Corpus Christi (the Body & Blood of the Lord)

Sollemnitas Corpus Christi
Dt. 8:2-3, 14b-16a; 1 Cor. 10:16-17; Jn. 6:51-58
7 June 2026

 Today is our annual observance of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, also called by the Latin name “Corpus Christi.”  Our faith in the Holy Eucharist is one of the most essential and defining doctrines we hold as Catholics.  We believe, without equivocation or adopting the language of mere symbolism, that the Holy Eucharist is the living Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus the Lord.  It is the Lord’s Real Presence, whole and complete, in both the form of bread and wine, and even in the smallest fragment of a particle of the form of bread or the smallest droplet of the form of wine.  It is the presence of the Lord given to us in sacramental form, by which we may be nourished by this gift when we receive it worthily in the state of grace.  And thus, our regular practice of confession is integrally tied to the Holy Eucharist so that we are prepared to receive Holy Communion in the best way possible, open to all its graces. We believe that the bread and wine at Holy Mass are changed in their substance.  They cease to be the substance of bread and wine, though the appearances remain unchanged, and become the substance of the Body and Blood of the Lord.  We believe this change of substance takes place by God and His power.  We believe this gift is made present to us only within the one true Church, established by the Lord and which responds to his command, “Do this in memory of me”, by using the words of consecration from the Last Supper and spoken by the ordained priest who shares in the one and same priesthood of the Eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ.

The Catholic faith in the Holy Eucharist, which I have just stated, sets us apart from most other Christians. There are no Protestant denominations that have a valid Holy Eucharist, even if they do observe some form or practice of a “holy communion”. Only the ancient Orthodox Churches (which are true and full churches) and the Eastern Catholic rites (which are in union with the universal Catholic Church) share this same faith with us and have this gift of the Lord’s Real Presence in their sacred liturgies and in their churches. When you consider how we are set apart by this aspect of faith and the sad reality of just how many Christians are separated from us and separated from this gift of the Holy Eucharist, considering how sad this separation is, we might wonder or ask: Do we somehow make too much of the Holy Eucharist? Well, not if we accept the Scriptures. Not if we accept both the clear teaching of the Lord and the insistence of the Lord in the Gospel selection from St. John, chapter six (6).

In John six (6) the Lord calls himself the “living bread”. He associates himself with the ancient miracle of the manna that rained down from heaven and by which Israel was fed in exile. He says he is the living bread “come down from heaven”. To associate himself with the manna means it is plainly obvious that the “living bread” he gives is supposed to be eaten. And he goes on to say that whoever eats this new manna will live forever. Jesus’ listeners are confused, shocked and scandalized by this teaching. But the Lord is insistent about his meaning. He says that “the bread that I will give is my flesh”. His listeners start fighting about this teaching. Understandably, they think this is some form of cannibalism and they know that is contrary to the Jewish law and would make them ritually unclean. But the Lord is not teaching them to eat dead flesh from a corpse. Rather, he is telling them they will be given living bread that will be a food that does not put them in communion with death. Rather it will put them in communion with life. And thus, the Church has always held that the Holy Eucharist is the living, resurrected Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord. Jesus does not back down from his teaching even when some argue and some begin to leave him. He says clearly, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you…. For my flesh is true food…. [t]he one who feeds on me will have life because of me”.

Do we make too much of this distinctive aspect of our catholic faith? Absolutely not. If anyone claims we do, they would have to accuse Jesus himself of also making too much of this teaching. Because of this faith, the Catholic Catechism (#1324), quoting teachings from Vatican II, says the following: “The Eucharist is the ‘source and summit of the Christian life’. ‘The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself’.” The Holy Eucharist is our source and our summit. Like a fountain bubbling up that turns into a mighty river, the Holy Eucharist is the starting point, the source, of our life. And we are always returning to it for nourishment here in our exile as we journey to heaven because our reverence for the Holy Eucharist and our growing communion in the Lord is the summit that we climb as we advance in the Christian life. Therefore, make every effort to deepen your knowledge of this teaching. Think of how you attend Mass, how you arrive, how you participate, how you leave from here… does it reflect the priority of this teaching? Can you commit to meet the Lord in our adoration chapel and receive from him the consolation that you are not left an orphan and that you are nourished with a living bread that brings resurrection? Can you identify and begin to change anything in your moral life that would impede being able to receive Holy Communion? All this and more is not too much to make of this gift because our entire Christian life is bound up with the living bread come down from heaven.