St. Mary's Church Elizabeth, IL

6/22

Corpus Christi 2025-Bulletin

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

This feast is also known as Corpus Christi and it recalls the institution of the Eucharist on Holy
Thursday. We give special thanks to God for the gift of His Body and Blood that Christ left for us
at the Last Supper. It is a living memorial of His Passion, Death and Resurrection.

In this Sacrament (sacrament-an outward sign or a sacred action, instituted by Christ through
which grace is channeled for the inward sanctification of the soul) we encounter the living risen
Christ and receive strength for growth in holiness, so that all peoples may walk in the light of
faith and partake in one communion of love.

Already in the second century, some Christians reported that deacons in the Church of Rome
were bringing Communion to the faithful who were absent at the Eucharistic celebrations.
Such practice demonstrates the belief of the early Church in the enduring presence of Christ in
the Eucharistic species, and the living connection between receiving of the holy Communion
and the community. In the fourth century, some of the desert ascetics were allowed to keep
the Eucharist to receive Communion when the Mass was not celebrated. St. Augustine, the
bishop of Hippo in North Africa (today's Algeria), declared that no one eats the Body of Christ
without first worshipping it. The practice of the exposition and benediction developed in
twelfth century, and the attention of the faithful concentrated on the consecrated host.

The feast of Corpus Christ was established in 1264 and it focused on the universal celebration
of the belief in the real and enduring presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species.

Since the last supper, the sacrifice of the Mass - the Eucharist - has been a central living reality
for us Catholics. We come together each Sunday to live again the wonder of Christ's self-giving
on our behalf. It is so easy to lose this sense of wonder and gratitude. Watching Mass on
television is not the same as taking part in the celebration of the Eucharist within a community.
Partaking in Mass and receiving the Body of Christ reminds us of the mystery of that first
Eucharist in the upper room in Jerusalem, of the agony of Jesus Christ in the Garden of
Gethsemane, and of his redemptive death on the Cross, and invites us to experience afresh the
marvelous moments of that unbreakable sequence. The bread, broken and consumed, is
Christ's Body given for us. The wine being drunk is his Blood shed to the last drop for our sins.
He had always loved those who were his own in the world and now he showed how perfect his
love was (John 13:1). Let us respond generously to so great a love every day of our lives.

Fr. Joachim