Posted on 06/17/2017 4:48:51 PM PDT by Salvation
When Jesus had given instructions sending two of his disciples into Jerusalem where they would find an upper room in which he would institute the Eucharist, "The disciples went out and came to the city, and found everything just as he had told them" (Mark 14:16).
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Similarly, the liturgical cycle follows a pattern based on this economy that was planned and predicted by God. Ten days after the celebration of the Ascension, the Church celebrates her birth in the flames and wind of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. And then comes Trinity Sunday. We can only know that God is Three in One and One in Three — three distinct Persons with one and the same divine Nature, after the Holy Spirit enlightens the Church. "But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into the whole truth" (John 16:13).
Now the Church celebrates the mystery of the Holy Eucharist with the special feast of Corpus Christi. The feast is liturgically celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday or, as the rubrics direct: "where the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is not a holy day of obligation, it is assigned to the Sunday after the Most Holy Trinity as its proper day."
We see that, just as the liturgical feasts follow a pattern, so too is the Eucharistic liturgy structured in a deliberate way. Usually, the opening prayer addresses the almighty and eternal God precisely by that title, as he revealed himself to the chosen people, identifying himself to Moses as the "I AM." The Holy Spirit is invoked over the gifts of Bread and Wine, and these are then discerned by the agency of the same Holy Spirit as Christ's true Body and Blood. Then, the inspired faithful are able to pray to God as "Our Father who art in heaven." The title "God" is now replaced by the intimate identity he has revealed. "Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father'" (Galatians 4:6; cf. Romans 8:15). As Pope Francis recently said, ". . . the Eucharist is like the 'burning bush' in which the Trinity humbly dwells and communicates itself: this is why the Church has placed the feast of the Body of the Lord after that of the Trinity." So the Eucharist encounters the inner mystery of the I AM as the Triune God.
I recently was at the deathbed of a friend who spent time in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp, and for the rest of his life he thanked the Holy Trinity by regularly attending Nocturnal Devotion, for nearly seventy years. While only mortal, kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, he had the inestimable privilege that all of us have, of singing with all the angels and saints: Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus. Holy, Holy, Holy.
Reprinted with permission of Father George W. Rutler.
Corpus Christi Ping!
Worship of Man.
To:
Mockery of God
From: 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (RSV)
Idolatry and the Eucharist, Incompatible
John 6:51-58 © Jerusalem Bible
My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink
Jesus said to the crowd:
‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,
for the life of the world.’
Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’
The Eucharist opens the gates of Paradise
If we were able to understand thoroughly all the blessings contained in holy communion, nothing more would be needed to satisfy the human heart.
Our Lord said: “Anything you ask the Father in my name, he will grant it you” (Jn 16:23b). But we should never have thought of asking God for his own Son! Yet what we should never have thought of, God has done. That which man could neither utter, nor imagine nor venture to desire, God, in his great Love, has spoken, conceived and executed.
Without the divine Eucharist there should not have been any happiness in this world, life would be unbearable. When we receive Holy Communion, we receive all our joy and gladness. God, wanting to give himself to us in the sacrament of his Love, has given us a desire so vast and great that he alone can satisfy it… Beside this beautiful sacrament we are like someone dying of thirst beside a river, yet it has only to bend its head!... Like someone who remains poor beside a treasure, it has only to hold out its hand!
If we were able to understand thoroughly all the blessings contained in Holy Communion, nothing more would be needed to satisfy the human heart.
In many places this Sunday, the (moved) Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Our Lord is celebrated.
While you may puzzle over my title for today’s blog, allow me to delay the explanation to a bit later. On a solemn feast like this, many things might be preached and taught. Let’s look at three areas for reflection: the Reality of the Eucharist, the Requirement of the Eucharist, and the Remembrance of the Eucharist.
I. The Reality of the Eucharist – On this solemn feast we are called above all to faith in the fact (as revealed by the Lord Himself) that the Eucharist, the Holy Communion, is in fact a reception of the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, whole and entire, in His glorified state. We do not partake of a symbol. The Eucharist is not a metaphor; it is truly the Lord. Neither is it a “piece” of His flesh. It is Christ, whole and entire. Scripture attests to this in many places:
Luke 22:19-20 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
1 Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a partaking in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a partaking in the body of Christ?
Luke 24:35 They recognized him in the breaking of the bread.
1 Cor 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
John 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.
This last quote is from the Gospel for today’s feast. The passage is a profound theology of the Eucharist from Jesus Himself. He makes it clear that we are not permitted to think of the Eucharist as a symbol or in metaphorical terms.
When Jesus referred to the bread as His flesh, the Jewish people hearing Him grumbled in protest. Jesus did not seek to reassure them or to insist that He was speaking only symbolically. Rather, He became even more adamant by shifting His vocabulary from the polite form of eating, φάγητε (phagete – meaning simply “to eat”) to the impolite form, τρώγων (trogon – meaning “to munch, gnaw, or chew”).
So insistent was He that they grasp this that He permitted many to leave Him that day, knowing that they would no longer follow in His company due to this very teaching (cf Jn 6:66). Yes, the Lord paid quite a price for this graphic and “hard” teaching (Jn 6:60).
Today He asks us, Do you also want to leave me? (Jn 6:67) We must supply our answer each time we approach the altar and hear, “The Body of Christ.” It is here that we answer the Lord, “Amen,” as if to say, “Lord, to whom shall we go, you have the word of eternal life!” (Jn 6:68)
If only everyone would grasp that the Lord Himself is truly present in our churches! Were that so, one could never empty our parishes of those seeking to pray with the Lord. As it is, though, only 27 percent come to Mass regularly. This is more evidence of the narrow road and how few there are who find it. Just as most left Jesus then, many continue to leave Him now or stand far away through indifference or false notions.
What father would not be severely alarmed if one of his children stopped eating? Consider, then, God’s alarm that many of us have stopped eating.
II. The Requirement of the Eucharist – When I was a young boy I thought of going to Mass and receiving Communion as just something my mother made me do; it was just rituals and stuff. I never thought of it as essential for my survival. But in John’s Gospel today, Jesus teaches something very profound about Holy Communion (the Eucharist). In effect, He says that without Holy Communion we will starve and die spiritually.
Here is what Jesus says: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you (John 6:53).
As a kid and even a young adult I never thought of Holy Communion as essential for my life, as something that, if not received regularly, would cause me to die spiritually. But it makes sense doesn’t it? If we don’t eat food in our physical lives, we grow weak and eventually die. It is the same with Holy Communion.
Remember this from the Book of Exodus: the people were without food in the desert and they feared for their lives, so God gave them bread from heaven, “manna,” and they collected it each morning. Without eating that bread from Heaven they would never have made it to the Promised Land; they would have died in the desert.
It is the same with us. Without receiving Jesus, our living manna from Heaven, in Holy Communion, we will not make it to our Promised Land of Heaven! I guess it’s not just a ritual after all. It is essential for our survival.
Don’t miss Holy Communion; Jesus urges you to eat.
A mother and father in my parish recently noticed that their daughter wasn’t eating enough. Within a very short time they took her to the doctor, who was able to cure the problem; now the young girl is eating again. Those parents would have moved Heaven and earth to make sure that their daughter was able to eat.
It is the same with God. Jesus urges us to eat, to receive the Holy Communion, every Sunday without fail. Jesus urges us with this word: “Unless!” Holy Communion is our required food.
III. The Remembrance of the Eucharist – The word remembrance comes up a lot in reference to Holy Communion. Consider the following passages from Scripture:
Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert … and then fed you with manna (Deut 8).
Do not forget the LORD, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt (Deut 8:24).
Do this in remembrance of me (1 Cor 11:24, inter al).
What is remembrance and why is it important? In effect, to “remember” is to have present in your mind what God has done for you so that you’re grateful and different. God has saved us, made us His children, and opened Heaven for us. Yet our minds are very weak and too easily we let this slip from our conscious thoughts. Thus, the summons to an ἀνάμνησιν (anamnesin) or “remembrance” that is so common in the Eucharistic liturgy is a summons to our minds to be open to and powerfully aware of what the Lord has done for us. Don’t just stand or kneel there, forgetting; let this be present to you as a living and conscious reality that transforms you!
Are you a mouse or a man? Now to address the puzzling question I posed in my title. Back in my seminary days we were given the example of a mouse who scurries across the altar, takes a consecrated host, runs off, and eats it. We were then asked, “Does the mouse eat the Body of Christ?” The answer is yes! The Eucharist has a reality unto itself. “Does the mouse receive a sacrament?” No, because a mouse has no rational mind. It eats the very Body of Christ, but to no avail, for it has no conscious awareness or appreciation of what (whom) it is eating. So then the question for you is this: “Are you a mouse or a man?”
How do you receive Holy Communion? Do you mindlessly shuffle along in the Communion line in a mechanistic way or do you go up powerfully aware of Him whom you are about to receive? Do you remember? Do you have vividly present in your mind what the Lord has done for you? Are you grateful and amazed at what He has done and what He offers? Or are you just like a mouse, mindlessly receiving something that has been put into your mouth?
Some people put more faith in Tylenol than they do in the Eucharist. Why? Because when they take Tylenol they actually expect something to happen! They expect the pain to go away, for there to be relief and healing. But when it comes to Holy Communion, they expect next to nothing. To them, it’s just a ritual. Hey, it’s time to go up and get the wafer (pardon the expression) now.
Really? How can this be? Poor catechesis? Sure. Little faith? Sure. Boredom? Yes, indeed. On some level it can be no better than a mouse eating a host. We are receiving the Lord of all creation, yet most expect little.
To this the Church says, “Remember! Have present in your mind all that the Lord has done is about to do for you. Let the reality of His presence be alive in your mind so that it changes you and makes you profoundly grateful and joyful. Become the One whom you receive!”
Jesus is more powerful than Tylenol, and we are men (and women), not mice.
On this Solemnity of the Body of Christ, we are summoned to deepen our faith in the Lord, present in the Eucharist and acting through His Sacraments. Routine may have dulling effects, but we cannot let it be such that we receive the Lord of glory each Sunday in any way that would be called mindless.
Ask the Lord to anoint your mind so that you remember and never forget.
There is a book entitled “Eucharistic Miracles” by Joan Carroll Cruz that reports some of the Eucharistic Miracles over the centuries.
Very interesting reading, one story in Regensburg, Germany in 1257, “a priest offering Mass wondered about the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist when suddenly one of the hands of Christ detached itself from the crucifix and removed the chalice from his hands. With shock and fear, he stepped backward, gazed intently at the miracle, and fervently repented of his doubt. It was only then that the chalice was restored to him.”
“It is the same with us. Without receiving Jesus, our living manna from Heaven, in Holy Communion, we will not make it to our Promised Land of Heaven! I guess it’s not just a ritual after all. It is essential for our survival.”
I asked our Pastor “How are registered parish Catholics going to Heaven if only 22% (30% at our parish) attend Mass regularly?” He replied that he would address this in a future homily.
The mission of the Catholic church is to lead everyone to Heaven, perhaps we are achieving only a 20% success rate and we could do better.
I’ve seen the poster of that miracle. Have you had someone display all the posters of Eucharistic Miracles in your diocese?
They are wonderful.
I haven’t seen any posters. Only the drawings in the book.
I am not aware of any in the diocese of Milwaukee.
Thanks. I will keep my eyes open.
The posters are replicas of the pages in the book.
We have an outstanding display of them on the first Sunday of October for our Rosary Bowl.
The Body of Christ
God’s Solidarity Never Ceases to Amaze Us (Pope Francis on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi)
The Blessed Sacrament: It's either All or nothing
WDTPRS: Corpus Christi – I affirm my subjugation to Christ vanquisher of hell and my sins.
On Corpus Christi, The Sacred Teaches
Pope celebrates feast of Corpus Domini
The Mystic, the Doubter, the Pope and the Dumb Ox: The Fascinating Origins of Corpus Christi
The Early Christians Believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
Best Ever Homily on The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Corpus Christi: The Body and Blood of Christ (Procession) [Catholic Caucus]
Corpus Christi (by St. Peter Julian Eymard)
Beginning Catholic: The Eucharist: In the Presence of the Lord Himself [Ecumenical]
Christ the Miracle Worker in the Eucharist(Catholic Caucus)
St. Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures - Lecture XXII on the Body and blood of Christ
Transubstantiation—Hard to Believe? [open]
On Daily Bread [OPEN]
The Meal of Melchizedek (what is meant by Christ’s words, "This is my body; this is my blood")
The Eucharist: The Lord's Supper
Pope Benedict--Jesus' Incarnation and Presence in the Eucharist confounds the wisdom of men
Corpus Christi Quiz
Pope leads Corpus Christi observance
This is My Body, This is My Blood
Feast of Corpus Christi - Sacrifice, Fellowship Meal or Real Presence?
The Eucharist and the Mystery of Fatherly Love
The Consecrated Host truly is the Bread of Heaven
Corpus Christi Around the World
Corpus Christi
HOMILIES PREACHED BY FATHER ALTIER ON CORPUS CHRISTI SUNDAY FROM 2001-2005
Back to the Future: Reviving Corpus Christi Processions
Homily of Pope Benedict XVI for the Feast of Corpus Christi
The Banquet of Corpus Christi - "Why did Jesus give us His Body and Blood?"
A Reflection on Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi celebrations in Poland (gallery)
Pope Leads Corpus Christi Procession - "We Entrust These Streets to His Goodness"
Day 37 of Pope Benedict XV's Reign - Feast of Corpus Christi
Thanks for update. Is this part of the Vatican Exhibition?
I did an internet search and found the Vatican Collection.http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/engl_mir.htm
Catalogue Book of the Vatican International Exhibition
with a Foreword by
The (Most Rev.) Raymond Leo Burke, D.D., J.C.D.
Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
Former Archbishop of Saint Louis
This lists the miracles by country. It also has articles with specific saints. I didn’t know that St. Thomas Aquinas was visited by Jesus who confirmed that his writings on the Eucharist were true.
“Father
Reginaldo, his secretary, and other brethren were
fortunate enough to observe St. Thomas while in
deep prayer, when suddenly Christ appeared and
motioned towards his writings and said: “You wrote
well about the sacrament of my Body and you wrote
well and according to truth; you also have resolved
the question that was posed to you. This understanding
of the Truth defines and holds true, as long as man is
present on earth.” Having heard this, Thomas was
filled with joy and thanksgiving, and prostrated himself
and knelt down at the altar in front of our Lord.”
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