May the Lord give your peace and health in the Holy Spirit.
It is 02nd June 2024. How sincere and serious are we in believing in the Most Holy Eucharist? Are we reflecting or deflecting the Eucharist?
We celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus Christi. Wishing you all a happy feast to you.
We reflect from Exodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; and the Gospel from Mark 14:12-16, 22-26.
Having celebrated the Most Holy Trinity last week, we are invited to celebrate Corpus Christ. The basic and foundational teaching of the Church. It is the feast of fidelity and love of God to humanity. The liturgy today focuses on the Blood of Christ that saves from sins.
The first reading teaches us that we are sealed in the covenantal blood. In the second reading, we are reminded that our conscience is purified by the blood of Jesus and so there is no need for the sacrifice of animals’ blood. In the Gospel, Jesus wishes to celebrate the Passover Meal with his apostles.
God nourishes humanity out of love and mercy through the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ. The most contentious mystery that brought so many near the Church and the Lord Himself as well as to leave the Lord and the Church. St. Augustine beautifully describes, “It is your mystery, the mystery of your life that has been placed on the Altar.”
The validity and the presence of Christ in that tiny wheat host and wine are debated and discussed in length everywhere.
Eucharist is the Gift from God. When people found it hard to continue their journey to the promised land, God provided manna.
A sustaining gift for the integral growth and maturity in relating with God. God entered the life of people through an ordinary food and left a remarkable presence among God’s people. God lives in us, and we transform into what we consume. As God did, so Jesus fed the people who came to listen to Him.
It is the day of thanksgiving to the Lord for having allowed us to experience the Heavenly food in the form of Body and Blood of God’s Only Beloved Son.
Jesus promises us all that He is with us through His Word, and the Sacraments. The tangible reality of every believer is to believe in the assured and promised Presence of Christ in the most Holy Eucharist. It is so consoling, rewarding, enriching, enabling, and encountering Christ in a personal way. The light of Christ shines in our entire body as we consume the Body and Blood of Christ.
St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta summarizes so profoundly in the following way: “Christ changed himself into bread of life. Changing himself into bread, he became totally at our disposal so that having been fed by Him, we would feel the strength necessary to give ourselves to others.”
Our participation in the Eucharist inspires us to be there for the people especially those who are hungry, lonely, thirsty, homeless and the vulnerable ones in our community.
God demonstrates God’s love in action through this feast. Our responsibility to share the good news that God loves us unconditionally through this Sacrament of the Eucharist.
Eucharist is a sacrifice. We cannot replace the sacrifice, the Eucharist with praise and worship, charismatic healing and preaching, pious things we do. Many of us are not attending the Eucharist believing that I attended the adoration, rosary, and other pious actions. None can replace God and we cannot have this sacrifice in our homes by ourselves.
To be thankful to God means to remember and celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus daily. Being grateful to God for the sacrifice God’s only Son Jesus offered is the essential worship of each believer. This sacrifice of Jesus changes us inwardly and allow us to reach those who are in need outwardly. The one sacrifice of Jesus forgives us from all our sins. Jesus replaces the old covenant with the New; Jewish Passover is transformed into Eucharistic celebration.
Eucharist is the Proof of loving relationship with God, and privilege for the people of covenant.
By giving us to taste and experience the Body and Blood of Christ, Jesus makes us to be united with Him.
To be forgiven and healed and feel loved, we all need to experience the Body and Blood of Christ. May the Lord bless you on this feast day.