2015/06/07 — Corpus Christi Sunday

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is traditionally celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, but it is considered important enough that in the United States (and in some other places perhaps) it has been transferred to the following Sunday. In some countries  it is also a civil holiday, so there is good reason to keep it on the traditional date.

Up to now, the former Latin title of the feast, Corpus Christi has remained in general use. It's certainly more succinct than the current full name.

Although Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, at which the Eucharist was established, it is in the context of Jesus passion, death, and resurrection. This feast focuses only on the sacrament. Juliana of Liege, a nun who had visions telling her that this feast  should be established, persuaded the bishop of Liege to institute the feast for his diocese in 1246. It spread from there, and in 1264 it was declared a feast for the whole Latin Church. St. Thomas Aquinas composed texts for the feast, including the hymns Pange Lingua (whose last two verses are sung separately as Tantum Ergo) and Verbum Supernum Prodiens (from which O Salutaris Hostia is extracted), as well as the impressive sequence for the Mass, Lauda Sion Salvatorem, which has been a favorite of mine for over 50 years.


The readings for this year focus on the blood. (Last year it was the bread/body of Christ.) We see the significance of the blood in the first reading — Exodus 24:3-8 — which recounts the sacrifice at Mount Sinai by which the covenant between God and Israel was sealed. There will be references to it in the subsequent readings. The passage speaks of holocausts and peace offerings. Holocausts were completely burnt, to symbolize total self-giving to God. Peace offerings were partially given to God and partially eaten by the worshipper to symbolize the covenant, or treaty, between them. Blood represents life. The sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifices on the altar, representing God, and on the people, means that God and people share one life. The people now share in the life of God through the covenant. On their part, the people promise to keep all the commands of the Lord


The reading from Hebrews — Heb 9:11-15 — alludes to the rites for the Day of Atonement and for ritual cleansing of those who became unclean through contact with a corpse. The author sees Christ as the eternal high priest who, like the priests of Israel, brings the blood of the sacrifice into the sanctuary. But now the sacrifice is himself, the blood is his own, and the sanctuary is in heaven. The blood cleanses our consciences, that is, removes our sins, making us capable of worshipping God. This establishes a new covenant (which Jesus also speaks of) which promises us an eternal inheritance.


The gospel passage — Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26 — is Mark's account of the Last Supper, with the verses about Judas' betrayal omitted. It occurs at Passover, which commemorates the night when the blood of the lamb protected the Israelites from the death of the firstborn. But when Jesus, having first declared the bread to be his body, says the wine is his blood, he calls it "my blood of the covenant," reminding us of the covenant sacrifice at Sinai, with its sprinkling of blood. This covenant is the one Hebrews speaks of. As in Hebrews, here Jesus concludes his words with a reference to the eternal promise — drinking wine new in the kingdom of God.

The blood of the covenant is not drained from animals. It is the blood of Jesus, which the wine has become; and it is not splashed, but drunk, in ratification of the covenant. The responsorial psalm, verses from Psalm 116 speaks of taking up "the cup of  salvation."

In reflecting on the words of Jesus about his body and blood, the Church came to realize that Jesus shed his blood on the cross, but now that he has been resurrected, body and blood are together. Since the sacrament is the living Jesus, body and blood are both present in each element. Thus one need not actually drink form the cup in order to consume the blood of Christ.


This solemnity reminds us of what every Mass is about and what every reception of Communion is about. The Mass is the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary, made present to us. The blood of Christ, which we receive in Communion, effects forgiveness of sins and seals our covenant with God, making us his people (which has moral implications for us — implications about how we must live if we are authentically God's people) with a promise of eternal life.