Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as the Feast of Corpus Christi. On this occasion, and as I reflect on the significance of the great gift of the Eucharist, I can’t help but to recall the words of the revered prayer “O Sacrum Convivium,” composed nearly eight hundred years ago by the renowned Dominican friar and theologian, Saint Thomas Aquinas. In part, the prayer reads: “O Holy Banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of his passion is recalled, the soul is filled with grace, and the promise of future glory is given to us . . . he has given us bread from heaven, containing in itself all delight.”
These words give us a wonderfully concise perspective into what we believe and celebrate on this Feast of Corpus Christi. As I study and reflect on Aquinas’ prayer, I am compelled to think about all of the events that our community of faith recalls during the annual observance of the Easter Triduum: On Holy Thursday, Good Friday and concluding with the beginning of the Great Easter Vigil, we remember the “Last Supper,” the passion, the sacrifice, the death, the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus! During our Masses and prayers during those days, we remember that Jesus offered his very life for us, that he gave us the gift of the Eucharist, that by his death on the Holy Cross he became for us a “perfect sin offering” (one that never needs to be repeated, unlike those offered by the priests of the Old Testament days), that he was completely victorious over sin and death, and that he rose to new life and now and forever shares the fullness of God’s life with each one of us.
These themes, so vividly presented to us during the Easter Triduum, and summarized so precisely by St. Thomas Aquinas, are realities at the very heart of our understanding of the great gift of the Holy Eucharist. We recall these ideas of our faith each time we gather around Table of the Lord (the altar) in order to celebrate the Mass and to share and receive the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ!
In today’s Gospel we hear the following narrative: “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, ‘Take it; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many’” (see Mark 14:22-24). Today, and each time we gather as a people of faith for the Lord’s Supper, the celebration of the Mass, we rejoice when we hear these same words of Jesus again. He says to us: “Take my body and blood . . . poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins . . . do this in memory of me” (cf. Luke 22:19 and 1st Corinthians 11:24-25).
Today, and each time we rejoice in the great gift of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, may we never forget what we believe and what we truly receive: Our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who suffered and died for us in order to give us the fullness of grace and the promise of a future and glorious life forever with the Father in heaven; a God who loves us more than we can ever possibly imagine!
Today therefore, may we also recall the concluding words of the O Sacrum Convivium of St. Thomas Aquinas, and let us pray: “Lord, Jesus Christ, you gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of your suffering and death. May our worship of this sacrament of your body and blood help us to experience the salvation you won for us and the peace of the Kingdom where you live and reign forever and ever. Amen”
Praise God! Friar Timothy
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