June 26: Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Scripture readings: 

• Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16
• Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20
• 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
• John 6:51-58 

Theme:  
The solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (or Corpus Christi), was formally established by Pope Urban IV in 1264. It produced two of the most beautiful hymns in the Catholic repertoire: “Tantum Ergo Sacramentum” (“Down in Adoration Falling”) and “Pange Lingua” (“Of the Glorious Body Telling”).

It’s one of two major feasts that focus on the Eucharist, the other being Holy Thursday. Corpus Christi differs from Holy Thursday in that the latter commemorates the institution of the Eucharist and is associated with Christ’s passion. Corpus Christi follows Easter, the Ascension and Pentecost and is thus associated with the risen and ascended Lord who leads his Church to heaven.

The first reading recalls the Exodus and how God provided manna from heaven and water from the rock to sustain the Israelites in the desert as he led them to the Promised Land. These two miracles represent the two great Christian sacraments: baptism and Eucharist.

The second reading is from Paul’s first letter to Corinth. The Church was troubled by conflict and disorder. Even the Lord’s Supper had become a source of division (1 Cor 11:18-21). St. Paul explains that the Eucharist is an actual participation in Christ: a participation that’s meant to unite the Church, not divide it. 

If the first reading stressed the “vertical” or transcendent dimension of the sacraments, the second reading brings out the “horizontal” or corporate dimension in which the Eucharist binds us together as one body. 

In this week’s Gospel from the bread of life discourse, Jesus draws a connection between his own flesh and blood, and the manna his ancestors ate. The latter provided only temporary sustenance, while Jesus’ “flesh” is the “living bread of heaven” by which one can live forever.

Those who heard Jesus were extremely disturbed by his use of the word “flesh.” But “flesh” doesn’t refer to the raw meat of a corpse. It signifies the full-blooded, incarnate reality of a living person. The Eucharist is not a symbol; it is an actual participation in Christ who is alive.

Key verse:
“The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51).

Catechism of the Catholic Church:
“It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love” (No. 1380).

Pope Benedict XVI:
“If it is true that the sacraments are part of the Church's pilgrimage through history towards the full manifestation of the victory of the risen Christ, it is also true that, especially in the liturgy of the Eucharist, they give us a real foretaste of the eschatological fulfillment for which every human being and all creation are destined (Rom 8:19ff)” (“Sacramentum Caritatis,” 30).

Life application:
The Eucharist nourishes us with spiritual food for our earthly pilgrimage. It also makes us hunger for eternal life by giving us a foretaste of the “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev 19:9). When a faithful Catholic nears death a priest will administer the final Eucharist called “viaticum,” which means “provision for the journey.” In a sense, every Eucharist is a kind of viaticum because in it Christ refreshes us with himself and our soul is strengthened for life’s journey.

James Cavanagh is director of Evangelization and Catechesis for Metro-area Parishes of the Denver Archdiocese. Cavanagh’s column is distributed by the Denver Catholic Register.