Exodus 24:3-8 Hebrews 9:11-15 Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the feast those of us of a certain age remember as Corpus Christi. I remember other things, too. Since the feast occurs near the time of parish First Communion celebrations, I remember how as a second grader I was able to once again don my first communion dress and participate in the Corpus Christi procession. In those days the communion fast was from midnight. Each year the combination of no breakfast and a lot of incense proved too much for some of the procession participants.
But despite the drawbacks, the bells and smells of my Catholic childhood left no doubt in my mind that in the Blessed Sacrament Jesus was really present, body and blood, soul and divinity.
I still believe that. But as a child that article of faith required mostly reverence, quiet, genuflection. The point was that bread and wine became Jesus.
It's been many many years since my first communion. Now when I receive the Eucharist, the Body of Christ broken and shared, the Blood of Christ poured out, I hear Jesus say to me, “therefore…” “Therefore, be broken and shared, be poured out, be food for a hungry world. “ The point… is for you to become me!
Adoration is an appropriate response to the tremendous gift of the Eucharist. But it is only the beginning. If I believe that Jesus has invited me to eat his body and drink his blood, then he has also invited me to share his life. To feed the hungry. To comfort the sorrowful. To free the prisoner… and people are imprisoned in many, many ways… addiction, poverty, violence, ignorance, powerlessness.
In those quiet moments after communion, when we are invited to silent prayer, ask Jesus how you may be his body and blood for others. It is the best way we can demonstrate our belief in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist we share.
by: Pat Schnee
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