The WORD in other words (2018) by Fr Cornelio Alpuerto SVD – University of San Carlos, Cebu City
Solemnity of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi Sunday – B
Corpus Christi! If the one distributing Holy Communion were to use theLatin equivalent of the “Body of Christ,” then that would be it. Corpus Christi! And where is that from? From today’s gospel. Or, from the gospel of Matthew, Mt.26:26; or from the gospel of Luke, Lk 19:19; or from 1Cor. 11:24. That was at the very moment Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist, “Hoc est enim corpus meum.” Christ said the words of consecration over the bread aloud.
But before this word of consecration, there was Christ’s word of thanksgiving over the same bread: Christ thanking the father for the gift of the bread. For this reason, this sacrament is also called Eucharist. Eucharistia in Greek means thanksgiving.
The very moment Christ pronounced the word of consecration over the bread, that same moment the substance of the bread became the substance of Christ’s flesh, it became Corpus Christi. The term theologian’s use for this wondrous crossing-over of substance is Transubstantiation.
The angelic doctor of theology, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a Dominican, wrote profoundly about the Eucharist. In his poem, “Adoro Te” (I Adore You), he says that in the Eucharist man’s senses are, as it were, deceived: the sense of sight is deceived because what we see is not flesh but bread, a wafer-like thing; the sense of touch as well, and the sense of taste and of smell, also deceived. We cannot go by them. We go only by the sense of hearing: “This is my Body… this is my blood…” Clinging to what we hear, we believe, we adore, and we love.
And so, when we are given the consecrated host at Holy Communion with the word, the Body of Christ, we affirm our faith by saying, “Amen!”
Actually, by our Amen, we are affirming our faith not only in one sacrament, but in two. We also take the other word of consecration by Christ as true. “Do this in memory of me!”— thereby consecrating his followers, fishermen and tax collector, priests.
Yes, the Eucharist and the priesthood, are so closely related. John Paul II of happy memory, beautifully compares the priest and the Eucharist in the following paragraph:
The priest cannot be understood without the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the reason for our priesthood. We are born priests in the Eucharistic celebration. Our principal ministry and power is ordered to the Eucharist. The Eucharist could not exist without us; but without the Eucharist we do not exist, or we are reduced to lifeless shadows. The priest therefore can never reach complete fulfillment if the Eucharist does not become the center and root of his life, so that all his activity is nothing but an irradiation of the Eucharist.
From the heart, Lord, we thank You for your twin gifts to us of the Eucharist and the Priesthood! They are so precious, so life-giving as the Corpus Christi!
