The
Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Dear brothers and sisters,
The readings from Sacred Scripture
today present for us two covenants, the first being a foreshadowing of the
second and the second being the fulfillment of the first. The first of these
covenants was sealed with the blood of bulls; the second with the blood of the
Son of God. Why were these covenants sealed in this way?
It was on Mount Sinai, after the
experience of the Exodus from Egypt and after receiving the law from the Lord,
that the people answered Moses, saying, “We will do everything that the Lord
has told us” (Exodus 24:3). They remembered the good deeds the Lord had done
for them and responded in kind. Moses then “took the blood and sprinkled it on
the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance
with these words of his’” (Exodus 24:8). It was blood that sealed the covenant between
God and man, but why blood? Why sprinkle blood on the altar and on the people?
The Lord said to Moses, “For the
life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon the altar
to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by
reason of the life” (Leviticus 17:11). Nothing more valuable than blood could
be given to God, yet the blood of bulls and sheep lacked the power to fully
atone for the sins of humanity, and so it had to be offered again and again and
again (cf. Hebrews 10:4).
It is against this background that
the Lord Jesus gathered with his Apostles in the Upper Room to celebrate the
Passover, the Exodus from Egypt. He gave the cup to them, saying, “This is my
blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many” (Mark 14:24). With his own
blood he seals the new covenant, “once for all,” and gives himself to us so we “may
receive the promised eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 7:27; cf. Hebrews 9:15).
In giving the Eucharist to us as
our food and drink – his very Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity – the Lord
Jesus anticipated his death on the Cross and gave each of us a share in it, not
only in his death, but also in his Resurrection. For this reason, he says, “I
am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will
live forever” (John 6:51). In the Eucharist, he has given us “a pledge of this
love, in order never to depart from his own and to make them sharers in his
Passover” (CCC, 1337). He gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of his death
and Resurrection so the grace of his sacrificial love might be offered to all
people in every time and place. All this he accomplished when he said to the
Apostles, “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19).
Here, then, we come an interesting
question: If the life is in the blood, why does Jesus give his Body and Blood
to us in the form of bread and wine? Our great patron, Saint Augustine, offers
a reason:
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| A historiated initial from a medieval manuscript showing St Augustine as Bishop of Hippo. University of California, Berkeley, Bancroft Library, BANC MS UCB 002. |
We have no theory of our own to
propose here; listen, instead, to what Paul says about this sacrament:
"The bread is one, and we, though many, are one body." [1 Cor. 10.17]
Understand and rejoice: unity, truth, faithfulness, love. "One bread,"
he says. What is this one bread? Is it not the "one body," formed
from many? Remember: bread doesn't come from a single grain, but from many.
When you received exorcism, you were "ground." When you were
baptized, you were "leavened." When you received the fire of the Holy
Spirit, you were "baked." Be what you see; receive what you are. This
is what Paul is saying about the bread. So too, what we are to understand about
the cup is similar and requires little explanation. In the visible object of
bread, many grains are gathered into one just as the faithful (so Scripture
says) form "a single heart and mind in God" [Acts 4.32]. And thus it
is with the wine. Remember, friends, how wine is made. Individual grapes hang
together in a bunch, but the juice from them all is mingled to become a single
brew. This is the image chosen by Christ our Lord to show how, at his own
table, the mystery of our unity and peace is solemnly consecrated. All who fail
to keep the bond of peace after entering this mystery receive not a sacrament that
benefits them, but an indictment that condemns them.[1]
This is why it is so very important
that we properly prepare ourselves to receive Holy Communion by making a thorough
examination of conscience, making peace – insofar as possible – with enemies,
and confessing what needs confessing. If we fail to do this, if we fail to be
properly disposed to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord, we receive him in
vain and bring judgment upon ourselves (cf. I Corinthians 11:29).
Because the culture of these United
States is drenched in an individualism which is quite contrary to the Gospel,
we too often forget this important communal character of receiving Holy
Communion (it’s a bit ironic, isn’t it?); it is not simply about me and Jesus,
but about me and you and you and you and Jesus; it is about us and Jesus. His
love is formed in us to be shared with others. This is why Benedict XVI
reminded us that “in sacramental communion I become one with the
Lord, like all the other communicants.”[2] We
see this in the writings of Saint Paul: “Because there is one bread, we who are
many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (I Corinthians 10:17).
So it is that
Union with Christ is also union with all those to whom he
gives himself. I cannot possess Christ just for myself; I can belong to him
only in union with all those who have become, or who will become, his own.
Communion draws me out of myself towards him, and thus also towards unity with
all Christians. We become “one body”, completely joined in a single existence.
Love of God and love of neighbour are now truly united: God incarnate draws us
all to himself.[3]
This is why, in just a few moments,
we will turn to the Lord and pray for “the gifts of unity and peace” as we offer
him our humble gifts of bread and wine. We must strive to truly become a single
heart and mind in God through our reception of his Body and Blood. This is why
it is important to make attendance at the parish Sunday Mass the priority of
our week. If we are not present each week, it is difficult to be formed into
one loaf so we, as members of Saint Augustine’s Parish, may become the Body of
Christ, one heart and mind in him, and bring Jesus’ love to the people in Ashland,
Pleasant Plains, Tallula, and everywhere in between. We cannot forget that “a eucharist which
does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically
fragmented.”[4]
Let us, then, celebrate this great solemnity
of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ with great reverence and devotion.
Let us receive him with humble love and, just as the Lord changes our gifts of
bread and wine into his own Body and Blood, let us ask him to change our gifts
of ourselves into himself. If we make this prayer our own, his gifts of unity
and peace will indeed be fully realized in us. Amen.
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