The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Corpus Christi

Fr. Joachim Trytania

"Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him" (John 6:56)

The late Pope, John Paul II, invited Catholics all over the world to celebrate the great gift and mystery of the Eucharist in a special way from October 2004 to October 2005. This extraordinary year is an opportunity for all to appreciate this special meaning of communion with our Savior, Jesus Christ, to receive it faithfully and to reflect on its meaning for ourselves, our parish community and the entire Church.

"As two pieces of wax fused together make one, so he who receives holy communion is so united with Christ, that Christ is in him and he in Christ" - St. Cyril of Alexandria.

The revelation of God who made Himself known upon the ancient world in the person of Jesus Christ was meant to be a culmination of all the divine aspirations which man had since the ages began. The central message of Christianity is that Jesus Christ truly came into the world as a divine delegate (someone delegated by a higher authority as His representative) and that His miracles and prophecies prove His divine mission, attested principally by the central fact of His resurrection.

"If you have received worthily, you are what you have received" - St. Augustine.

As the culminating act in the life of Jesus was the sacrifice which He offered on Calvary to His eternal Father, so the central act of Catholic worship in the Church, the mystical Body of Christ, is the Eucharistic sacrifice, the Mass, which He instituted to be a perpetual commemoration and renewal of it. Likewise, just as it was through the sacred humanity of Christ that God mercifully designed to transmit to us the divine life of grace, so the sacrament of the Eucharist, which truly contains that living and life-giving humanity of Jesus Christ, holds the principal place among the sacraments instituted by Christ for our sanctification.

From time to time the Church, under the leadership of the Pope, designates a particular year for the entire Church to devote itself especially to celebrating some important aspects of the Catholic faith. This becomes an opportunity for celebration in parishes and dioceses around the world to deepen our knowledge and strengthen our faith. Following in this tradition, the late Pope John Paul II announced a Year of the Eucharist on the Feast of Corpus Christi in June 2004. Why devote the whole year to focus on the Eucharist?

The Eucharist is the summit of our faith. In the Eucharist the entire story of our salvation is made real in a miraculous and powerful way. The Roman Missal calls Holy Eucharist the "Sacred Banquet, in which Christ is received; the memory of His Passion is renewed; the mind is filled with grace; and a pledge of glory is given unto us." Yet how often do we have a moment to reflect on this precious gift? Even in Mass we can become distracted, and what is miraculous and precious becomes routine. This is the reason why the Church invites us to spend the entire year on deepening our love for what God has given us - His Son, Jesus, whom we receive into our hearts. For one year, in the Mass, in our reading, in our faith formation classes, and in the quiet of our own hearts, we can pay closer attention to this gift of gifts.

Let us, then, make this Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ an opportunity for a renewal of our devotion to Jesus Christ, who lives among us in the Holy Eucharist.