Corpus Christi

On Sunday, we celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi, or the Body and Blood of Christ. Seems kind of odd to me since we really celebrate that every time we go to mass. I suppose though, that it is a good time for us to sit back and recall and awe at the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

As Catholics we believe that at mass the bread and wine is transformed into the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. This is revealed in scripture in John chapter 6 when Jesus says that "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you." Then at the Last Supper He holds up the bread and the wine and says, "This is my body" and "This is my blood." Obviously, there is much more than that to explain what is the "source and summit of our faith."

The Feast of Corpus Christi is a good time to reflect what a wonderful gift God gave us in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, we are able to be in the physical presence of Christ as well as be nourished by Him.

What a gift it is for us to be able to go to adoration and spend time in the physical presence of Jesus to pray. Adoration is when the blessed sacrament is displayed. Normally it is put into a monstrance, which is a circular object usually made of gold rays with the blessed sacrament placed in the middle. Adoration is making a come back and today many parishes have weekly, daily or sometimes even perpetual adoration. Talk about a good prayer space--quiet, reverent, Jesus Christ's physical presence. What more do you really need? I encourage everyone to find someplace that has adoration. A good website to find parishes with adoration is www.masstimes.org or you can ask me. I'll help you find someplace. Even if you cannot find a place with adoration, you can spend time in front of the tabernacle which where the consecrated hosts or stored. At the very least--spend time in prayer.

For forty years, God fed the Jews manna during their exodus in the desert. For our exodus on Earth, He has provided the Eucharist to spiritually nourish us. I'm waiting for the time when someone asks me, "Have you accepted Jesus Christ into your life?" Then I can quote Jeff Cavins and say, "Yes I have, and into my heart, my mouth and down into my belly." The Eucharist is the most amazing food. It's the one time that instead of the consumed becoming the consumer the consumer becomes the consumed. (I think Jeff Cavins may have said that too) When we partake in communion Jesus feeds us and we are able to become like him.

What another perfect time for prayer--right after communion when you literally have Jesus inside of you--when you ARE a tabernacle. So don't be a Judas and rush out the back door before supper is over. Hang around for the final five minutes of mass. Spend time in prayer. Heck, did you know that you can even hang around AFTER mass and pray some more. I know, I'm speaking crazy talk aren't I??

Too often we take things for granted. Sometimes we even do that with mass. It's our Sunday obligation so we go, we get distracted and quickly get out of there so we can make it to the restaurant before all the protestants get there. :-) We need to be reminded that when we are at mass and receive the Eucharist we are experiencing a miracle, we are experiencing Heaven on Earth.