2026-06-07 Solemnity of Corpus Christi
2026-06-07 Solemnity of Corpus Christi aka Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Opening Prayer
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ,
you gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of your suffering and death.
May our worship of this sacrament of your Body and Blood
help us to experience the salvation you won for us
and the peace of the kingdom
where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Practice of Faith from last week
- Think about how God loved us and how thjta should inform our love for God and one another
- Reflect on places and moments in your life when God's love has been especially clear to you
- Consider times when someone demonstrated slowness to anger or abounding love or the kind of encouraging care to which paul exhorts the Corinthians. How did those experiences make you feel? What can you imitate from them?
What is Corpus Christi
The Solemnity of Corpus Christi aka Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
In 1264, Pope Urban IV instituted the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi to celebrate the Real Presence of Christ, body, blood, soul and divinity, in the Eucharist - or transubstantiation - which the Church teaches is the “source and summit of the Christian life”.
Pope Urban IV tasked the great philosopher and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas to explain this divine mystery. So he wrote a 24 stanza poem, an instant classic called, "Lauda Sion Salvatorem" (Latin for "Praise, O Sion, thy Savior") one of the most significant and enduring masterpieces of medieval sacred poetry and music that serves as the dynamic musical sequence for the Feast of Corpus Christi
Instead of being dry theology, the poem vividly explain complex concepts, such as:
a) How Christ is fully present in both the bread and the wine.
b) How the sacrament is received by both the good and the bad, but with radically different spiritual outcomes.
c) How the bread is broken physically, but Christ remains whole and undivided in every single fragment.
Lauda Sion matters because it represents the rare moment where peak intellectual theology, brilliant poetic rhythm, and communal celebration perfectly aligned.
The reception of Holy Communion unites us with Christ (the head) and with the Church (the body). St. John Damascene says, “It is called Communion because we communicate with Christ through it, both because we partake of His flesh and Godhead, and because we communicate with and are united to one another through it”
In 1264, Pope Urban IV instituted the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi to celebrate the Real Presence of Christ, body, blood, soul and divinity, in the Eucharist - or transubstantiation - which the Church teaches is the “source and summit of the Christian life”.
Pope Urban IV tasked the great philosopher and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas to explain this divine mystery. So he wrote a 24 stanza poem, an instant classic called, "Lauda Sion Salvatorem" (Latin for "Praise, O Sion, thy Savior") one of the most significant and enduring masterpieces of medieval sacred poetry and music that serves as the dynamic musical sequence for the Feast of Corpus Christi
Instead of being dry theology, the poem vividly explain complex concepts, such as:
a) How Christ is fully present in both the bread and the wine.
b) How the sacrament is received by both the good and the bad, but with radically different spiritual outcomes.
c) How the bread is broken physically, but Christ remains whole and undivided in every single fragment.
Lauda Sion matters because it represents the rare moment where peak intellectual theology, brilliant poetic rhythm, and communal celebration perfectly aligned.
The reception of Holy Communion unites us with Christ (the head) and with the Church (the body). St. John Damascene says, “It is called Communion because we communicate with Christ through it, both because we partake of His flesh and Godhead, and because we communicate with and are united to one another through it”
Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a
The Israelites escape from bondage in Egypt and wander through the barren desert for 40 years sustained by Manna from heaven until they reach the Promised Land. Bondage in Egypt is an allegory for sin, addiction, ego, pride, self-absorption - all the things that separate us from God. The empty promises of the Devil that lead us to the slavery of sin.
The Israelites are freed from this bondage through the gracious intervention of God and are making their way to the Promised Land which is an allegory to the fullness of redemption we will find in Heaven.
But first they have to navigate through a tough journey wandering through the desert - an allegory of our won spiritual journey. In Baptism we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit but we are not yet in Heaven, along our life's journey we squander this gift. Like the Israelite we want to go back to the flesh pots or our sinful ways where we had the spoils of a sinful life of excess and greed.
And Moses has to keep exhorting them to not look back but to fix their eyes on the Promised Land - and Moses intervenes for them with God who fed them with manna to sustain them in the desert - an allegory for us needing the Eucharist - the true flesh and blood of Christ - to sustain us.
How naive is it for us to imagine we can make our way through this world without being sustained by the Holy Eucharist - before long we will fall back to the flesh pots of Egypt. So do the smart thing and take the true food and drink offered by Jesus in the Eucharist (when the brad and win e turns into the true body and blood of Jesus it is called transsubstantiation - just as Jesus taught us to pray when we say "Give us this day our daily bread'" when we say the Lord's Prayer
The Israelites are freed from this bondage through the gracious intervention of God and are making their way to the Promised Land which is an allegory to the fullness of redemption we will find in Heaven.
But first they have to navigate through a tough journey wandering through the desert - an allegory of our won spiritual journey. In Baptism we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit but we are not yet in Heaven, along our life's journey we squander this gift. Like the Israelite we want to go back to the flesh pots or our sinful ways where we had the spoils of a sinful life of excess and greed.
And Moses has to keep exhorting them to not look back but to fix their eyes on the Promised Land - and Moses intervenes for them with God who fed them with manna to sustain them in the desert - an allegory for us needing the Eucharist - the true flesh and blood of Christ - to sustain us.
How naive is it for us to imagine we can make our way through this world without being sustained by the Holy Eucharist - before long we will fall back to the flesh pots of Egypt. So do the smart thing and take the true food and drink offered by Jesus in the Eucharist (when the brad and win e turns into the true body and blood of Jesus it is called transsubstantiation - just as Jesus taught us to pray when we say "Give us this day our daily bread'" when we say the Lord's Prayer
Psalm 147
Psalm 147, one of the five concluding Psalms, is classified as a Community Hymn — a hymn of the people that celebrates God’s sovereign reign over the community of faith and over all creation. Psalm 147 anticipates the ultimate expression of incarnation in Jesus by linking God’s rule over the natural realm with God’s salvation for Jerusalem.
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Paul faces challenges in his work at Corinth including differences in class, religious background, and styles of leadership (“I belong to Apollos!” “I belong to Paul!” “I belong to Cephas!”) divide the early Corinthian Christians. In the face of these challenges, Paul hopes to bring the Corinthians together, reminding them of their primary loyalty to Christ.
John 6:51-58
By calling himself "the living bread that came down from heaven", Jesus is invoking manna their ancestors consumed in the desert during the Exodus from Egypt, but it differs in one crucial aspect: manna was temporary, as their ancestors gathered, ate, and died. In contrast, Jesus’ bread is his flesh, his very self that he has given up in death so we can have eternal life.
“Very truly, I tell you,” Jesus says, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day” (John 6:53-54). The words “flesh” and “blood” point to the ultimate sacrifice, where Jesus’ flesh will be broken and his blood will be spilled in his violent death on the cross when Jesus gave his whole self willingly for the salvation of mankind.
The Greek text indicated 'gnawing, chewing and munching at the flesh' and not the more polite verb “to eat” - a verb that suggests the physical crunching with the teeth accentuates that Jesus intends a real experience of participating in his death, in doing so he nourishes our faith, forgives our sins, and empowers us to be witnesses to the Gospel.
Eternal life does not merely coming from believing but from embracing and participating in the body and blood of Christ so that Christ remains in us and we remain in Christ - similar to how intimate Jesus is with the Father, and the Father with the Son -we too can be joined with God for eternity
Flesh and blood constitute human life and knowing that the Torah forbids the eating of blood or of flesh with any blood left in it (Deuteronomy 12:23; Leviticus 17:14; 19:26), Jesus did not water down the ask so as to please his followers, he was explicit in his message causing some to walk away
John 6:66-69 says: As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
“Very truly, I tell you,” Jesus says, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day” (John 6:53-54). The words “flesh” and “blood” point to the ultimate sacrifice, where Jesus’ flesh will be broken and his blood will be spilled in his violent death on the cross when Jesus gave his whole self willingly for the salvation of mankind.
The Greek text indicated 'gnawing, chewing and munching at the flesh' and not the more polite verb “to eat” - a verb that suggests the physical crunching with the teeth accentuates that Jesus intends a real experience of participating in his death, in doing so he nourishes our faith, forgives our sins, and empowers us to be witnesses to the Gospel.
Eternal life does not merely coming from believing but from embracing and participating in the body and blood of Christ so that Christ remains in us and we remain in Christ - similar to how intimate Jesus is with the Father, and the Father with the Son -we too can be joined with God for eternity
Flesh and blood constitute human life and knowing that the Torah forbids the eating of blood or of flesh with any blood left in it (Deuteronomy 12:23; Leviticus 17:14; 19:26), Jesus did not water down the ask so as to please his followers, he was explicit in his message causing some to walk away
John 6:66-69 says: As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
Practice of Faith for this week
Closing Prayer - Anima Christi
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Separated from you let me never be.
From the evil one protect me.
At the hour of my death call me and close to you bid me,
that with your saints I may praise you for age upon age.
Amen.
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Separated from you let me never be.
From the evil one protect me.
At the hour of my death call me and close to you bid me,
that with your saints I may praise you for age upon age.
Amen.
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