The Solemnity Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
02nd June 2024 (Sunday)
Psalter: Proper
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Exodus 24:3-8
In those days: Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
Psalm 116:12-13, 15 and 16bc, 17-18 (R. 13)
R/. The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the name of the Lord.
Second Reading: Hebrews 9:11-15
Brethren: When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever.
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel : Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to Jesus, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a chalice, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Highlight: The Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Guidelines: The FEAST of Corpus Christi that we celebrate today is truly a feast of life and oneness. It is a call to live in communion and commitment
1. This Sunday we celebrate the FESTIVITY of the Body and Blood of Christ. One may ask why to speak in this separatist language. Why can’t we speak more holistically and personally as “the person” of Christ?
2. Here the point is not language or technicality. We are not speaking of two separate items, body and blood.
3. Rather, it is in specific reference to the sacramentality of the person of Christ. The reference is to the sacrament of the holy Eucharist. It is the Sacramental mode of the Eucharistic presence of the Lord.
4. It signifies the eternal nourishment by the Eucharistic Lord. It points to the marvellous transformation of bread as his own body and the wine as his own blood to feed us and nourish us.
5. Thus Body and blood of Christ are not merely physical or biological components. They are the essence of Christ and his sacramental presence and wholeness.
6. Jesus declares, “I am the bread of life; whoever eats of my flesh and drinks my blood, will not die, but will live forever” (Jn 6. 35-58). It will be simplistic and even foolish to mistake it literally and mock it as cannibalism, as some do.
7. Such a protest is not worth our reflection now. Here very clearly the whole concern of Jesus is “Life”, the kind of life that he offers to us, the quality of life that we must live.
8. Our God is God of life, a living and life-giving God. We are His children. We are destined for eternal life. We are meant to live our life fully (Jn 10. 10: “I came to give life and life in its full measures”) and joyfully (Jn 15. 11: “so that my joy be in you and that be complete”).
9. Therefore, we are people of a culture of life. We need to live this life of God, the divine and the spiritual life, and not merely the earthly, the material and the worldly life. We are called to live more than the “natural” existence. It is a call to live the “supernatural” life, the life of grace.
10. So, any attempts and actions against such a culture of life are counter- productive and counter- witnessing. Sadly, in our times a culture of death is virulent in its diabolic forms of aggression, violence, hatred, retaliation and destruction.
11. In our present times, a culture of death is viral. The beauty, value and the power of life are reduced and despised. Consequently many live without the inner vitality, without the dynamism and the direction of life.
12. Life in the case of a good number appears to be empty, weak and aimless. It is in such a context, the feast of the most holy body and blood of Christ, the feast of the Holy Eucharist, is a timely and perennial recall and recharge.
13. This devilish culture is a blatant contradiction to the very nature of life, our existence as human beings, our identity as God’s children and our destiny as heirs of eternal life.
14. Apart from these explicit forms of death, there are also other passive aggressive forms of death in the form of excessive fear and tension, depression and emptiness. These forms take away the beauty and charm, the worth and value of life. They make life a dry, barren, burdensome and joyless enterprise.
15. It is in this context, Jesus assures us of the abundance and beauty of life. He also shows us how to obtain it and live it so. “Live interiorly, with the inner power; Live vibrantly and rightly, by the guidance and strength of this inner power; Live high and above with a sense of orientation for the eternity”.
16. This is what Jesus means in Jn 6. 56-58, disclosing the three fundamental signs and effects of the Holy Eucharist: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever”.
17. Therefore, an intimate mutual interior dwelling, vigorous process of living and focused orientation to eternity – this is what the whole life is about. In other words, interiority (of divine presence), dynamism and vigor (of the way of life), and the focus and direction (towards eternity) are the hallmarks of a culture of life, the new life that Jesus offers us.
18. Seen in this wider perspective of life, we must constantly deepen and enhance our reverence and devotion to the holy Eucharist. We must desire to receive it regularly and frequently. We must avoid the danger to reduce the Holy Eucharist only to a pious practice, a thing to be venerated and worshipped.
19. The holy Eucharist is much more than that. It is the person of Christ himself. It is the fount of life. It is the link of bonding. It is the source of communion. It is the interior power. It is the energy of living. It is the direction to an eternal destiny.
20. How sad it is that venerating and receiving the holy Eucharist, we do not experience the presence of Jesus, his abiding in us! Why do we not feel the bond of communion with him and with others in our believing community?
21. Why do we live so shallow lives, without depth and interiority? Why do we often feel weak and under-nourished, in spite of this greatest nourishment? Why do we often let ourselves misguided and controlled by other forces of evil and the world? Why are we often without any higher goals, without a sense of purpose and destiny?
Practice: The Body and Blood of Christ should remind us that we are all one Body of Christ and we all have the same blood of God’s own Spirit flowing in each of us. Sharing the same body, we cannot rupture it. Sharing the same blood, we cannot shed blood of others.
