared it, then it must be true. And we continue doing it because of the mandate He gave to the Apostles: “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19).

“The feast of the Blessed Sacrament was established in 1246 by Bishop Robert de Thorte of Liege at the suggestion of St. Juliana of Mont Carvillon. [It was] extended to the universal Church by Pope Urban in 1264. The office composed by St. Thomas Aquinas and customary procession was approved by Popes Martin V and Eugene IV. Celebrated in June, the first Sunday after the feast of the Trinity.” (Modern Catholic Dictionary, by John A. Hardon, S.J.) Today, we continue to celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi in all the catholic churches around the world. For us Catholics, this feast is very important because it proclaims the truth about the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

What is the significance of this solemnity to our faith? First of all, it assures us of the great love God has for us that He did not only send Jesus Christ to this earth to save us; He also has willed that Christ stay with us through the Holy Eucharist. Second, it teaches us the truth that the presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist is not simply symbolical or sacramental but also real in the sense that in that forms of bread and wine, Christ is truly and totally present both body and soul, in His humanity and divinity. Third, that since Christ, the Son of God, is present both in the Holy Mass and in the Holy Tabernacle, we always have the opportunity to visit Him and receive Him, to talk to Him and to enjoy of His presence, and to adore Him and to praise Him. Fourth, Christ’s real presence demands that we must give full respect of adoration to Him whenever there is the celebration of the Holy Mass or the veneration of the Sacred Host or whenever we pass by the Church or enter into it and see the Sacred Tabernacle. The right way of respect is to kneel down or to bow our head and bend our body in adoration. Fifth, it exhorts us to remain faithful to Jesus Christ just as He remains faithful to us by staying with us always through this Holy Eucharist.

Indeed, God has loved us so much that He has done everything so that realize and feel His loving presence in us. If we do not feel it because of our problems in life and if we do not realize it because of our wrong philosophies and beliefs, then this solemnity is an opportunity for us to prayerfully reflect on the words of Jesus Christ “Take it; this is my body….This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many”, then we will discover the truth that He does never abandon us despite of our sinfulness. Let this feast move us to be contrite and to ask pardon for our offenses especially through the Sacrament of the Confession and then respond to the love of God who has offered His vulnerability in the Holy Eucharist so that w may become strong in our daily lives.