CORPUS CHRISTI...THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST OUR LORD

CORPUS CHRISTI 

Good evening/ morning everyone. I am happy to welcome you all for today's Holy Mass. 

Last week I did a cemetery service for a non-Catholic at a non-Catholic cemetery and at the end, I looked at them all and said, "By the way, I didn't know that I am at the wrong side of the cemetery and now I have to go home and take a shower".  

Once a bishop said to his priests, "you know what you should start your homily or preaching with some stories or jokes or something unexpected. So that people will be more interested to listen to your homily". For example, the last time when I did my preaching, I looked at them all and said, "I am in love with a married woman. Then I gave a pause and looked at them all and said, "her name is Blessed Virgin Mary..." A priest who was inspired by the story went to his parish and on a Christmas day, he looked at the crowd and said, "By the way, our bishop is in love with the married woman and then he gave a pause and looked at them all and he got nervous and said, "And I forgot her name". 

Today the Holy Catholic Church celebrates the solemn feast of 'Corpus Christi' namely the most holy and precious body and blood of Christ our Lord. Jesus says that unless we eat His body and drink His blood, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. His flesh is true food and His blood is true blood. Christ is the bread of life that came down from heaven. Our ancestors ate Manna in the wilderness and they all perished but on the other hand, anyone who eats the bread that comes down from heaven, will live forever. 

There is a non-canonical story in which God sends His angels to people to find out the pressing needs of them. Then upon returning to God Almighty, they all said that people need food. So, God sent His Son Christ Jesus who gave His flesh and blood to satisfy them all eternally.  

Every time we receive the precious body of Christ, something unimaginable happening to us. As we touch the precious body of Christ, we get the experience of that woman who was bleeding for twelve years and who went to all the doctors and physicians and spent all her money and at last coming to Christ, she said, "Even if I touch His cloak, I will be healed and as she touched the cloak, she immediately experienced healing 

When St. Mother Teresa was asked from where she got this much energy to do untiring mission among the poor and the needy and the outcasts and others, she said, "I spend an hour before the blessed sacrament every day".  

The Blessed Sacrament gives us an enormous energy to do great things.  The body of Christ that we consume, changes us into new spiritual beings. It's no longer we who live but Christ lives in us. We need the strength and energy of Christ today. We need more love and kindness of Christ today and we should become living body of Christ to our brothers and sisters who are not hungry for physical food but for real spiritual food. Yes, there is a deep longing in every one of us today to connect with higher being, Christ and that connection will happen to us as we eat the body and drink the blood of Christ. 

What was the first food eaten on the moon? The Holy Eucharist, in 1969, as Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the Moon, Aldrin a devoted catholic read from the gospel passage from St. John saying, "I am the vine and you are the branches. If you are with me, you will bear much fruit". Then, he opened the pyx that he took with him and consumed the holy Eucharist thanking Christ. 

When we talk about 'The Holy Eucharist', we often hear the word 'Transubstantiation' which means the essence of the mere bread and wine, after the consecration, with the power and grace of Christ, changed into His precious body and blood. We believe in the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. And that's why as we come to receive the body of Christ, with devotion we respond saying, "Amen". Amen means I believe. Yes, we believe this body of Christ will change and make us like Him and thus we too will reflect His unconditional love and forgiveness and thus everyone will come to know that God is with them and He loves them without limit. 

In the gospel of John, When Christ our Lord talked about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, many people said, "oh it's every challenging and difficult teaching and who can follow it and thus they left Him and then Christ asked His disciples, "Do you also wish to go away?" They all said, "Jesus, to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life".  

Conclusion: Friends in Christ, every time we receive the body of Christ, we receive the kingdom of God and every time we consume the body of Christ, we become like Christ and every time we say 'Amen' receiving and consuming the body of Christ, we promise to go out and proclaim the good news of salvation. Amen.