The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Reading 1 – Exodus 24: 3-8

When Moses came to the people

and related all the words and ordinances of the LORD,

they all answered with one voice,

“We will do everything that the LORD has told us.”

Moses then wrote down all the words of the LORD and,

rising early the next day,

he erected at the foot of the mountain an altar

and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

Then, having sent certain young men of the Israelites

to offer holocausts and sacrifice young bulls

as peace offerings to the LORD,

Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls;

the other half he splashed on the altar.

Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people,

who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.”

Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying,

“This is the blood of the covenant

that the LORD has made with you

in accordance with all these words of his.”

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 116: 12-13, 15-16, 17-18

R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

How shall I make a return to the LORD

for all the good he has done for me?

The cup of salvation I will take up,

and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

Precious in the eyes of the LORD

is the death of his faithful ones.

I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;

you have loosed my bonds.

R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,

and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

My vows to the LORD I will pay

in the presence of all his people.

R. I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

Reading 2 – Hebrews 9: 11-15

Brothers and sisters:

When Christ came as high priest

of the good things that have come to be,

passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle

not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation,

he entered once for all into the sanctuary,

not with the blood of goats and calves

but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

For if the blood of goats and bulls

and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes

can sanctify those who are defiled

so that their flesh is cleansed,

how much more will the blood of Christ,

who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God,

cleanse our consciences from dead works

to worship the living God.

For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant:

since a death has taken place for deliverance

from transgressions under the first covenant,

those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.

Gospel – Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,

when they sacrificed the Passover lamb,

Jesus’ disciples said to him,

“Where do you want us to go

and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”

He sent two of his disciples and said to them,

“Go into the city and a man will meet you,

carrying a jar of water.

Follow him.

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?”‘

Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.

Make the preparations for us there.”

The disciples then went off, entered the city,

and found it just as he had told them;

and they prepared the Passover.

While they were eating,

he took bread, said the blessing,

broke it, gave it to them, and said,

“Take it; this is my body.”

Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them,

and they all drank from it.

He said to them,

“This is my blood of the covenant,

which will be shed for many.

Amen, I say to you,

I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine

until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Then, after singing a hymn,

they went out to the Mount of Olives.

 

Listen to the Scriptures: Click on the link below:

CORPUS CHRISTI (Solemnity of Corpus Christi – 7th June 2015)

THE FEAST OF NOURISHMENT. The Body and Blood of Christ are the food and drink which

communicate to us God’s immortal life. They sustain in us that spiritual life over which death has no

power. When we receive the Eucharist we enter into communion with God and are united to all

believing people.

INTRODUCTION: The Eucharist is the love-gift of God to us. In the normal human context, love

is always expressed and reinforced by visible signs or symbols. Lovers need to touch hands, kiss,

and offer gifts to one another. God, knowing our nature and our needs, expresses his love for us

through signs we readily recognize: the cleansing water of baptism, the healing oil of the sacrament

of the sick, the nourishing bread and wine of the Eucharistic meal. But unlike the other sacraments,

the Eucharist is more than a sign of saving grace: it is the actual presence of God in our midst; it is

Christ himself, feeding us with his own substance, healing us of our sins, uniting us with himself.

We cannot understand this mystery fully here on earth, but our hearts should be moved by such love

POINT 1: In the Eucharist, the Lord is with us here and now. God knows we are weak, limited creatures who need

assistance in the daily struggle. He comes to our aid in a simple, direct way, not merely by sending us messages, but by

sending his own Son to be our strength. Let’s put it this way: when you are sick, depressed, in need of help, you are

comforted by a loving letter from a friend. But how much happier you are, how much more comforted, if your friend

comes personally to cheer you up and be with you. God respects this need of ours. So he does not send us a few good

words in a sealed letter; he comes himself through his Eucharistic presence, bringing personally the good news of his

peace, the power of his grace.

POINT 2: The Eucharist is a sacrificial gift. At the Last Supper, Jesus made it clear that the offering and consecration

of the bread and wine was a prophetic action: it made his death on the cross real and present. The broken bread was his

broken Body; the wine was his Blood shed in the pain of agony. We should not neglect this aspect of the Eucharistic

meal: the High Priest is also the Victim. But because Christ is the Son of the living God, his death has the power to

redeem and sanctify, to heal and give life. The Lord does not only come personally to us in the Eucharist: he comes for a

definite purpose: to unite our weak and mortal lives to his own eternal life, and in the joining to make us immortal.

POINT 3: The Eucharist is our nourishment. In recent times, the aspect of the Eucharist as a communal meal or

banquet has been emphasized. Every culture celebrates with food and drink. So we readily respond to the meal-

celebration aspect of the Eucharist. Christ gives himself to us through elements we all recognize: bread and wine. These

are not strange, cultic objects, but familiar food and drink. We come together to celebrate the goodness of God, to eat

together this holy meal through which we are nourished as Christians, as members of God’s Church. We eat, we drink,

we are enriched beyond all hopes, and we are fed with a divine food which not only promises eternal life but which IS

CONCLUSION: What response do we make to such a gift, to such a giver? Gratefully, we attend Mass, receive

communion. But sometimes we allow ourselves to be distracted; not fully aware of the tremendous mystery we are

participating in. Today, let us renew our understanding and appreciation. As we celebrate the Eucharist on this special

day, let us be particularly attentive, reflecting more deliberately upon the love-gift of God. Let us receive the Lord today

with a renewed knowledge of his generosity, and thank him for the gifts which surpass all others. Let us thank him for

his precious Body and Blood, the pledge of our eternal life.

QUESTIONS THAT MAY LEAD TO OTHER THOUGHTS

1. Do you try to cultivate a deep personal devotion to Jesus present in the Eucharist? How are you doing this?

2. In your meditations, do you ever meditate upon the Eucharist?

3. In what sense is the Eucharist at the core of the Christian faith, at the center of Catholic worship?

4. Have you instilled in yourself and perhaps taught others reverence and love for the Real Presence of Christ in the

Eucharist, in the Blessed Sacrament?

Scriptural Reflection / Sharing – Holy Cross District Center – Brafoyaw – 1

Reading 1 – Exodus 24: 3-8

Since time immemorial, blood, the symbol of life, was used in religious rituals. The poured blood of the sacrificed

animals was part of man’s attempt to establish a relationship with God. In the biblical tradition, blood sprinkled on the

altar and over the people was meant to seal a bond of friendship between man and God. Imperfect as they were, these

sacrifices were nevertheless powerful signs: they ratified the special union between Yahweh and his chosen people, They

gave meaning to men’s lives and purified them of their sins. The sacrificial animals were offered to God as a concrete

expression of the people’s sentiments of repentance, of their hopes for forgiveness and mercy. The spilled blood was a

stand-in-for these sentiments. The sacrifices of the old covenant foreshadowed the perfect sacrifice of Christ: by

shedding his own blood, he ratified the new covenant and redeemed all mankind.

Reading 2 – Hebrews 9: 11-15

Christ is the only Mediator between God and man. He did not come as a wise man, a guru, to establish a new

philosophical system and to teach people how to live. He is the Son of God who, once and for all, offered the perfect

sacrifice in our behalf. Through his blood, he established the new covenant, the new and everlasting friendship between

God and man. He and he alone is the Power who purifies us, who transforms us into new creatures alive with a life that

has no end. He offers this life to us not through mere consoling words but through the gift of his own body and blood.

He is truly the Way through which we have direct access to God; he is the Bread of Life which nourishes us, strengthens

us and delivers us from the dominion of death.

Gospel Reading – Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26

When we love someone, we wish to share all we have, to commit ourselves totally to the beloved. It is in these terms

that we can begin to understand something about the Eucharist. God loves us and he chose to communicate his love to us

through the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. The actual physical presence of Christ on earth was brief; his historical

presence is in a distant pass. But his reality is of all times, of all places, and could not be contained within human limits.

As he wishes to communicate this living reality directly to us, he gave us his body as food, his blood as drink. This is not

a gift that momentarily restores us, consoles us, and helps us to carry the burdens of daily life. When we eat and drink

the body and blood of Christ, they become intimate part of ourselves. It is the fullness of God, the allness of life and love

which are directly communicated to us. The Eucharist is more than a promise, more than a sign of things to come: it is

the reality of Christ which unites us to God and makes us into a living people over whom death has no power.

The Eucharist is a magnificent mystery. It can be viewed in many ways – like a jewel that

reflects light from its different facets. The Eucharist is a covenant, a sacrifice of praise, a

remembrance, a thanksgiving, a presence, a proclamation, a union, a teacher, a gift, a mystery of

faith, spiritual food.

In addition, there are two other facets of the Eucharist which we need to rediscover: the Eucharist

is for forgiveness of sins and for healing.

More than ever people want and need to experience the saving power of the Eucharist. It is

intended for our healing, so that we might be free and live as sons and daughters of God. Many,

however, do not recognize what this gift really is and remain in their weakness; many are sick,

depressed, bound up in themselves and can’t get freed. The Eucharist is a healing sacrament, and

should be approach as such. (Cf. 1 Corinthians 11:30)

In the Eucharist we can reach out and touch Jesus, even as the woman in the crowd did. She said to herself that if she

could only touch the hem of his garment she would be healed. In simple faith she reached out, power flowed out from

Jesus, and she was healed. (Luke 8: 43-44)

Jesus has given us himself in a form that we can touch. Because we are human we need to touch and to be touched.

Jesus, in his beautifully human way, left us his Body and Blood so that we might touch him and be healed.

Solemnity of Corpus Christi – 7th June 2015

For the Church: that we may fulfill the commission given by Christ and help others to come to a

knowledge and experience of God, let us pray to the Lord.

For the grace of awareness: that we may recognize all the great things which God has done for us

and respond with generosity and gratitude each day, let us pray to the Lord.

For all missionaries: that they may know God’s presence and strength as they bring Good News and

that they may recognize the gifts which others have and them forth, let us pray to the Lord.

For the gift of courage: that we may be open to moving beyond our ordinary activities and friends

and be instruments of God’s love and presence in new situations and with new people, let us pray to

For a deeper awareness of who we are: that we may join the Spirit within calling God “ABBA” and

living in confidence that God loves and cares for us each day, let us pray to the Lord.

For all who are isolated from God and the human family: that they may experience welcome and

acceptance as they encounter the Christian community, let us pray to the Lord.

For all parents: that assisted by the Spirit, they may help their sons and daughters to know that they

are truly children of God, let us pray to the Lord.

For all married couples, particularly the newly married: that their love may be a sign to all of

God’s unbounded love for everyone, let us pray to the Lord.

For greater stewardship of earth’s resources: that we may use the resources of the earth wisely and

ensure their preservation for future generations, let us pray to the Lord.

For all are struggling with drought, fire or storms: that God will give them strength, ease their

pain, and send the assistance which they need, let us pray to the Lord.

For all who are held in slavery: that God’s power will bring freedom to all who are in physical or

emotional captivity, let us pray to the Lord.

For a greater recognition of religious freedom: that God will touch the hearts of all leaders to honor

the religious and moral convictions of religious institutions and each individual, let us pray to the

For all who have lost jobs or who are struggling financially: that God will provide resources and

open new pathways for them to support their families, let us pray to the Lord.

For the gift of peace: that God will inspire all parties to find alternatives to violence and guide

leaders to take risks in establishing peace and promoting justice, let us pray to the Lord.

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