Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk

Homily for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi: Year B - June 3, 2018.

Readings: Exodus 24:3-8; Responsorial Psalm Ps 103:1-24,29-31,34; 

Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16.22-26.

Theme: Holy Eucharist: The Source & the Summit of Our Lives & Existence  

Introduction

Friends in Christ, today the Church celebrates Corpus Christi Sunday - the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Before we delve into the reflection proper, it is important to briefly take a look at the history of the celebration. According to Munachi (2016), the feast of the Body of Christ, Corpus Christi was introduced into Church calendar in 1264.  He claimed that the vision of a glistening full moon, in which an Augustinian nun, Juliana of Liège influenced the celebration. The moon she saw was perfect but for some hollow dark spots which she was told represented the absence of a feast of the Eucharist. This led to the official pronouncement about the solemnity. We shall do a synthesis of the readings in the light of pastoral exigencies.

Summary of the Readings

The first reading (Exodus 24:3-8) recalls the Covenant between God and the people of Israel which was sealed with the blood of animals. It is instructive that before ratifying the Covenant, Moses read the Book of the Covenant to the people. The Sacred Text prefigures the place of the Liturgy of the Word and the Holy Eucharist in the new and everlasting covenant that Christ would establish by his blood.

In like manner, the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb. 9:11-15) established that Christ initiated a new covenant not through the blood of goats and bulls but through his blood which pleads more insistently than Abel’s. Accordingly, the text states that: “He brings a new covenant, as the mediator, only so that the people who were called to an eternal inheritance may actually receive what was promised: His death took place to cancel the sins that infringed the earlier covenant.”

The Marcan gospel (Mark 14:12-16.22-26) tells the story of the how Jesus ate the Passover with his disciples. The reading introduces an essential component of the Liturgy of the Word namely, singing or praying the psalms. However, the punch-line of the text is that the bread and the chalice replaces the blood of animals in taking away the sins of the world. The blessing and the thanksgiving reveals the true nature of the sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

Pastoral Application

1. Corpus Christi Sunday calls us to reaffirm our belief in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Eucharist.

2. That Christ is present at every Eucharistic celebration reminds us that Jesus is present with us in body, soul and divinity when we receive the Eucharist to assist us in our daily struggles.

3. It challenges those who are not yet communicants to approach pastors of souls so as to be in full communion with Church through the Eucharist, the spiritual meal for our journey.

4. On this day, we urge those who have excommunicated themselves from receiving Holy Communion for many years to do the needful by going for confession so as to be in full communion with Christ and with the Christian assembly (Cf. CCC, no.1415).

5.  As a Eucharistic people, the celebration of the Holy Mass is geared towards the unity of all God’s and daughters which obliges us to work towards eradiating divisions in our society for although we are many, we are one in Christ (2 Cor. 10:16-17).

6. Today’s celebration urges all Catholics to remind the world that the Eucharist is the source and the summit of our lives and existence (Cf. SC, no 10;& LG, no. 11; CCC no. 1324) through which world-peace can be achieved.   

7.  Since the blood of Christ replaces the blood of rams and bulls, we are encouraged to shun any fetish covenant which is contrary to our belief in the power of the Holy Mass.

8. The reading of the Book of the Covenant to the people captured in the first reading as well as the singing of the psalms in the gospel assures Catholics of the place of the Liturgy of the Word as an indispensable part of the Holy Mass.

9.  We are charged to see the celebration of the Holy Eucharist as a prayer of thanksgiving, petition, supplication and adoration which is irreplaceable and incomparable with any human prayer. 

10. The solemnity of Corpus Christi reminds Catholics that the events of the Last Supper and Calvary are one and the same except that one is a bloodless sacrifice and the other, a bloody sacrifice.

Homiletic Points to Remember

1. The feast of the Body of Christ, Corpus Christi was introduced into Church calendar in 1264.

2. The Sacred Text prefigures the place of the Sacrament of the Word and the Holy Eucharist in the new and everlasting covenant that Christ would establish by his blood.

3. The punch-line of the text is that the bread and the chalice replaces the blood of animals in taking away the sins of the world.

4. The blessing and the thanksgiving reveals the true nature of the sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

5. Our reverence for Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist must be deep and profound.

Conclusion

We are called as members of the laity and priests to desist from anything that desecrates the Holy Eucharist. Our celebration charges priests, who are custodians of the faith and ministers of the Holy Eucharist, to preserve the faith and pass it on while urging the faithful to pay homage to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament – Our reverence for Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist must be deep and profound. Members of the laity need be reminded about the dangers of receiving the Eucharist in a state of sin. We pray that Christ who comes to us as food for our journey inspires us to be truly a Eucharistic people. Happy Corpus Christi Sunday!