Years ago when convenience was not only the rule of life, Corpus Christi was celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. But, for the sake of convenience, it has been transferred in some places (ours, for instance) to Sunday after the Solemnity of the Blessed Trinity. What is so special about Corpus Christi? Every Sunday is technically “Corpus Christi” since we celebrate the Body and Blood of Christ (By the way, the correct title of the Solemnity is Corpus et Sanguis Christi). The history of this Solemnity can be traced to the devotion of a 13th century nun in Belgium. By the 14th century it became universally observed in the West, that is, within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. Even though the history of the Solemnity seems to be of a late development, the theology is not. Consider what the Church Fathers have to say: Ignatius referred to the Eucharist as the “medicine of immortality” (Ephesians 20:2). “Thousands and thousands could be sanctified even through the crumbs from the Eucharistic host”, says St Ephrem the Syrian (Homilies 4.4) and St Thomas considered the Eucharist to be the “greatest of all Sacraments”. Nearer to our time, the theology remains consistent. The Catechism tells us that “the other six sacraments, all the works and ministries of the Church are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it”. The whole spiritual good of the Church, name Christ himself, is contained in the blessed Eucharist (CCC 1324).Thus, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi reminds us that the invaluable gift of Christ to the Church is not a gift amongst gifts but rather is the gift of Himself. This gift which we celebrate brings us to the task or duty of proclaiming Him as Saviour of the world. Yes, in today’s climate of inter-religious or cultural sensitivity, it does seem arrogant or patronising to speak of Christ as Saviour of the world. But the fact is, whether we like it or not, there is a close bond which we cannot ignore between celebrating the Eucharist and the proclamation of Christ as Saviour of the world.
According to John Paul II, this bond between Eucharist and Proclamation is implied by the actions of Christ in on Calvary. Why? It is because the Sacrifice of Christ on Calvary is not an event of the past which we commemorate [1] but an event which is re-presented to us each time we celebrate Mass. This means that Christ’s Salvation achieved on Calvary must be re-proclaimed to the entire world until He comes again. In that sense, each time the Eucharist is celebrated, the Salvation of Christ is also proclaimed. Thus the Eucharist makes of every Christian a missionary and the Eucharist in solemn procession becomes our public annunciation, public proclamation and public witness that Christ’s sacrifice saves the world.
Now a challenge remains. That Christ is Saviour is personally acceptable. [2] But to publicly proclaim Him is another matter altogether. We live in this “your view is true for you and my view is true for me” world. Within this world, one can have this nagging fear, “What if I or we were wrong”? Ultimately, it is a question of personal and corporate faith which can breach this self-imposed wall of relativism. Who is this Christ and how does his salvation affect me personally and us corporately? Turned the other way around, how do I and we live in such a way that the salvation of Christ is real not only to me but also to the world out there?
At the level of personal faith, in today’s world of uncertainty, the mission to proclaim takes on a rather “personal” note. Here, in terms of personal faith, the message that Christ is Saviour is not really the problem because the problem often lies with the messengers. Somewhere along the road, we, the messengers have not made the connexion between faith in Christ and the way we ought to live our lives. And, mind you, sin is not really the issue here. Rather it is inconsistency which renders the Person of Christ less credible. The theatre of war for Christianity is basically to be fought in the human heart. Our missionary effort must begin with the personal conversion. Many of us are intellectually converted but our hearts remain unconvinced. Or at least, we know a lot about Christ’s message without ever living fully the message.
According to Socrates, a life un-examined is not worth living. Sometimes we do not seem to reflect enough on the implication of faith in Christ. For example: in the context of the local Church’s concern for the increasing number of migrant Catholics, many of us here have maids at home. The way they are treated, you would think that God created a special category of people whose life’s mission is to work 18 hours a day and be screamed at because they are more stupid than we are. How does being made in the image and likeness of God come in here? The list could go on.
At the level of corporate faith, does the Church dare to teach unambiguously? Or do we look at Society at large and then tailor our teachings according to the dictates of society? The recently passed legislation in the UK with regard to human-animal embryo may be an example. Are we the only measure of life or are there laws about us which do not change? A corporate failure to teach Christ clearly has implications for our personal conversion. A Church confused confuses the faithful.
The discrepancies between faith in Christ and the failure to live our faith that we find in our lives often arise from a lack of personal and corporate knowledge of Christ in Word and Sacrament. Our failures or sins often keep us away, feeling as we do, our unworthiness but the truth is our failure should fuel our desire to know him intimately, love him more dearly and to follow him more closely. The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ is an invitation to walk with the Lord and to accompany Him in the Eucharist as it is the Sacrament of the God who does not leave us to journey alone, but puts Himself at our side and shows us the way. Remember Emmaus when Christ came to walk with the two despondent disciples? Today, let us kneel in adoration of the Lord who first bowed down towards us to save us and give us life. Adoring the Body of Christ means believing that there, in that piece of bread, Christ is truly present. Acknowledging Him is our salvation because He is the only one who can give us strength for the journey.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] The celebration of the Last Supper in the tradition of some Protestant brothers and sisters is basically a memorial service of a past event.
[2] Catholic theology has always distinguished between the “objective redemption” of all men by Christ, and the “subjective redemption” whereby the grace merited by Christ on the Cross actually proves fruitful only in the case of those who cooperate with His grace and achieve salvation.
