Let the saints prepare your Corpus Christi feast

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, that is, the feast we call by its Latin name Corpus Christi, is a celebration of the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith. It is a day to reflect on this great mystery, to consider the teaching of Jesus, and the way the Church has illuminated and proclaimed that teaching. To that end, today, let us consider the teaching of Christ and the thoughts of saints who have come before us.

The Catholic teaching on the Eucharist is not an evolved theology. That’s to say the teaching about what the Eucharist is, is not a conceived thing, as if created by the Church. Catholics take the Lord Jesus at his word. We take his words to be true, knowing that Jesus would not deceive us. He says this bread is his body, and so we believe it is. The Eucharist is a gift, a revelation, something received from Christ, not a construct or imagination produced by theological reflection. Jesus gives us himself, his body, blood, soul, and divinity. He is truly present, hidden under the guise of bread and wine.

St. Justin, called a Martyr since his gave up his life for the Christian faith, penned these words between AD 153-155. Think of that! Just a little over a hundred years after the life of Jesus, here we have St. Justin, offering rich theological reflection on the Eucharist. The Church’s theologians help enrich our understanding of the Eucharist. Over the years, through prayer and study, theologians have aided the Church in coming to better clarify and articulate the teaching of Jesus. But the principle truth is there, from the beginning, given by Christ: the Eucharist is Jesus’ body and blood.

St. Justin’s words call us to examine our own hearts before receiving Holy Communion. Have I been to confession? Is my life being lived following the Gospel teachings of Jesus? Do I take Sunday Mass lightly or appear disinterested or uninvested during Holy Mass? In the Eucharist, Jesus gives over his whole self to us. In return, we owe him our whole selves, our entire hearts.

St. Augustine teaches that the Eucarist signifies an invisible reality. Our hearts then, are united to this invisible reality, through consuming the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the food of pilgrims, of wayfarers, of people who have not yet arrived at their destination. We do not yet see the full reality signified by this precious bread of heaven. And yet we will, someday. 

It was unusual in St. Catherine’s day (she lived in the 14th century) for anyone to receive Holy Communion daily. And yet Catherine received encouragement to do so. With great reverence, Catherine understood that each fragment, each particle, contained the whole Christ. Undivided, Christ gives himself entire to us. For St. Catherine, this gift of Christ was the motive for her service to the poor and to the sick. She was so conformed to the heart of Christ, the love of Jesus present to her in the Sacred Host, that she was able to love, to love deeply.

Wherever and whatever the character of the Mass celebrated, Christ is truly there. His bloody sacrifice of the Cross, offered once and for all on Calvary Hill, obtained for us the redemption of our sins. Whenever a priest offers the bread and wine, Christ makes these graces of redemption present for us, allowing us to be united once more with him. He draws us through this sacrament to himself, uniting us here and now below with the saints and angels in glory above.