Homily for the
Solemnity
of Corpus Christi
June 11, 2023
John 6: 51-58
Villa Maria, Bronx[1]
St. Francis Xavier,
Bronx
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day” (John 6: 54).
Why does the Church command us to come to Mass on Sunday? Is it just to keep us from sleeping in? or going to the beach early enuf to beat the traffic?
Sleep
and recreation are 2 of life’s goods, for sure.
We need sleep for health, and thus for a good life. We need recreation for health of both body
and mind.
But
there’s more to life than sleep or recreation.
Jesus calls our attention to eternal life. The Son of God came among us as a human
being, in our flesh and blood, and in our flesh and blood he rose
from the grave to live forever.
That
“forever” life is what he wants to share with us. He starts doing that even while we live our
limited, mortal lives by giving us his own living flesh and blood, the same
flesh and blood that rose from the grave and ascended to the right hand of the
Father: “Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (6:56). Our transformation begins with our consuming
the Eucharist—the true flesh and blood of Jesus our Savior.
That’s
why we need to come to Mass on Sunday.
It’s only because of the celebration of the Eucharist that we have
access to the Lord’s body and blood—an access that watching Mass on TV doesn’t
allow. On TV we’re cut off from the Lord,
who is his own lasting gift to us: “The
bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (6:51).
At
the Last Supper Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his
apostles, saying, “This is my body” (Luke 22:19). Not a symbol, not a representation—but “my
body”; “my flesh is true food” (John 6:55).
Likewise, he gave the cup of wine to them, saying, “This is my blood” (Mark
14:24). Then he said, “Do this in memory
of me” (1 Cor 11:24-25). This is
what we do. Actually, it’s what he
does; he is the priest who changes bread and wine into his body and blood when
we gather to celebrate the Eucharist.
He
does this so that “whoever eats this bread will live forever” (6:58), as he
lives forever. We are what we eat: the living body and blood of Christ. “In his Easter Sermon 227, St. Augustine
exhorts: ‘If we receive the Eucharist worthily, we become what we receive.’
And in receiving Christ, we become one body in him, and through him, one with
the Father and the Holy Spirit. Through receiving the Eucharist, we enter
a unique and personal relationship with the Trinity and with one another, the
Body of Christ. We become what we eat.”[2]
Some
of you, maybe many of you, know that our bishops have organized a Eucharistic
revival for our country, a 3-year program who purpose is to foster a personal
encounter with Christ in the heart of every Catholic—the Christ whom we
encounter in the Eucharist.
That’s
why it’s imperative for us to come to Mass—so that Jesus may feed us, Jesus may
give us his own eternal life.
[1] Homily much adapted for the sisters.
[2] Sr.
Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. ,“The Way of Beauty: You are what you eat,” May
2, 2012: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/column/52131/you-are-what-you-eat.
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