Homily for Solemnity of Corpus Christi

Homily for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi

June 22, 2025
Gen 14: 18-20
1 Cor 11: 23-26
Villa Maria, Bronx
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx

Meeting of Abraham & Melchizedek
(Dieric Bouts the Elder)

“Melchizedek … brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram…” (Gen 14: 18).

This short passage is the only reference to Melchizedek in the entire Old Testament except for Ps 110, our responsorial psalm today, which speaks of God’s oath to Israel’s king:  “Like Melchizedek you are a priest forever” (v. 4).  Then the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews takes these 2 short passages and applies them at some length to Christ in ch. 7.

Our interest on this solemn feast of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ, is in who Melchizedek is, both a king and a priest; in what he offered to God, bread and wine; in the occasion for this offering; and in the blessing he pronounced on both Abram and God Most High.

In much of the ancient world, including Israel at times, kings acted also as priests, making sacrifices to God and blessing their people.  Ps 110 sees this as part of the responsibilities of the sons of King David in regard to the kingdom of Judah, and the author of Hebrews sees it as a description of Jesus, who is both Lord, i.e., king and master, and a priest who offers an eternal sacrifice to God, namely, himself, his own body and blood.

We know well that our Lord Jesus offered his body and blood to the Father on the cross.  St. Paul reminds us, as well, that the Lord Jesus connected that self-offering to us, to our eating the bread of his body and the wine of his blood “in remembrance of” him (1 Cor 11:24-25).  Jesus' self-offering is directly related to his death; St. Paul makes the point that he did this “on the nite he was handed over” (11:23), i.e., betrayed by Judas to the authorities who had him crucified.

Our offering of bread and wine, then, has a greater significance than what Melchizedek offered for Abram.  Our bread and wine, by the power of Jesus’ words, become the body and blood of Jesus; by sharing in his body and blood, we “proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes” (11:26); we make present and become participants in his crucifixion, in his redemptive sacrifice, and we anticipate his coming back to us risen and alive in eternal glory.

Our 3d interest is that Melchizedek and Abram were giving thanks to God for Abram’s victory over enemies who’d seized members of his family, his flocks, and his other possessions.  Like the nomad chieftain that he was, Abram rallied his allies, pursued and defeated his enemies, and returned in victory with his relatives and goods.  Hence a sacrifice to God Most High.

As we “proclaim the death of the Lord,” we’re celebrating our Lord Jesus’ victory over his enemies.  The power of God makes Christ’s enemies his footstool, crushed under his feet.  His enemies are our enemies as well—death, the Dark Lord of Death, Satan, and his evil allies.  That victory is cause for celebration and for a grateful sacrifice to God our Father.

And that’s what we do when we celebrate the Eucharist, our sacred meal of bread and wine transformed into Christ’s body and blood, a sacrifice of thanksgiving in which we offer Christ to his Father.  As Melchizedek blessed God Most High, so do we at Mass—praising God, thanking God, uniting our hearts to God in Christ.  As Melchizedek invoked a blessing from God Most High upon Abram, so does our Lord Jesus bless us as we partake in this sacrifice of his body and blood.  “Whoever eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:51, gospel verse).