6/14 - Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Dear Parish Family,  
  
 Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist during the Last Supper as a Sacramental banquet and a sacrificial offering.  As a Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist is an outward sign in and through which we meet Jesus who shares his life of grace with us.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us, “In the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood, together with the soul and Divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ, is truly, really, and substantially contained” (CCC #1374). In this Sacrament of the Eucharist, we do meet Jesus, the Risen Lord who comes to us under signs of Bread and Wine to nourish and strengthen us for our journey through life.  The Eucharistic Meal is a great mystery because during the Eucharistic celebration, the substance of bread and wine are converted into the substance of the risen Jesus’ Body and Blood, while their appearances remain.  We believe in this transformation of bread and wine (called Transubstantiation), because Jesus unequivocally taught it and authorized his apostles to repeat it. As a Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist imparts to us Jesus’ abiding presence in our souls.  The Eucharist is the Sacrament of our union with Jesus.  In this Sacrament, Jesus gives us his own Body, broken for us on the cross and his precious Blood poured out for us, in order that our sins may be forgiven. The Eucharistic celebration is also 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. By means of signs, symbols, and prayers, we share in Christ’s passion, death, and Resurrection made really present for us in an ‘unbloody’ manner. This re-presenting, this re-living, of the One Sacrifice of Christ, which is the heart and point of every Mass, assures us of Jesus’ love for us and of his forgiveness of our sins.  Through this sacrifice, the risen Jesus becomes present on the altar, offering himself to the Father through the ministry of the priest and thus is the best prayer and worship. So the Holy Eucharist is NOT just a fellowship event that remembers the past.

Just as numerous grains of wheat are pounded together to make the host, and many grapes are crushed together to make the wine, so we become unified in this sacrifice. Our Lord chose these elements in order to show us that we ought to seek union with one another, to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into Our Lord Jesus Christ and to work with Him in the process.  Christ is the Head and we are the Body.  Together we are one.  That which unites us is our willingness to sacrifice our time, talents, and treasure as needed to God in our fellow members in Christ’s Mystical Body.  This is symbolized by our sharing in the same Bread and the same Cup.  The gifts of bread and wine are brought up at offertory from the people and the priest says the prayer … “through your goodness we have this bread/wine fruit of the earth and work of human hands …”

By receiving Holy Communion we become Christ-bearers as Mary was, with the duty of conveying Christ to others at home and in the workplace, as love, mercy, forgiveness and humble and sacrificial service. As we celebrate this great feast of Faith, let us worship what St. Thomas Aquinas did not hesitate to call, “the greatest miracle that Christ ever worked on earth … My Body … My Blood“.