SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF Christ A/ CORPUS CHRISTI
EUCHARIST IS RELATIONSHIP
John 6:51-58
MESSAGE
Today we celebrate the central act of worship of Catholics all over the world: the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Mass. Trusting in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, we gather each Sunday to be nourished from his two tables: the table of the Word of God and the table of his Body and Blood, source of our joy and strength.
During this past Easter season, reports have come out of a record-breaking number of young people who have converted and entered into the Catholic Church. Many of them have discovered the Holy Mass as the Real Presence of Jesus in their midst, a guide towards the peace, meaning, and salvation they were looking for.
And yet, many Catholics still fall away and leave the Church, in a great part because the Holy Mass has become for them a stale and mechanical ritual, which has lost its joy. A former Catholic-turned-evangelical minister claimed in an interview that while he believed all of us are members of the Body of Christ, he could not believe that the Mass as a celebration could grow his faith. Instead, he said, it was a focus on Jesus, loving Jesus, that mattered.
I believe it is a healthy combination of these two perspectives that should shape our faith and celebration of the Eucharist. Yes, Jesus is really present in his Body and Blood as he promised. But to celebrate without relationship and connection, without faith, is to lose personal connectedness with the Lord. And yes, living faith in the words of Jesus is life-changing. But to immerse ourselves in it while disregarding his command to remember his Cross and Resurrection in the manner he specified is to deny the total experience of our faith.
Thus the Eucharist celebrated in faith, with living relationship and connection to Jesus is what truly makes for meaningful worship and reception of his Body and Blood for our love, devotion, and service.
REFLECT
How do you celebrate the Holy Mass? Let us pray that in the presence of Jesus in his Body and Blood, our relationship with him can deepen, improve, and bear fruit.
