Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ - From the Desk of Fr. Stephen

From The Desk Of Fr. Stephen

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

For the first Corpus Christi Mass in the year 1264, the beautiful Mass propers composed by St. Thomas Aquinas were used. In the Sequence chanted at the Mass these words were heard:

Truth the ancient types fulfilling, Isaac bound, a victim willing, Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling, manna to the fathers sent.

Jesus in the Paschal Mystery, offering his own body and blood, both on Calvary and in the Eucharist- or rather, the Eucharist is the representation of Calvary in an unbloody manner - is likened to Isaac carrying the wood on his back as he climbed Mt. Moriah to be offered up by his father, Abraham. Jesus is the paschal lamb, offered up on the altar of the Cross, of which the slaughter of thousands of lambs sacrificed each year in the Temple was but a shadow.

Jesus, the Bread of Life, is the true manna, the manna which one may consume, and be strengthened for eternal life. Yes, Jesus shares his divine life with us, the very life of the Trinity, in this sacred meal, in that one simple gesture, which is at the same time his Supper in the Upper Room, his death on Calvary, his rising from the tomb, and Ascension into heaven.

All of that is offered to us, each and every time we celebrate the Eucharist! St. Peter Damian wrote in the eleventh century, “there is nothing more terrifying to the devil than a Christian whose lips are wet with the blood of Christ!”

Happy Feast day, Body of Christ!

Have a wonderful week!

Fr. Stephen