Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ: Year C 2016

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Gen 14, 18-20; I Cor 11,23-26; Luke 9,11-17: Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ: Year C  2016)

    The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ celebrates the living presence of Christ which we know is the gift of his Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. The Church, during Vatican Council II reaffirmed, in a clear and solemn way, her faith in the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. In the Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests we have: For in the most blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself our Pasch and the living bread which gives life to men through his flesh …For this reason the Eucharist appears as the source and summit of all preaching of the gospel… (PO. no. 5. See also the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, SC. no. 10). Pope Paul VI further echoes this teaching in the encyclicalMysterium fidei: If the sacred Liturgy takes the primary post in the life of the Church, the Mystery of the Eucharist is like theheart and centre of liturgy in as much as it is the font of life which purifies and strengthens us.

    This mystery we celebrate today can be approached from several portals: the portal of Melchizedek, sacrifice, banquet and death of Jesus. None of these portals exhausts the meaning of the mystery. Drawing from Jesus tradition Paul, in the 2nd Reading, narrates the institution of the Eucharist in the context of the Jewish Passover. Passover meal was celebrated annually torecall the event of Exodus by which God delivered the Jewish people from Egypt. As a Passover of the New Covenant, the Eucharistic celebration is also a recall of the passion and death of Christ, and thus, a fulfillment of the ancient Passover. It is precisely because the Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s Passover that it is also a sacrifice. This sacrificial character of the Eucharist is seen in the very words used by Christ while instituting the Sacrament. According to Paul’s narrative: …the Lord Jesus took some bread and thanked God for it and broke it and he said: This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me. Over the cup He said: This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do it as a memorial of me. Thus in the Eucharist, Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (See CCC 1367). Pope John Paul II notes: by virtue of its close relationship to the sacrifice of Golgotha, the Eucharist is a sacrifice in the strict sense, and not only in a general way, as if it were simply a matter of Christ offering himself to the faithful as their spiritual food (Ecclesia De Eucharistia, 13).  When our Lord Jesus Christ offered bread and wine to his apostles at the Last Supper, he was indeed anticipating the offering of his body and pouring out of his blood on the cross of Calvary. The Holy Father Benedict XVI has it thus: …in instituting the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus anticipates and makes present the sacrifice of the Cross and the victory of the resurrection. At the same time he reveals that he himself is the true sacrificial lamb, destined in the Father’s plan from the foundation of the world (The Sacrament of Charity, 10). In the Eucharistic celebration, therefore, it is the same sacrifice of the cross that is being offered on the altar. Christ is the victim of the sacrifice both on the cross and on the altar. The only difference lies in the manner of offering: on the cross it is a bloody sacrifice, unlike the sacrifice on the altar where it is un-bloody. Christ is both the victim and the One who offers the one single sacrifice both on the cross and on the altar. This explains the propitiatory nature of the sacrifice.

    What are the challenges of the Eucharist as a sacrifice for us? First of all, it challenges us to victimhood. As baptized Christians we share in the priesthood of Christ, and, therefore, have the privilege of co-offering the Eucharist. Jesus even mandated us: Do this in memory of me. The implication is that we do what he did and become what he became. He broke himself for our sake to be victim. We are to break ourselves for others to become victims.  Breaking ourselves for God and neighbours implies shedding off all forms of pride, selfishness, rebellion, and disobedience and follow Jesus who humbled himself and became obedience to the point of death, even death on the cross, for the sake of sinners (Philippians 2,8). This was Christ’s concrete demonstration of love for us. Pope Benedict XVI put it succinctly in Deus Caritas Est: A Eucharist that does not pass over into concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented. Therefore, the authentic celebration of the Eucharist is tantamount to victimhood and service to others. St. John the Evangelist situates the washing of feet in place of the narrative of the Last Supper to stress the practical implication of the offering of Christ’s body and blood. That is to say, that the bread and wine offered must be broken and poured out for the lives of many. When we receive the Eucharist we should be ready to be ground like grains that form the bread for the sake of others. Hence, it becomes scandalous when communicants lord it over those put under their charge, (those whose feet they should be washing) or scramble for unwarranted positions in the Church or society. It is also offensive to the spirit of the Eucharist when people wallow in affluence while remaining unconcerned about the lot of the abject poor around them.

    Another challenge from the fact that the Eucharist is a sacrifice is to eschew violence. The death of Jesus on the cross shows the injustice of violence of this world. Jesus could have resisted the violence that led to his death. But he did not. He even forgave his executioners. The resurrection has shown that God sided with the Victim. The Eucharist is a participation in the once for all sacrifice of Christ on behalf of the victims of this world. If the Eucharist is a sacrament of non violence, then we who are frequent participants both in the celebration and reception of the Eucharist need to do serious soul-searching. What can we make of the escalating violence: violence within the family, violence along the road, political violence, ethnic inspired violence, as well as violence inspired or perpetrated in the name of religion. Therefore if the Eucharist is truly a sacrament of non-violence, it follows that we who partake of the Eucharist and are forged into community by it should not be perpetrators of violence. Rather, we should be absorbers of violence. Happy Sunday! Happy Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ!

  +John I. Okoye