Homily for Solemnity of Corpus Christi

Homily for the Solemnity
of Corpus Christi

May 28, 1989

1 Cor 11: 23-26
St. Theresa, Bronx

On Saturday evening I preached (primarily on the Collect) without a written text.  Here's an old homily on the 2d reading for today's feast.

“I received from the Lord what I handed on to you, namely, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took ... the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood’” (1 Cor 11: 23, 25).

Last Supper of Christ (Anthuensis Clakissins)

In the Old Testament, God made a series of covenants with his people.  After the flood he made a covenant with Noah not to destroy the earth with water again, and the sign of the covenant was the rainbow.  He made a covenant with Abraham to give him countless descendants and a homeland, and the signs of that covenant were his son Isaac and circumcision.  Thru Moses, God made a 3d covenant with the whole people of Israel, to restore them to the land and to be their protector, and the sign of the covenant was the Law, especially the 10 Commandments.

Each of these covenants was related to a salvation event:  Noah and his family saved from the flood, Abraham and Sarah saved from childlessness, Moses and the people saved from slavery in Egypt.  Each of those covenants was ratified by the sacrifice of unblemished animals to God, sacrifices that greatly pleased God.

At the Last Supper, Jesus referred to his own death in sacrificial terms:  “This is my body, which is for you.  This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (1 Cor 11:24-25).  His death inaugurated the new and final age of salvation, mankind’s ultimate victory over sin and death.  Jesus left us a token of the new covenant between God and man, his own Body and Blood under the sacramental signs of bread and wine.  This new covenant is between God and all peoples, “people of every tribe and tongue and nation,” as the book of Revelation puts it (5:9).

Christ’s earthly ministry, his obedience, and his death have reconciled all of us, his sisters and brothers, to God our Father, as the faithfulness of Noah, Abraham, and Moses won God’s praise and the gift of salvation.  In testimony to the Father’s acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice, he raised Jesus from the dead and set him on a heavenly throne.  As a pledge of our union with him, Christ gave us his own Body and Blood as our food and drink.  When we share communion with him, we proclaim our faith in him and in his Father’s goodness; we confess our sinfulness and accept God’s pardon; we anticipate our own resurrection and share in the heavenly banquet, where with the angels and all the rest of the saints we’ll sing God’s praises forever.