Saturday, June 9, 2007
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” John 6: 53-55 This Sunday, Catholics celebrate Corpus Christi or the Body Christ. On this day we celebrate the one, true, and eternal gift of Christ to man- His Most precious Body.
"Man should tremble, the earth should quake, all Heaven should be deeply moved when the Son of God appears on the Altar in the hands of the priest," says St. Francis of Assisi. How many times do we take the Eucharist for granted by making unworthy communions? How many times have we forgotten Christ's presence in the Tabernacle by not genuflecting, not refraining from dressing inappropriately, etc...? "Yesterday," says St. Gemma Galgani, "on approaching the Most Blessed Sacrament, I felt myself burning and I had to withdraw. I am astounded that so many who receive Jesus are not reduced to ashes." Thus we must remember that we cannot presume to come to the Lord's table to receive Him... it is only by His grace that we are able to gather together to share in the Sacred Meal.
Jesus shows His greatest love by allowing His sacrifice to be perpetuated daily throughout all the Altars in the world. Just imagine, the Son of the Most High God is made present- in flesh- each day, at any given moment throughout the world! This great love was what made St. Padre Pio proclaim, "It would be easier for the world to exist without the sun than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass." St. John Vianney tells of the marvelous love of Jesus in the Eucharist: "The man who receives Holy Communion loses himself in God like a drop of water in the ocean; it is impossible to seperate them anymore... In these vast depths of love, there's enough to lose yourself for all eternity."
There are three elements to the instituition of this feast: - Instituted on account of the greatness of the divine mystery;
- the unbelief of those who denied the truth of this mystery;
- and the revelation made to some pious persons
Pope Urban IV, who established this feast explains, "although we daily, in the holy Sacrifice of the Mass; renew the memory of this holy Sacrament, we believe that we must, besides, solemnly commemorate it every year, to put the unbelievers to shame; and because vie have been informed that God has revealed to some pious persons that this festival should be celebrated in the whole Church, we direct that on the first Thursday after the octave of Pentecost the faithful shall assemble in church, join with the priests in singing the word of God."
The above mentioned revelations were made by our Lord to a nun at Liege, named Sr. Juliana, and to her devout friends Eve and Isabella.
Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine explains that the grand processions held on Corpus Christi "as a public profession of our holy faith that Christ is really, truly and substantially present in this Blessed Sacrament; for a public reparation of all the injuries, irreverence, and offences, which have been and are committed by impious men against Christ in this Blessed Sacrament; for the solemn veneration and adoration due to the Son of God in this Sacrament; in thanksgiving for its institution; and for all the graces and advantages received therefrom; and finally, to draw down the divine blessing upon the people and the country."
There are 'two liftings' in this world, one was the lifting of the wood of the cross where Jesus showed the depth of His love for us, the other lifting in in the monstrance, we we show the depth of our love for Jesus. St. Alphonsus Liguori teaches us that "of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us."
Never be ashamed to kneel intimatley before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament to offer Him praise and thanksgiving and "remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries" (St. Josemaria Escriva). For each time you humble yourself to adore God under the appearance of bread, the head of satan will be crushed!
Never forget that Jesus loves you! The Divine Lover of souls "would rise again to be our perpetual Host of propitiation, the Host of our Communion, the Host of our Adoration," (St. Peter Julian Eymard) so that we may be brought to His feet.
In Corpus et Sanguinis Christi,
J-PDM
Corpus Christi 2007
Acknowledgements/References:
1962 Roman Missal by Angelus Press
Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's Church Year
Quotes from Children of Mary
A Solemn Reflection on the Body and Blood of Christ:
Labels: Catholic Belief, Corpus Christi, Eucharist, Liturgy
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