Fr. JC Maximilian

Corpus Christi, the great celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ, has long been one of my favorite solemnities. The Eucharist truly is the source and summit of our lives as Christians. It is in the Eucharist that we have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. As I was reading different things about this marvelous feast, I came across a homily that then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger gave on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. It was so wonderful, that I thought I would share his main theme with you – hey, if you are going to borrow material for a homily, you might as well borrow it from the Pope!

The Holy Father reflected on three components, or actions, which especially make up the distinctive way that Christians have celebrated this feast. They are standing before the Lord thus standing together side by side, walking with the Lord or the traditional Corpus Christi procession, and finally the climax, kneeling before the Lord in adoration, rejoicing in His presence among us.

When our Christian faith was first spreading out across the world, there was a great emphasis on each city having just one bishop, and only one altar. It was by standing before the Lord around this one altar that the community of believers expressed their unity which was brought about through Jesus, our only Lord. The central meaning of the Eucharist is that by receiving the ONE bread we enter into the ONE heart, and become a new living organism, the ONE Body of the Lord.

The Eucharist is not a private affair. It is not celebrated only in a circle of friends, or in a club of like-minded people. The Eucharist is the public worship of all those whom the Lord calls. The Roman nobleman and the slave were brothers standing before the Lord around the one altar. The wealthy merchant, the prostitute and the sweaty, smelly Corinthian dock worker stood before the Lord as equals. Just look at our gathering here; I am sure we have doctors and nurses, teachers, bankers, tradesmen, and captains of industry – from a great diversity of backgrounds, yet all followers of Jesus Christ, who makes us sisters and brothers. I once read someplace that William F. Buckley, Jr., the conservative writer, and Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker movement, where both daily communicants at the same parish in New York City. Standing before the Lord in the Eucharist makes us one.

When Christianity grew in numbers, it was no longer possible for all the faithful in a particular city to gather in one place for the celebration of the Eucharist, so the first parishes were established. There the priest would celebrate the Mass, but it was always done in union with the local bishop. This unity with the bishop was made visible by sharing from his altar. The deacons would assist the bishop, who always celebrated the first Mass on Sunday. Each deacon would be give a piece of the host from the bishop’s Mass, and they would take it to the priest in the parish, and the priest would place that piece into the chalice at the parish Mass. In fact there remains a symbol of this unity with the bishop in the Mass. During the Lamb of God, I will break the host, and put a small fraction of it in the chalice. This unity, was also expressed by the bishop processing to each parish in his diocese each year.

Of course, we can only stand before the Lord if we first allow the Lord to lead us, and we walk with Him. Each of us could tell our own story of our relationship with Jesus, of what brought us here together. Each of us walk with the Lord in our own way – rather in the way He leads us, but to the same goal – heaven. “We can come to the Lord only . . . in this moving out and moving forward, by transcending our own prejudices, our limits, and our barriers, going forward, going towards him, and moving to the point at which we can meet each other” (Ratziner, God is Near Us, Ignatius Press, p. 111). In the light of Corpus Christi, the Exodus event has new meaning. Not only are the Israelites set free from their physical slavery in Egypt, but they learn to rely on the Word of God to literally provide them food. We can only find our way if we allow ourselves to be led by God’s Word who gave His body for food and His blood for our drink. It is only when we are walking with Christ Jesus that we are free.

Lastly, this leads us to kneeling before the Lord: adoration. Since the Lord gives us Himself in the Eucharist, it is only fitting to bow before Him, to glorify Him, and to adore Him. What a joy and privilege it is to be able to kneel before the Lord, loving Him with all our mind, all our heart and all our soul. He is our freedom. He is our life!