For 700 years and more, the Church has celebrated with great joy the Feast of Corpus Christi, the great gift of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, given to us at the Last Supper.
I am the living bread from heaven…whoever eats this bread will live forever…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I w ll raise him up on the last day…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” John 6:48
THIS IS THE BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN
JESUS INSTITUTES THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST AT THE LAST SUPPER
CATECHISM OF THR CATHOLIC CHURCH *1323 “At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again. Jesus entrusted his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity…
1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: “The victim is one and the same…the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner . . .
Note “unbloody manner” means the “accidents” remain. Accidents are those things that appeal to our senses, touch, sight, taste,etc. The “substance” of the Eucharist is changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus and remains in “real presence” as long as the “accidents” remain. This is why the Blessed Sacrament may be reserved in the tabernacle for adoration and sick calls.
BACKGROUND
The feast of Corpus Christi was established on September 8, 1264 by Pope Urban IV as a universal feast of the Church, to be celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday. Today in the United States the feast is celebrated on following Sunday.
For centuries after the celebration was extended to the universal Church by Pope Urban IV, the feast was celebrated with a Eucharistic procession. The faithful would venerate the Body of Christ as the procession passed by. In recent years, this practice has almost disappeared, though some parishes still hold a brief procession around the outside of the parish church
.REFLECTION
I am the living bread from heaven…whoever eats this bread will live forever…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day…whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” John 6:48
Just as we need to nourish our physical bodies in order to have strength to work; and to live well, so too we need to nourish our souls to have spiritual strength, to live well now and for eternity. Nourished by this heavenly food we carry on the work of Christ and His Church.
If we want to have a closer friendship with Jesus. The best place to meet Jesus is in the Eucharist. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. John 6:56.
When we receive the Eucharist in Holy Communion, the Priest says, “the Body of Christ” and we say “Amen.” Our “Amen” means we recognize and acknowledge the real presence, body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. Jesus is present in the Blessed Sacrament, in all the tabernacles of the world. Yes, in our parish. He awaits us. Let us go to meet him in adoration.
TAKE AND RECEIVE,
THIS IS MY BODY, THIS IS MY BLOOD
O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine,
All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.