Corpus Christi Year B I Homily Body & Blood of Christ Year B | Homily for 2nd June 2024

 

 

Father Walter J. Ciszek, a Jesuit missionary, imprisoned for more than 20 years in the Soviet Union, writes these words while reflecting on the reverence for the Mass by some prisoners in the labour camps "...sometimes, when the guards were observing us too closely and we couldn't risk saying Mass at the work site, the crusts of bread I had put in my pocket at breakfast remained there uneaten until I could get back to camp and say Mass at night… We would be severely punished if we were discovered saying Mass, and there were always informers. But the Mass to us was always worth the danger and the sacrifice; we treasured it, we looked forward to it, we would do almost anything to say or to attend a Mass."

My dear friends today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as the Feast of Corpus Christi. Before we get to the readings let us have a quick look at the history of this feast.  Having originated in France in the mid-thirteenth century, it was extended to the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264. It calls us to focus on two manifestations of the Body of Christ – the Holy Eucharist and the Church. At every Mass, our attention is called to the Eucharist and the Real Presence of Christ in it. The secondary focus is on the Body of Christ as it is present in the Church. The Church is called the Body of Christ because of the intimate communion which Jesus shares with his disciples. I have spoken about the Real Presence of Jesus and transubstantiation in my previous video the link to which you can find up here.

The readings this Sunday emphasize the Eucharist as the sign of the covenant. In the first reading, we have the narrative of the creation of the covenant between the Israelites and Yahweh. When Moses recounted the covenant demands to the Israelites, the people declared their willingness to obey. In ancient times covenants were usually sealed by blood. Therefore, Moses carried bowls filled with the blood of the animals sacrificed earlier as offerings. He splashed half on the altar, which symbolizes God. The other half he sprinkled on the Hebrew people, telling them it is through this ritual action that “the Covenant” between them and Yahweh, has been established.

You may wonder, why is blood so important? Such use of blood seems foreign to us, even objectionably gruesome. Yet we must understand that in the culture of the Israelites, blood was a symbol of life, purification and unity. In a blood covenant, the shedding of blood was a reminder that the participants were making a serious commitment that could even cost them their lives thereby implying their willingness to lay down their lives for each other. Blood was also seen as a purifying agent as it was believed to cleanse the soul and wash away sin. Therefore, the Israelites were purifying themselves by shedding blood. It was also a symbol of unity, as the participants essentially became one entity, bound together in an unbreakable bond. 

The second reading taken from Hebrews continues to emphasize the theme of the blood of Christ. The author mentions that Christ came as a high priest for the forgiveness of sins. Under the old covenant, sacrificial blood was required to sanctify almost everything. Forgiveness of sins, in particular, was dependent on the death of an animal. Having contrasted the wilderness tabernacle of old with the perfect tabernacle of Christ, the author goes on to contrast “the blood of goats and calves” with Christ’s “own blood.” Hebrews 9 explains what set Jesus’ new covenant apart from the old covenant. The sacrifice by the high priest in the earthly tabernacle on the Day of Atonement had to be repeated each year. There was a temporary quality to the high priest’s work. That wasn’t true of Christ, who “obtained eternal redemption.” Redemption involves bringing liberty to a captive, usually through the payment of a price. The New Testament presents Jesus’ death on the cross as a redemptive act for humanity – as a “ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).  Just as sacrificial animals had to be without blemish, so was Jesus without blemish – without sin.  His sacrifice on the cross needn’t be repeated since He was God’s Son – fully God and fully human – The blood He shed could cover all of humanity’s sins throughout all time. Through Jesus’ shed blood, God himself paid the deadly price for humanity breaking the covenants. The author reminds the Hebrews that this was a new Covenant, one which Jesus entered into with God and us, not with “the blood of goats and calves but with his own Blood.”

In the gospel taken from Mark, we hear the narrative of the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. Jesus replaced the Old Covenant with the New Covenant.  He replaced Moses as the God-chosen mediator, establishing the New Covenant promised through the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34), by using His own Blood rather than that of sacrificial animals. The Eucharistic celebration is a sacrifice because it is the re-presentation or re-living in an unbloody manner of Christ’s Death on Good Friday and of his Resurrection on Easter Sunday. So why do we celebrate the Eucharist some 2,000 years later?  We do this because Jesus told us to do so: “Do this in memory of me.” (Lk 22:19)

The Eucharist also teaches us the importance of community. John Chrysostom says: “What is the Bread actually? The Body of Christ. What do communicants become? The Body of Christ. Just as the bread comes from many grains, which remain themselves and are not distinguished from one another because they are united, so we are united with Christ.”  Such a union effectively means that our outward piety towards the consecrated Bread and Wine cannot coexist with rudeness, unkindness, slander, cruelty, gossiping or any other breach of charity toward our brothers and sisters. We become the living Jesus, present in our world. An important element in the Eucharist is that of Jesus breaking the bread. It is a distinctive sign of our faith and the place where we encounter the Lord who offers himself so that we can be reborn to new life. The breaking of bread also challenges us. We cannot share in the Eucharist if we are not ready to break ourselves for others. We cannot share that Bread unless we share the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in need.

In the Most Holy Eucharist, we truly receive Jesus – his Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity – nourishing us for those lonely moments that are so often part of our human experience, and reassuring us that God is always present in our lives. Thus, when we receive the sacrament of communion, we are reminded that our relationship with God is based on God’s own sacrificial love, not on anything we have done or will do. I pray that each one of us may grow deeper in love for the Eucharist just like Fr. Walter Ciszek and his companions in the labour camps in Russia. May God bless us all.