Solemnity of the Corpus Christi,
Sunday, 10 June 2012
“The cup of blessing that we bless is it not the sharing of the Blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not the partaking of the Body of the Lord.” I Cor. 10:16
Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi which commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus Christ gave us this sacrament at the Last Supper when he said to His Apostles, “This is my body… this is my blood…” Mt. 26:26 & 27 He told His disciples “…do this in remembrance of me.” Lk. 22:19 When He left us Himself in the Holy Eucharist, it is truly the most wonderful blessing Jesus could leave us. He is ever-present in the tabernacle in our churches. He is sacrificed for us at Holy Mass when the priest consecrates the bread and wine separately into the Body and Blood of Christ; and He comes to us in Holy Communion. (cf. today’s Epistle, I Cor. 11:23-9). Dom Gueranger tells us in The Liturgical Year Vol. 10 about St. Paul’s comment about the importance of the Holy Eucharist and Mt. Calvary: “He (St. Paul) tells us, what the Evangelists had not explicitly mentioned, that as often as the priest consecrates the Body and Blood of Christ, ‘he shows (he announces) the death of the Lord’ (I Cor. 11:26): by that expression he tells us that the Sacrifice of the cross, and that of our altars, in one and the same. It is, likewise, by the immolation of our Redeemer on the cross, that the Flesh of the Lamb of God is truly meat, nd His Blood truly drink, …that the divine Flesh which feeds the soul was prepared on Calvary…” Gueranger, p. 256-7 These threefold blessings of the Holy Eucharist in Jesus’ Presence, Sacrifice and Communion are blessings which we can never fully understand. The most important question concerning the Holy Eucharist is why is Jesus is truly present “body and blood, soul and divinity” in the Blessed Sacrament in all the tabernacles of the Catholic Church. Both Fr. Gabriel of St. Magdalene and the Servant of God, Dom Prosper Gueranger, tell us that it because He wants to be in intimate Communion with all souls, His spouses, who come to Him in the Holy Eucharist.
Union with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist
Fr. Gabriel in his book of meditations, Divine Intimacy, reminds us of the “immense value” of the Holy Eucharist: “But in order to have a better understanding of the immense value of the Eucharist, we must go back to the very words of Jesus, most opportunely recalled in the Gospel of the day (Jn. 6: 56-59), ‘He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh my Blood, abideth in Me and I in him.’ Jn. 6: 57 Jesus made Himself our food in order to assimilate us to Himself, to make us live His life, to make us live in Him, as He Himself lives in His Father. The Eucharist is truly the sacrament of union and at the same time it is the clearest and most convincing proof that God calls us and pleads with us to come to intimate union with Himself.” Fr. Gabriel, p. 600. Did not Jesus tell us to come to Him? Indeed He said, “Come to me all you that labour and are burdened and I will give you rest.” Mt. 11:28 How blessed we are, as Dom Gueranger tells us: “Divine union—such is the dignity to which man is permitted to aspire; and to this aspiration God has responded even here below, by an invention which is all of heaven. It is today that man celebrates this marvel of God’s goodness.” Gueranger, p. 184
Divine Union even here on earth!
God’s love is so great that He wanted to share it with His own creatures in the Blessed Sacrament. The Holy Eucharist (Presence, Sacrifice, and Communion) is essentially the desire of God to share His supernatural life with men. Dom Gueranger comments on this most important aspect of Holy Eucharist: “God so loved the world (cf. Jn. 3:16), as to give it His own Word, that divine Wisdom, who, from the bosom of His Father, had devoted Himself to our human nature…Now it was from this bosom of His eternal Father, which the psalmist call the bride-chamber (cf. Ps. 18:6), that the Bridegroom came forth at the appointed time, leaving His heavenly abode, and coming down into this poor earth, to seek His bride; that when He had made her His own, He might lead her back with Himself into His kingdom, where He would celebrate the eternal nuptials. This is the triumphant procession of the Bridegroom in all His beauty (cf. Ps. 44:5)) a procession, whereof the prophet Micheas, when speaking of His passing through Bethlehem, says that His going forth is form the days of eternity (cf. Mich. 5:2). Yes, truly, from the days of eternity; for as we are taught in Catholic theology, the connexion between the eternal procession of the divine Persons and the temporal mission, is so intimate, that one same eternity unites the two together in God: eternally, the Trinity has beheld the ineffable birth of the only-begotten Son in the bosom of the Father; eternally, with the same look, it has beheld Him coming, as Spouse, from the same Father’s bosom.” P. 194-5
Marriage Feast here on earth!
Dom Gueranger relates the heavenly marriage feast to the espousal of the soul in Holy Communion: “So the mystery of the marriage-feast is, in all truth, the mystery of the world; and the kingdom of heaven is well likened to the a King, who made a marriage for His Son (cf. Mt. 22:1-14).
“But where is the meeting between the King’s Son and His betrothed to take place? Where is the mysterious union to be completed? Who is there to tell us what is the dowry of the bride, the pledge of the alliance? Is it known who is the Master who provides the nuptial banquet, and what sort of food will be served to the guests? The answer to these questions is given in this very day, throughout the earth; it is given with loud triumphant joy. There can be no mistake; it is evident from the sublime message, which heaven and earth re-echo, that He who has come is the divine Word. He is adorable Wisdom, and has come forth from His royal abode to utter His voice in our very streets, and cry out at the head of multitudes, and speak His words in the entrance of the city-gates… ‘Come! eat my Bread, and drink the Wine which I have mingled for you; for Wisdom hath built herself a house, support on seven pillars; there she hath slain her victims, mingled her wine, and set forth her table (cf. Prov. 9:1-6) all things are ready, come to the marriage!’” Gueranger, p. 196 The Marriage Feast is the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in which Jesus gives His own flesh and blood to those who come to Him: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting and I will raise him up on the last day.” Jn. 6: 55.
“O Precious, Wonderful Banquet…”
St. Thomas Aquinas tells us how very special is the Holy Eucharist: “O precious wonderful banquet that brings us salvation and contains all sweetness. Under the Old Law, it was the flesh of calves and goats that was offered up; but here Christ Himself, the true God is set before us as our food. What could be more wonderful than this? No other sacrament has greater healing power; through it, sins are purged away, virtues are increased and the soul is enriched with an abundance of every spiritual gift.” No wonder in the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel Jesus said: “I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world…. Jn. 6: 51 Only by Holy Communion will we be able to grow in grace. Those Catholics who reject the Holy Eucharist will not be saved: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.” Jn. 6:54. This life which Jesus promises to us is the life of sanctifying grace in the soul. It is the life of virtue, the forgiveness of sins and the purging away of punishment due to these sins. This life is the life of Communion with Jesus Christ on earth in time and in heaven for all eternity. This is why it is so sad that those who reject this teaching of the Church on the Holy Eucharist will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Time for Repentance
Now is the time for us to repent and live the life of grace in our souls. Just as in life, if we do not eat food, we will die; so too, if we do not eat of the Body and Blood of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, our souls will die. Mortal sin will enter and our souls will be dead. So many people today are living in sin, and they do not realize the consequences of not partaking of the Holy Eucharist. They think that “All is well….I am good person… I do not hurt anybody…” They do not realize how joyful is the life of grace and virtue when it is nourished by the Holy Eucharist. They live lives of vice and addiction and think that it is normal. We need to repent as Our Lady said at Fatima: “Many marriages are not of God… certain fashions will be introduced which will be displeasing to my Son….Most souls go to hell because of the sins of impurity… Men must stop offending God, He is too much offended by sin.” Our Lady said this in 1917. What would she say of our generation with many sins of abortion, contraception, divorce and re-marriage, same sex relationships and “partners”? These crimes cry to heaven for vengeance! The Servant of God, Fr. John Hardon, SJ, often spoke about the evil of abortion and how it was because Catholics had lapsed from practicing their faith. If the faith were strong in all Catholics, there would be an end to abortion and all the above-mentioned sins in the world. Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: “If people spent an hour a week in Eucharistic Adoration, abortion would be ended.” Sin abounds because of a lack of faith and prayer. Bl. Teresa also said, “The fruit of abortion is nuclear war.” Isn’t this the Fatima Message from Our Lady? She said if men do not repent, “Russia will spread her errors…Whole nations will be annihilated … the good will be martyred… the Holy Father will have much to suffer.”
The loss of faith; increase of sin
History proves that when sin increases, the faith grows cold. Years ago, Masses used to be filled, the confession lines were jammed, parents had large families, the seminaries and convents were filled. What happened? People lost the faith and did not pray any more. They did not believe in the Holy Eucharist. This loss of faith, which is catastrophic for the individual soul and for the Church, is especially evident in a denial of the Holy Eucharist. The Council of Trent says: “If anyone denies in the sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist there are truly, really and substantially contained the Body and Blood together with the Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ, but shall say that He is in it by a sign or figure or force, let him be anathema.” (#883, 1270AS) We need to realize how the Holy Eucharist is “the “source and summit of the Catholic life” (Lumen Gentium II and how much Jesus wants to unite in divine Communion with all souls.
Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Friday 15th of June is the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Now is a good time to continue (or begin) the devotion to the First Fridays of the Month. The Sacred Heart of Jesus promise to St. Margaret Mary: “I promise thee in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving the Sacraments; My Divine heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.”
