Solemnity of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Readings: Gen. 14:18-20; Ps. 110:1, 2, 3, 4; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; Lk. 9:11-17 (12th Sunday in Ordinary Time).

Some Notes on Corpus Christi

On Holy Thursday, we celebrated the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Today we celebrate the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, highlighted by a solemn Corpus Christi procession.

In 1263, the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena took place. A German priest, Peter of Prague, on a pilgrimage to Rome, stopped at Bolsena, near Orvieto. He was doubtful about the real presence of Christ. Hardly had he finished the words of Consecration at Holy Mass when blood started to seep from the consecrated Host and trickle over his hands onto the altar and the white corporal.

After a thorough investigation, Pope Urban IV approved the authenticity of the priest’s account and had the Sacred Host and the linen corporal bearing the stains of blood enshrined in the Cathedral of Orvieto.

In 1264, a year after the miracle of Bolsena, Pope Urban IV instituted the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on the Thursday after Pentecost as a feast for the entire Church. In the Philippines, the Feast has been transferred to the following Sunday, this year on 22 June.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote several Eucharistic poems/songs, namely, “Lauda Sion Salvatorem” (the Sequence of the Feast) and “Pange Lingua.” The hymn “Tantum Ergo” is from the last two verses of “Pange Lingua.” And the hymn “O Salutaris Hostia” is from the last two verses of “Lauda Sion Salvatorem.”

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.... It is a presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself present’” (CCC, 1374). The Feast affirms the doctrine of substantiation, the changing of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ’s body and blood.

1st Reading, Gen. 14:18-20 — After the victories of Abram over five kings, Melchizedek, “a priest of the Most High,” and King of Salem (Jerusalem), meets Abram. Melchizedek brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hands” (vv. 18-20). Abram acknowledges Melchizedek’s blessing and gives him a 10th of the spoils of war as a tithe. Heb 7 interprets Melchizedek as a prefiguration of Christ.

Resp. Ps. 110:1, 2, 3, 4 — The Lord says to my lord, the king: “Sit at my right hand, while I make your enemies my footstool” (v. 1). The Lord will extend your “scepter from Zion and have dominion over your enemies” (v. 3). The Lord makes him king from birth and appoints him: “You are a priest forever in the manner of Melchizedek” (v. 4).

2nd Reading, 1 Cor. 11:23-26 — Paul narrates the institution of the Eucharist, a tradition that he hands to the Corinthians. On the night that he was handed over, the Lord Jesus “took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes” (v. 26).

Paul’s narrative emphasizes Christ’s self-giving and His double command to repeat His action. Antedating the writing of the Gospels, Paul’s narrative is the earliest written account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper.

Gospel, Lk. 9:11-17 — The Multiplication of the Loaves. At Bethsaida, Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God and healed the sick (v. 11). Proclaiming the Kingdom and healing summarize Jesus’s Galilean ministry. As the day drew to a close, his disciples asked him to dismiss the crowd and look for lodging and food (v. 12). He told them to give the people food. But they said that they had only five loaves and two fish (v. 13). Still, he told them to have the crowds, 5,000 in number, not counting women and children, to sit in groups of 50 (v. 14).

“Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd” (v. 16).

“They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftovers were picked up, they filled 12 wicker baskets” (v. 17).

This stupendous miracle is the only miracle recorded by all the Four Evangelists. The actions of Jesus recall the institution of the Eucharist. “Blessed, broke, gave:” these words match almost verbatim those in the Lucan account of the institution of the Eucharist (Lk. 22:19). Of all the Evangelists, Luke immediately links the Eucharist with the Passion and the conditions of discipleship (Lk. 9:18-27). To celebrate the Eucharist is to go on a mission involving the Cross and discipleship.

Prayer — O God, in this wonderful sacrament, you left a memorial of your Passion. Grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood, that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. This we ask, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Prayers, best wishes, God bless!