The Lord's Supper: Corpus Christi

Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) and it comes after the solemnity of the Blessed Trinity, which came after the Feast of the Holy Spirit. Today's gospel reading is about the Lord's Supper from Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26 and this reading gives us the impression of the presence of our Lord which is why we celebrate Corpus Christi today.

"12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" 13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."

"16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body." 23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them. 25 "Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." 26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives."

***

As Roman Catholics we must distinguish our faith from our separated brethren who cannot or refuse to believe in the real presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, his body, soul, and blood truly present in the Holy Eucharist. This is why we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi annually when our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is exposed not just to faithful Catholics but all the world. Hence Catholics are exhorted to express their love for Jesus Christ as his Blessed Sacrament is presented to the public.

Mind you, I have gone into a deep dissertation with a close friend of mine who no longer belongs to the Catholic Church but still claims his love for Jesus. The only difference with this person is that, he doesn't believe in the magisterium of the Catholic Church that teaches the presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

This is why in today's gospel reading from Mark, we read what the Lord Jesus Christ told his disciples during the Last Supper "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."

The simplest way for Catholics to express what Christ asks us to believe about the real presence is that the Eucharist is really he himself. If you claim you are Catholic, but do not believe in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. I dare say that you have a crisis of faith and I suggest that you sit down and talk to a bishop about this problem.

Again, let me say that the real presence is the real Jesus. We are supposed to believe that the Eucharist began in the womb of the Virgin Mary; that the flesh which the Son of God received from his mother at the incarnation is the same flesh that he changed into bread at the Last Supper; that the blood he received from his mother is the same blood that he changed into wine at the Last Supper. Had she not given him his flesh and blood there could not be a Eucharist. This is our Catholic teaching and reality!

***

For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.