Cor. 11: 23-29

Breathren: For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, And giving thanks, broke and said: “Take ye and eat: This is my body, which shall be delivered for you. This do for the commemoration of me.” In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: “This chalice is the new testament in my blood. This do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come.”

As often as you shall eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, alleluia!

This Feast of the Corpus Christi… the Feast of the Body and Blood of Lord Jesus Christ...stretches all the way back to Holy Thursday and the Last Supper … and Christ’s institution of the Holy Eucharist. But is wasn’t until the 13th century that it actually became a celebrated feast. It is a celebration of Christ’s gift to us… His Actual body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Gift of the Eucharist! It is the source and summit of our Christian Faith. It is from the Eucharist that all the graces of the Christian Life flow. This celebration is to instill in us the magnitude of this gift. It reminds the Faithful of God’s unfathomably love for man…

As we gather and celebrate Mass… celebrate the Eucharist, we are re-entering into the Paschal Mystery, opened by Christ Himself at the Last Supper with the institution of the Eucharist and the Holy Priesthood. It is the ultimate source of God’s grace in the world… Breathing the very life into the Holy Catholic Church. Ebbing and flowing... it is the Unifying factor of the Holy Faith. With this celebration we are recognizing that the Eucharist is the Summit of our Church … Christ’s Church… It is the Eternal Supper of the Lamb, being offered here on earth to remind us, that in the Mass…in the Eucharist…(The Body and Blood of Christ)... All that man longs for… all that man could ever hope for, is to be found. It is God Himself. And even though it is grande… it is but a foretaste of what awaits us in Heaven.

As we receive Christ in the Eucharist, the Church members  are continually being renewed as the Body of Christ… Sent forth to follow His command by proclaiming God’s message throughout the lands. This feast also serves to remind the rest of the world, that the Catholic Church is the symbol of God’s Love for us… for all of mankind…for all eternity…until the end of time….

As Catholics we are obligated to teach these Truths…to share these Truths with the world… (which is often bitter and hostile to His Holy Word)…that He exists… that He has Always existed and now reigns Supreme over His Holy Church…calling all to Him… Longing that all who are separated from His Body, that they  should be reconciled to Him in the Truth.

This celebration of the Corpus Christi stands in  contrast to the abject lies of the devil. It proves to man that God does exist… that He sent His Only Begotten Son… to redeem us from the chains of slavery…to redeem us from the chains of sin.

“Those who are not Catholics disapprove of every thing that we do today in honor of the blessed Sacrament, and accuse us of idolatry, as we according to them, worship bread. They say also that all that we do in this regard cannot be agreeable to God, because it was not ordained by Him. We, Catholics, are, however, not disturbed by this, for we know that we do not worship bread, but Him whom three wise men worshiped in the manger, namely, Jesus Christ, true God and Man. We know also that though what we do this day in honor of the blessed Sacrament is not especially and expressly ordained in Holy Writ, still we are assured that a voluntary worship of it is in accordance with reason and the laws of God, pleasing and agreeable to His Majesty. And this is made clear to us from the above-mentioned example of the three Wise Men, and from the acts with which King David honored the Most High, on the solemn return of the Ark of the Covenant; not to mention that Christ gave us a general command to worship God, in the words: “The Lord thy God shalt thou adore and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matth. iv.) This command we fulfil today by our actions, as they all aim at one end, namely, the honor of the Lord, who is concealed in the Blessed Sacrament. The more we are blamed and derided by the heretics for our adoration of the Holy Eucharist, the more fervent should we become in our zeal. When King David was derided by Michol, on account of his devotion at the return of the Ark of the Covenant, he said: “Before the Lord who chose me . . . . I will both play and make myself meaner than I have done, and I will be little in my own eyes.” (II. Kings vi.) by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1877

Oh Sacrament Most Holy, Oh Sacrament Divine. All praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment Thine.