HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST. June 19, 2022.
SUNDAY READINGS
“No gift could have been more fitting, and no sacrifice could have been more pleasing to God than the Body and Blood of His Son. In His Body and Blood is the very life of the Church; through His sacrifice we draw strength as Christians.”
My Dearest Friends in Christ,
Today we celebrate God’s greatest gift to mankind, the gift of His Body and Blood.
Although we celebrate the institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday, the Church wants to emphasize the importance through this special feast, formerly called ‘Corpus Christi’. It was Pope Urban IV who first extended this feast to the universal Church. This is one of the few feasts left in which we observe a procession and a sung “Sequence’. On Holy Thursday Jesus gave us the gift of Himself in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist when He said at the Last Supper, “Take this. This is My Body. This is the cup of My Blood…” He never meant a representation or symbol of His Body and Blood but His very Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. The Church has through the ages interpreted and understood these Words of Christ at the Last Supper in the literal sense and has used the term “transubstantiation” to explain the change in the substance of bread and wine.
My dearest, we are privileged to be so beloved by God, to have been offered this great gift of thanksgiving to God for the work of human redemption. It is a sacrifice and sacrament of our salvation; the Bread of eternal life and the Blood of the New Covenant shed in atonement for our sins. It is the bloody sacrifice of Calvary offered in an unbloody way on the altar.
DO WE STILL DOUBT HIS REAL PRESENCE ?
Do you still doubt the real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist? Are you not convinced yet after reading about Eucharistic miracles, for instance, that of Lanciano Italy? Have you had a personal experience of Christ’s abiding Presence in the Eucharist? Today offers us another opportunity to reflect and appreciate this great gift of God’s Presence, to draw the maximum benefit from the Eucharist and to be strengthened in our faith in this Sacrament of God’s Love.
We live in a world where many do not believe in things beyond what the eyes can see. For such empirically minded persons, what is real is what can be perceived only by the senses. More so, for such faithless and narrow-minded Christians, what the priest does at the altar may appear to be a dramatization of some biblical story or past event. Misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Christ’s Words at the Last Supper has made the belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist a subject of many controversies and disagreements, in the past and the present, among many Christian denominations. Beyond these misconceptions, the Truth shines out glaringly. Personal experiences, testimonies, and miracles speak volumes of His Divine Presence in the Eucharist. However, we don’t need miracles nor proofs to believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist under the species of bread and wine. Faith believes what the eyes cannot see and what the mind cannot explain. ( okwukwe na enye ihe nke nti na anya enweghi ike inye ). So believe and have faith. Don’t remain in doubt.
This Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ must be approached with reverence and adoration. Remember to genuflect in His Presence in the tabernacle or in a chapel where He is perpetually exposed. Always be in a state of grace to receive Him, lest you bring condemnation upon yourself. ( cf. 1Cor 11:28)
We have to appreciate what we have and stop searching for what does not exist. Many Christians in our generation have lost faith. Many have taken to charms for protection. Many have entered into a covenant with the devil, performing rituals and all forms of Idolatrous practices in their search for solutions to challenging problems of life. Can you imagine someone after receiving Communion putting on charms for protection? Isn’t that ridiculous? For such a person Christ, who was just received, is not sufficiently powerful enough to protect the individual so they need the charm to augment or as a backup should Christ fail to protect then? Honestly, it is time many Christians, especially Catholics, rethink some of the idolatrous things they do that contradict their faith in the Eucharist. Dear child of God, if you still believe that God is omnipotent and that He has given us Himself as food and lives in us, why would you then fear when God is near and ever-present? We need to demonstrate our faith, no matter how little and God will do the rest for you.
Today’s first reading describes how Melchizedek the high priest, offered bread and wine and bestows God’s blessings on Abraham. Every priest is ordained to offer sacrifice to God and to bless His people, hence the meaning of the priesthood lies in the mystery of the Eucharist. Without the Eucharist there is no priesthood.
In the second reading, St. Paul recounts Christ’s Words on the night He instituted the Eucharist which transformed the bread and wine into His body and blood. We are called to continue this Sacrifice in memory of Christ.
In the Gospel which recounts the multiplication of loaves and the feeding of the five thousand, we are drawn to faith in Christ who multiplies our faith by feeding us with His Body and Blood in the Eucharist.
THEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Vatican II states that as a Sacrifice “the Holy Eucharist is the center and culmination of the Christian life.” (Lumen Gentium, 11). Why? ~Because it enables us to participate in Christ’s Sacrifice as a present reality and to benefit from the fruits of His Sacrifice in our own lives.
~Because it helps us to worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the most perfect way.
~ Because it strengthens our charity and unity with Jesus and each other in a joint offering of His Body and Blood to the Father.
~Because it gives us a lasting memorial of Christ’s Suffering, Death and Resurrection and reminds us of our obligation to make loving sacrifices for others.
The Holy Eucharist strengthens our bond of communion with each other and with God. One may ask, why is there hatred, suspicion, fighting, and quarrels among those who receive the same Body and drink of the same Cup? Why are Catholic families splitting up? Perhaps the reason could be that those who receive Christ do not dispose themselves to be influenced, directed, nor controlled by Him whom they have received. If we receive Christ in a darkened soul we will not produce good fruits. God cannot dwell in a heart filled with hatred, unforgiveness, and malice. You may receive Him still bearing grudges for someone, or still hardened in heart to forgive another, but the fruit of that reception will not be there. This does not mean that Christ ceases to be Christ or is diminished even if a serial killer receives Him. Those who receive Him in a state of mortal sin do not obtain the grace of the sacrament but receive condemnation upon themselves . We need to become what we receive– another Christ.. If you are a communicant, demonstrate by your actions that Christ lives in you. Let your actions and thoughts be pure. Be a good person and let your family and people around you experience God in you. In this way we can strengthen the bond of charity among ourselves and with God.
May God help us to have faith in Him in this most Holy Sacrament of His Love and may our receiving Him transform us and the world.
External audio homily
I keep you and your family always in my prayers. ©Clem C. Aladi (2024)
